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PROCEEDINGS   ("jun  9  1955^ 

4 


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OF  THE 


SECOND 

ECUMENICAL  METHODIST  CONFERENCE 


HELD   IN  THE 


Metropolitan  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 


WASHINGTON,   OCTOBER,   1891 


INTRODUCTION 

BY 

REV.  WILLIAM  ARTHUR,   M.A. 


AEJV  YORK:  HUNT  &>  EATON 

CINCINNATI :   CRANSTON  (Sj*  STOWB 

1893 


EDITORIAL   NOTE. 


THIS  volume  is  issued  by  direction  of  tlie  Second  Ecuineiiical 
Metliodist  Conference,  As  we  now  send  it  forth  to  the 
rehgions  world  a  statement  seems  necessary  in  explanation  of 
certain  prominent  features  of  the  publication. 

1.  The  business  proceedings  of  each  day  liave  not  usually 
been  reported  in  detail.  This  course  was  decided  upon  to 
avoid  an  undue  enlargement  of  the  volume.  The  more  im- 
portant debates,  including  all  which  relate  to  the  interests  of 
general  Methodism,  have,  however,  been  carefully  edited  and 
inserted.  As  to  the  matters  omitted,  we  are  persuaded  that 
nothing  of  essential  importance  has  been  overlooked. 

2.  The  evident  incompleteness  and  the  abrupt  ending  of 
many  of  the  addresses  in  the  genei-al  discussions  of  each  day  will 
be  understood  when  the  strict  enforcement  of  the  five-minute 
rule  is  recalled. 

3.  The  Conference  assumed  no  responsibility  f<u'  tlie  senti- 
ments expressed  by  the  several  speakers,  but  directed  that  the 
following  statements  be  published  in  the  opening  of  the  printed 
volume  of  its  proceedings  : 

(1)  Eacli  writer  and  speaker  is  alone  responsible  for  the  opinions  which 
he  has  expressed  and  which  are  printed  in  this  volume. 

(2)  The  views  of  the  Conference  are  expressed  only  in  the  Pastoral  Ad- 
dress and  in  the  resolutions  which  it  has  adopted  by  vote. 

4.  The  verbal  accuracy  of  the  pi'inted  proceedings  has  been 
a  matter  of  earnest  effort,  but  we  regret  to  say  has  been  in 
some  cases  unattainable.  In  1881  a  full  report  of  proceedings 
was  published  in  the  daily  issue  of  the  Methodist  Recorder^ 
at  London — a   course  which   facilitated   the  correction   of    all 


IV  EDITOKIAL    NOTE. 

important  errors.  As  no  similar  provision  was  made  in  1891, 
the  labor  of  preparing  the  present  volume  has  been  greatly 
increased.  Notwithstanding  the  repeated  request  of  the 
Secretary  that  the  sj)eakers  correct  the  stenographic  reports  of 
their  addresses,  it  is  but  just  to  say  that  many  delegates  left 
the  Conference  without  complying  with  this  request.  This  is 
the  more  to  be  regretted  because  the  reports  of  the  proceed- 
ings, though  generally  full  and  accurate,  have  since  been  found 
to  be  in  some  places  seriously  defective.  Since  the  adjourn- 
ment we  have  therefore  found  it  necessary  to  correspond  with 
various  speakers — some  at  very  great  distances — in  order  to 
secure  an  accurate  transcript  of  their  addresses.  This  has  been 
a  chief  cause  of  delay  in  the  issue  of  the  volume.  We  cannot 
hope  that  mistakes  have  in  all  cases  been  avoided  where  refer- 
ences are  made  to  individuals,  places,  or  local  customs ;  yet  be- 
cause of  the  care  taken  to  secure  accuracy  we  can  hope  for 
a  kindly  indulgence  concerning  any  errors  that  may  be  dis- 
covered. 

In  conclusion,  we  wish  to  express  our  thanks  to  the  Rev. 
William  Arthur,  M.A.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church, 
who  has  at  our  earnest  request  written  the  "  Introduction." 
The  fitness  of  this  service  inheres  not  only  in  its  intrinsic 
excellence,  but  in  the  fact  that  the  "  Prefatory  Statement " 
of  1881  was  also  from  the  pen  of  this  revered  minister  of 
English  Methodism. 

James  M.  King,  |  Committee 

John   M,   Yan   Yleck,  \  Publication. 

Arthur  B.  Sanford,  FxUtor. 


CONTENTS. 


PACK 
iNTTROnUCTION vii 

Official  List  of  Delegates xiii 

Officers  OP  THE  CoNFEiiENCE xxvi 

List  of  Committees xxviii 

Rules  and  Kegulations  for  the  Government  op  the  Conference xxx 

Daily  Programme xxxii 

FIRST  DAY. 

FIRST  SESSION.— Opening  Exercises,  3;  Sermon  of  William  Arthur.  3;  Sacrament,  CO. 
SECOND  SESSION.— Opening,  26;    Officers  Appointed,  26.    Addresses   of    Welcome— .J.  F 

Hurst,  27;    J.  H.  Carlisle,  33;   George   Douglas,    37.     Responses— T.  B.  Stephenson,  41; 

George  Green,  49 ;  R.  Abercrombie,  51.    Autograph  Books,  56 ;  Adjournment,  56. 

SECOND  DAY. 

FIRST  SESSION.— Opening,  57;  University  Degrees,  57;  Report  of  Business  Committee,  57 ; 
Documents  Referred,  58;  Presidential  Chair,  58 ;  Samuel  Wesley's  Bible,  58.  Essay,  The 
Present  Status  op  Methodism  in  the  Eastern  Section,  D.  J.  Waller,  58.  Ad- 
dresses—John Medicraft,  66;  James  Donnelly,  68;  J.  H.  Batt,  71.  Discussion— Hugh  Price 
Hughes,  74;  William  Morley,  75;  James  Travis,  76.  Adjournment,  77. 
.SECOND  SESSION.— Opening,  78.  Essay,  The  Present  Status  of  Methodism  in  thr 
Western  Section,  C.  H.  Fowler,  78.    Addresses— C.  B.  Galloway,  89;  William  Briggs,  94; 

B.  W.  Arnett,  99.  Discussion— J.  M.  Buckley,  101 ;  A.  B.  Leonard,  102  ;  J.  C.  Simmons,  103 ; 
J.  J.  Maclaren,  104;  J.  H.  Jones,  105;  R.  A.W.  Bruehl,  106;  E.  Lloyd  Jones,  107.  Adjoui-n- 
ment,  108. 

THIRD  DAY. 

FIRST  SESSION.— Opening,  109;  Presiding  Officers  Appointed,  109;  Speakers  near  Platform, 
109;  Memorials  and  Resolutions  Referred,  109.  Essay,  CHRISTIAN  Unity,  T.  G.  Selbv, 
110.  Addresses— A.  S.  Hunt,  HO;  Thomas  Mitchell,  119.  Discussion— C. F.  Reid,  123:  Wil'l- 
iain  Nicholas,  123  ;  Ralph  Abercrombie,  124  ;  William  Arthur,  125 ;  W.  B.  Lark,  126 ;  J.  Svvann 
Withington,  127;  E.  E.  Hoss,  138;  William  Gibson,  128;  Thomas  Lawrence,  129.  Adjourn- 
ment, 139. 

SECOND  SESSION.-Opening,  130.  Essav,  Christian  Co-Operation,  A.  Coke  Smith, 
130.  Addresses— W.  Redfern,  138;  T.  J.  Ogburn,  141;  James  Le  Huray,  145.  Discussion- 
Hugh  Price  Hughes,  150;  T.  G.Williams,  151:  J.  C.  Hartzell,  152;  O.  P.  Fitzgerald,  153 ; 
E.  L.  Southgate,  153;  A.  B.  Leonard,  151;  William  Arthur,  155;  J.  C.  Embrv,  156;  D.  Alli- 
son, 157;  J.  M.  King,  158;  T.  B.  Stephenson,  159;  D.  McKinley,  160;  R.  S.  Foster,  161 ;  J.  C. 
Davison,  163.  Responses  of  Representatives  of  English  Bodies  on  Union,  163;  J.  C.  Embry 
on  Co-operation  and  Union,  164.  Adjournment,  164. 

FOURTH  DAY. 

Opening,  165;  Resolutions  Referred  to  Business  Committee,  165;  Report  of  Business  Com- 
mittee, 165;  Sympathy  with  Samuel  Antliff,  166.  Essav,  The  INFLUENCE  OF  Modern 
Scientific  Progress  on  Religious  Thought,  Percy  W.  Bunting,  166.  Addresses— The 
Attitude  optheChurch  Toward  the  Vahkus  Phases  of  Unbelief,  M.  S.  Terrv, 
172;  The  Bible  and  Modern  Criticism.  W.  T.  Davison,  175.  Discussion— E.  H.  Dewart, 
180;  Frank  Ballard,  181:  J.  M.  Buckley,  182;  .James  Crabtree,  183;  J.  M.  King,  184 ; 
William  Arthur,  184;  J.  C.  Keener,  185;  E.  Lloyd  Jones,  186;  C.  H.  Fowler,  187;  Thomas 
Allen,  188 ;  David  Brook,  189 ;  J.  J.  Maclaren,  190.  Committee  on  Statistics  Appointed,  190 ; 
Adjournment,  191. 

SUNDAY,  OCTOBER  11. 
Memokial  Sermon  on  Wesley  and  His  Mission,  J.  P.  Newman,  193. 

FIFTH  DAY. 

FIRST  SESSION.-Opening,  209;  Memorials  Referred.  209;  Arrangements  for  Reception  by 
President  of  United  States,  209.  Essay,  The  Responsibility  and  Qualifications  ov 
the  Preacher,  R.S.Foster,  210.   Addresses—John  Bond,  314 ;  W.  H.  Day,  217.   Discussio7i— 

C.  D.  Foss,  330;  Prank  Ballard,  220;  J.  Surman  Cooke,  231;  G.  W.  Clinton,  222;  WilliaTU 
Arthur,  223;  A.  B.  Leonard,  224.    Adjournment,  224. 

Reception  at  the  White  House,  224. 

SECOND  SESSION.-Opening,  22.5.  Essay,  THE  Religious  Press  and  Religious  Uses 
OF  THE  Secular  Press,  Hugh  Price  Hughes,  235.  Addresses— E.  H.  Dewart,  333;  Joseph 
Ferguson,  335;  E.  E.  Hoss,  339.  Discussion- J.  M.  Buckley,  244;  Thomas  Snape,  245;  J.  ll. 
Lile,  245;  H.  J.  Farmer-Atkinson,  246;  E.Lloyd  Jones,  246;  George  Douglas,  247;  J.  S. 
Balmer,  348.  Committee  on  Sabbath  Closing  of  Columbian  Exposition,  248;  On  Methodist 
Membership,  248;  Adjournment,  248. 

THIRD  (SPECIAL)  SESSION.-Opening,  240;  Credentials  of  Fraternal  Delegates  Read,  249. 
Addresses— T.  W.  Chambers,  249 ;  John  Hall,  251 ;  W.  U.  Murkland,  253.  Various  Greetings, 
250.  Addresses— S.  H.  Green,  256;  T.  B.  Stephenson.  258;  William  Arthur,  260;  A.  W.Wil- 
son, 262;  S.  J.  Way,  264 ;  A.  Carman,  265.     Adjournment,  267. 

SIXTH  DAY. 

FIRST  SESSION.-Opening,  268;  Communications  Referred,  268;  Report  of  Business  Com- 
mittee, 268.  Essay,  LAY  AGENCY  IN  the  Church,  James  Travis.  269.  Addresses— The 
Deaconess  Movement,  W.  X.  Ninde,  276;  Methodist  Brotherhoods  and  Sister- 
hoods, W.  D.  Walters,  278.  Discussion— J.  H.  Morgan,  281;  T.  B.  Appleget,  282  ;  Thomas 
Lawi-ence,  283;  William  Arthur,  284 ;  J.  S.Simon, 285;  J.  H.  Lile,  285;  A.  B.  Leonard,  286; 
J.  Duckworth,  287;  John  Bond,  287;  H.  J.  Farmer-Atkinson,  288.    Adjournment,  289. 

SECi)ND  SESSION.-Opening,  290.  Essay,  Woman's  Work  in  the  Church,  B.  St. 
James  Fry,  290.  Addresses- William  Gorman,  296;  J.  P.  I>andi8,  300;  T.  H.  Hunt,  302.  Dis- 
cussion—J.  W.  Lewis,  305;  J.  M.  Buckley,  306;  J.  Bamford  Slack,  807;  E.  E.  Hoss,  308;  J. 
W.  Hamilton,  308;  H.  J.  Farmer-Atkinson,  .309;  C.  F.  Reid,  310;  F.  W.  Bourne,  310;  Stew- 
art Hoosen,  311;  W.  F.  Oldham,  311;  Hugh  Price  Hughes,  312;  J.  W.  Hood,  31.3.  Report  of 
Business  Committee  on  Wesley  Statue,  313  ;  Adjournment,  314. 

SEVENTH  DAY. 

FIRST  SESSION.-Opening,  315;  Report  on  Pan-Presbyterian  Council,  315;  Report  on  Salv 
bath  Closing  of  Columbian  Exposition,  315;  Report  of  Business  Committee  on  Method- 
ist Federation,  316;  Discussion  on,  317.     Essay,  Religious  Trai.ving  and  CuLTUitK 


VI  CONTENTS. 

OP  THE  Young,  W.  H.  Fitchett,  330.  Addresses— The  Family,  T.  B.  Appleget,  325  ;  The 
Sunday-School,  KoDtrt  Cuiley,  oi;8.  Discus.sion— L.  J.  Coppin,  330;  Frank  Ballard,  331 ; 
A.  B.  Leonard,  33:J  ;  William  Nicholas,  33^  :  D.  J.  Wajller,  333  ;  William  Gibson,  335  ;  N.  W. 
Helme,  335.    Sympathy  with  C.  H.  Spurgeon,  335  ;  Adjournment,  335. 

SECOND  SESSION.— Upeniug,  336.  Essay,  Elementaky  EDUCATION  :  How  It  May  Be 
Best  Pko.moted,  Juim  smith,  336.  Addresses— The  Ethics  of  Elementary  Educa- 
tion, J.  D.  Hammuud,  3il ;  Sectarianism  and  State  Education,  J.  H.  Crosfield, 
3i5  ;  SECONliARY  EDUCATION,  J.  C.  Uancy,  346.  Discussion- J.Swaun  W  ithlngton,  352  ;  A. 
M.  Green,  363;  Hugh  Price  Hughes,  354;  W.  B.  Luke,  356  ;  H.  H.  Shaw,  356  ;  James  Travis, 
357  ;  L.  K.  Fiske,  oo7  ;  D.  J .  Waller,  358.    Adjom-nment,  359. 

THIRD  SESSION.— Opening,  360.  Es.say,  The  Bkoadest  Facilities  for  Higher  Educa- 
tion :  The  Duty  of  the  church,  N.Burwash,  360.  Addresses— University  Education, 
W.  F.  Slater,  367;  W.  F.  Warren,  371.  Discussion— H.  W.  Horwill,  376;  David  Brook,  377; 
S.  N.  Fellows,  378;  H.  W.  Kogers,  379  ;  J.  S.  Simon,  380;  J.  D.  Taylor,  381 ;  Thomas  Suape, 
381:  E.  H.  Dewart,  382;  William  Gibson,  383;  D.  McKinley,  383.    Adjournment,  384. 

EIGHTH  DAY. 

FIRST  SESSION.— Opening,  385 ;  Report  of  Business  Committee  on  Ecumenical  Missionary 
Council,  385;  Alteration  of  Rule  VIII,  385;  Discussion  on  Federation,  385.  Essay,  THE 
Present  Positio.x  of  Romanism,  M.  T.  Myers,  392.  Addresses— Romanism  as  a  Politi- 
cal Power,  L.  R.  Fiske,  399;  Romanism  as  a  Religious  Power,  William  Nicholas,  404. 
Adjournment,  407. 

SECOND  SESSION.— Opening,  408;  Amendment  of  Rule  VIII,  408;  New  Rule,  408.  Es.say. 
The  Church  and  the  Temperance  Reform,  R.  H.  Mahon,  408.  Address,  Thomas 
"Worthington,  413.  Addresses— LEGAL  Prohibition  of  the  Saloon,  C.  H.  Phillips,  416;* 
James  Pickett,  418.  Discu.ssion— W.  J.  Gaines,  420;  J.  C.  Simmons,  421 ;  W.  B.  Lark,  422; 
J.  W.  Haney,  422 ;  W.  H.  Lambly,  423 ;  Joseph  Nettleton,  424  ;  E.  E.  Hoss,  424  ;  J.  H.  Lock- 
wood,  425;  S.  N.  Griffith,  426;  P.  A.  Hubbard,  426;  S.  McComas,  427;  J.  J.  Kogerson,  427; 
J.  H.  LUe,  428;  H.  J.  Farmer-Atkinson,  428.    Adjournment,  429. 

NINTH  DAY. 

FIRST  SESSION.— Opening,  430;  Personal  Explanation,  D.  J.  Waller,  430;  Documents  Re- 
ferred, 430;  Discussion  on  Federation,  431  ;  Report  as  Adopted,  434;  Resolution  on  Social 
Purity,  434 ;  Resolution  on  Opium  Traffic,  435;  Personal  Explanation,  H.  J.  Farmer-Atkin- 
son, 440.  Essay,  The  Church  in  Her  Relation  to  Labor  and  Capital,  Alden  Speare, 
441.  Addresses— The  Moral  Aspects  of  Labor  Combinations  and  Strikes,  J.  Berry, 
446;  The  Moral  Aspects  ofCo.mbinations  of  Capital,  J.  R.  Inch,  450.  Discussion- 
Thomas  Worthington,  455  ;  J.  D.  Tavlor,  456  ;  Frank  Ballard,  457.    Adjournment,  458. 

SECOND  SESSION.— Opening,  459.  Essay,  Obligations  of  the  Church  in  Relation  to 
the  Social  Condition  of  the  People,  Peter  Thompson,  459.  Addresses— Christian 
Work  Among  the  Poor,  William  McKee,  468;  Christian  Work  Among  the  Rich, 
T.  Allen,  471;  Christian  Work  in  Agricultural  Districts,  J.  C.  Hartzell,  475.  Dis- 
cussion—E.  .1.  Brailsford,  479;  J.  A.  Anderson,  480;  H.  L.  Sibley,  480:  Nehemiah  Curnock, 
481 ;  J.  E.  Clapham,  481 ;  E.  Lloyd  Jones,  482;  D.  H.  Tribou,  483.    Adjournment,  484. 

THIRD  SESSION.— Opening,  485.  Essay,  Missions  in  Heathen  Lands,  W.  J.Townsend,485. 
Addresses— New  FIELDS  Entered  Since  1881,  C.  H.  Kiracofe,  490;  Thomas  Mitchell,  494. 
Essav,  Missions  in  Christian  La.nds,  a.  B.  Leonard,  496.  Addresses— \s  illiam  Gibson, 
504 ;  E.  W.  S.  Hammond,  513.    Discussion  —Joseph  Nettleton,  516 ;  P.  G.  Junker,  517  ;  David 

.     HUl,  518 ;  T.  Morgan  Harvey,  519 ;  George  Turner,  520 ;  W.  F.  Oldham,  5S0.  Adjournment,  520. 

TENTH  DAY. 

Opening,  521 ;  Special  Missionary  Session,  521 ;  A.  W.  Wayman  on  Organic  Union,  521 ;  Intro- 
duction of  Hon.  Charles  Foster,  Hon.  John  W.  Noble,  Sir  Julian  Pauncefote,  522.  Essay, 
Intehxational  Arbitration,  Thomas  Snape,  523.  President  Harrison  Introduced,  528. 
Addresses— J.  D.  Taylor,  530 ;  Enoch  Salt,  533.  Discussion— J.  P.  Newman,  536 ;  H.  J.  Farmer- 
Atkinson,  536;  T.  Ruddle,  537 ;  J.  M.  Buckley,  537;  J.  J.  Maclaren,  538;  William  Arthur, 
539;  John  Bond,  540.    Question  of  Privilege,  Thomas  Mitchell,  540;  Adjournment,  540. 

ELEVENTH  DAY. 

FIRST  SESSION.— Opening,  541 ;  Memorials  Referred,  541 ;  No  More  to  be  Received,  541 ;  Call 
to  Prayer,  541 ;  Publishing  Committee,  542  ;  Presiding  Officers,  542 ;  Last  Half  Hour  of  Final 
Session,  542;  Nominations  for  Missionary  Session,  542  ;  Report  on  Methodist  Statistics,  542 ; 
As  Adopted,  .546;  Report  on  Permanent  Executive  Commission,  552.  Essay,  Legal  RE- 
STRAINT on  the  Vices  of  Society,  W.  B.  Hill,  555.  Addresses— Lotteries,  Betting, 
Gambling,  and  Kindred  Vices,  Joseph  Po.snett,  502;  Marriage  and  Divorce  Laws, 
H.  Ij.  Sibley,  .567.    Discussion— J.  H.  A.  Johnson,  571 ;  J.  S.  Simon,  572.    Adjournment,  572. 

SECO.VD  SESSION.— Opening,  573.  Essay,  THE  LORD'S  Day,  T.  G.  Steward,  573.  Ad- 
dress, T.  Bromage,  576.  Essav,  The  Attiti^de  of  the  Church  Toward  Amusements, 
T.  Ruddle,  579.  Address,  C.  D.'Foss,  584.  Discussion— Joseph  Nettleton,  587 ;  B.  M.  Messick, 
588;  Frank  Ballard,  589;  J.  W.  Hanev,  590  ;  J.  E.  Balmer.  591;  P.  A.  Hubbard,  592;  D.J. 
Waller,  592:  J.  M.  Buckley,  592.    Pastoral  Address,  593:  Adjournment,  598. 

THIRD  (SPECIAL)  SESSION.— Opening,  599.  Addresses— J.  Smith  Spencer,  599;  W.  R.  Lam- 
l)uth,  <iii3;  Josiah  Hudson,  C(i9;  S.  L.  Baldwin,  612.  Discussion— William  Wilson,  616; 
David  Hill,  617.    Adjournment,  619. 

TW^ELFTH  DAY. 

FIRST  SESSION.— Opening,  630;  Deputation  to  Pan-Presbyterian  Council,  620;  Report  on 
Executive  Commission  on  Next  Ecumenical  Conference,  620.  Essay,  CHRISTIAN  Re- 
sources of  the  old  World,  J.  s.  Simon,  622.  Addreas,  J.  C.  Watts,  630.  Essay,  Chris- 
tian Resources  op  the  New  World,  Edward  Mayes,  632.  Address,  J.  A.  M.  Chapman, 
640.  Discussion— W.  V.  Tudor,  644;  J.  C.  Price,  645  ;  W.  R.  Lambuth,  646;  J.  C.  Keener, 
(547.    Adjournment,  648. 

SECOND  SESSION.— Opening,  619;  Report  on  Aggressions  of  Roman  Hierarchy,  etc.,  649 ; 
Responsibility  of  Wi-iters  and  Speakei-s,  649.  Essay,  The  Church  op  the  FUTURE,  J . 
M.  Buckley,  649.  Addresses— W.  .7.  Dawson,  656  ;  K.  R.  llendrix,  660;  F.  W.  Bourne,  665. 
Autograph  Books,  6(i9.  Resolutions  of  Thanks,  67o ;  Addiesses  on— T.  15.  Stephenson,  670: 
A.  Carman,  673 ;  S.  .1.  Way,  674  ;  H.  J.  Farmer-Atkinson,  676  ;  J.  F.  Hurst,  675.  Prayer  and 
Final  Adjournment,  677. 

APPENDIX— OFFICIAL  Papers  and  Acts  Relating  to  Call  op  Second  Ecumen- 

ICA  L  CON  FEREXCE 679 

Literature  of  the  Ea.ster.\  Delegates •';^*J 

Receptions,  Meetings,  and  Excursions  not  Announced  in  Official  Programme  oao 


INTRODUCTION. 


¥HEN  the  time  came  for  steps  to  be  taken  towards  the 
assembling  of  a  second  Ecumenical  Methodist  Conference, 
the  minister  who  had  initiated  the  movement  for  the  first,  and 
on  whom  had  devolved  the  principal  executive  measures  for 
convening  it,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Augustus  C.  George,  of  Chicago, 
had  been  called  to  union  with  the  saints  in  light. 

As  no  body  had  been  constituted  with  authority  to  call  an- 
other Ecumenical  Conference,  the  assent  of  the  different 
denominations  interested  had  to  be  obtained.  The  steps  taken 
were  as  follows  : 

1.  In  the  year  1886  the  British  Conference  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  consider  the  advisability  of  holding  an  Ecumenical 
Conference  in  1891.  In  1887  it  sanctioned  the  proposal  to 
hold  such  Conference  in  America,  and  on  the  same  basis  as 
that  of  1881 ;  and  instructed  accordingly  the  Rev.  C.  H.  Kelly, 
its  representative  to  the  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  to  be  held  in  the  year  ensuing. 
.  2.  In  1888  the  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  on  the  motion  of  General  Clinton  B.  Fisk,  appointed 
a  committee  of  five,  who,  in  connection  with  brethren  from 
abroad,  should  take  into  consideration  the  propriety  of  holding 
a  Methodist  Ecumenical  Conference  in  1891.  After  confer- 
ring with  the  fraternal  delegates  of  the  British,  Irish,  and  Cana- 
dian Conferences,  this  committee  reported  in  favor  of  holding 
in  1891,  in  the  United  States  of  America,  and  at  a  time  and 
place  to  be  determined  by  a  committee,  an  Ecumenical  Con- 
ference. Touching  the  range  of  subjects  for  discussion,  a  reso- 
lution was  adopted,  as  follows :  "  That  the  range  of  subjects 
presented  for  consideration  shall  be  determined  by  the  joint 
committees  of  the  several  Methodist  bodies,  excluding  ques- 
tions of  doctrine  and  polity  where  material  differences  exist." 

3.  In  1889  the  British  Conference,  having  received  favorable 


VUl  INTKODUCTION. 

communications  from  tlie  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  also  having  received  a  report  to  the  effect 
that  the  other  Methodist  Churches  of  the  Eastern  Section  had 
oflScially  signified  their  concurrence,  again  gave  its  sanction, 
■which  it  repeated  in  1890  and  1891. 

Of  events  touching  the  mutual  relations  of  different  Method- 
ist Churches  occurring  in  the  interim  between  the  two  Ecumen- 
ical Conferences,  the  one  which  appears  most  worthy  of  notice 
is  the  complete  union  in  Canada  of  all  existing  branches  of 
Methodism  into  one  Church.  This  union  was  effected  in  Sep- 
tember, 1883,  and  up  to  the  present  time  its  working  has  been 
to  the  satisfaction  of  all  parties. 

In  England  several  writings  were  issued,  some  inciting  to 
measures  of  organic  union,  some  pointing  out  the  difficulties  in 
the  way  of  such  measures,  and  some  again  recommending,  as 
more  feasible,  co-operation  or  federative  concert  of  action.  In 
more  than  one  denomination  the  Conferences  passed  resolutions 
pointing  to  ultimate  union.  Two  made  an  effort  to  bring  it 
about  at  once ;  but  ujd  to  the  present  time  no  attempt  at  an  or- 
ganic union  has  come  to  a  successful  issue.  Meanwhile,  friendly 
relations  are  more  and  more  cultivated,  and  by  the  cherishing 
of  mutual  sympathy,  with  increasing  interchange  of  brotherly 
offices,  the  way  is  being  prepared  for  labors  carried  on  with 
greater  mutual  consideration,  and  eventually  with  concert,  even 
if  not  with  fusion  of  denominations. 

In  the  United  States  of  America,  whatever  the  course  and 
tendency  of  events  in  the  interim  between  the  first  and  second 
Ecumenical  Conferences,  the  subject  did  not  receive  pronounced 
notice  in  the  periodicals  of  American  Methodism. 

On  all  sides  the  feeling  existed  that  the  first  Ecumenical 
Conference  must  be  followed  by  succeedhig  ones ;  and  with  this 
feeling  was  coupled  another,  namely,  that  as  the  first  had  been 
held  in  England,  the  seat  of  the  oldest  Methodist  Churches,  so 
should  the  second  be  held  in  America,  the  seat  of  the  strongest. 
When  it  was  eventually  determined  by  the  Western  Section 
that  the  place  of  assembly  should  be  the  city  of  Washington, 
the  decision  was  responded  to  in  all  parts  of  the  Eastern  Section 
with  alacrity,  it  being  recognized  as  fitting  that  the  second 
Ecumenical  Conference  should  meet  in  the  capital  city  of  the 
'New  Country  as  the  first  had  met  in  the  metropolis  of  the  Old. 


INTRODUCTION.  IX 

When  the  delegates  of  the  Eastern  Section  had  arrived  in 
New  York,  on  the  evening  of  October  4,  1891,  an  imposing 
public  reception  was  given  to  them  in  the  Music  Hall,  when 
the  chair  was  taken  by  Mr.  J.  D.  Slayback,  and  addresses  of 
welcome  were  delivered  by  Dr.  J.  M.  King  and  Bishop  C.  D. 
Foss. 

At  the  hour  appointed,  on  October  7,  1891,  in  the  Metro- 
politan Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Washington,  the  delegates 
from  all  countries  met.  They  came  from  the  British  Isles  and 
Japan,  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  the  Hudson  Bay 
country,  from  France  and  Fiji,  from  Germany  and  Mexico, 
from  ISTewfoundland  and  J^ew  Zealand,  from  the  Yang-tse 
and  tho  Ganges,  from  the  various  regions  of  Australia  and,  it 
need  not  be  said,  from  all  sections  of  the  American  Union — 
north,  south,  east,  and  west.  Thougli  tlie  numbers,  being  five 
hundred,  were  greater  than  in  the  first  Ecumenical  Confer- 
ence, the  incompleteness  of  the  assembly  as  a  representation 
of  all  the  existing  Churches  of  Methodism  was  equally  marked. 
No  one  represented  the  Methodists  of  Italy,  or  those  of  Scandi- 
navia ;  no  one  those  of  the  West  Coast  of  Africa ;  no  one  those 
of  the  region  of  the  Congo  or  of  the  Orange  River  or  Transvaal. 
And  what  made  the  incompletenc':.3  of  the  representation  more 
obvious  was  the  absence  of  Christian  brethren  of  the  Polynesian, 
Hindu,  Chinese,  Japanese,  Kafir,  Zulu,  and  African-horn  Negro 
races.  With  the  exception  of  a  couple  of  French  brethren, 
only  the  Teutonic  and  the  American-horn  African  races  were 
present,  and  the  English  tongue  was  the  sole  speech  heard  in 
Conference.  Tliis  left  out  much  which  would  be  necessary  to 
present  an  adequate  symbol  of  all  that  God  hath  wrought 
among  the  families  of  men  by  the  humble  instrumentality  of 
the  Methodists. 

Naturally,  missionary  societies  could  not  provide  funds  to  pay 
the  expenses  of  brethren  from  their  respective  mission  fields. 
But,  perhaps,  when  next  it  is  the  turn  of  Washington  to  receive 
an  Ecumenical  Conference,  some  great  hall  may  resonnd  with 
polyglot  doxologies  from  men  of  more  races  and  more  tongues 
than  we  can  at  present  count  in  the  Methodist  flocks  of  the 
entire  world. 

If  the  absence  of  representatives  of  many  of  the  living  was 
felt,  to  those  who  had  been  at  the  first  Ecumenical  Conference 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

110  feeling  was  more  natural  than  that  of  sorrow  over  the  absence 
here  of  men  who  were  prominent  then.  That  Conference  was 
opened  by  the  president  for  the  time  being  of  the  Weslejan 
Conference  and  one  of  the  bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Clmrcli.  George  Osborn  and  Matthew  Simpson  were  now  both 
gone.  The  first  had  conducted  the  services,  the  second  had 
preached  the  sermon  at  the  opening  session  of  1881.  So,  also, 
the  most  conspicuous  layman  of  that  Conference,  Sir  William 
McArthur,  for  the  time  being  Lord  Mayor  of  London,  Mas  also 
gone.  He  on  the  opening  day  had  received  all  the  delegates  in 
the  historical  Mansion  House  of  London.  Bishop  Peclc,  of  the 
North,  and  Bishop  McTyeire,  of  the  South,  were  both  gone.  The 
unique  figure  of  Dr.  McFerrin  had  left  behind  it  a  sensible 
void.  And  who  that  had  marked  the  men  of  note  from  the 
Western  Section  did  not  say  to  himself,  Clinton  B.  Fisk  and 
Oliver  Hoyt  and  Washington  C.  de  Pauw  are  not  here,  they  are 
gone  home  ?  So,  as  under  the  eyes  of  a  cloud  of  witnesses,  did 
survivors  bend  their  white  or  whitening  heads. 

The  opening  services  of  the  second  Ecumenical  Conference 
w^ere  conducted  by  the  senior  bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  Bishop  Thomas  Bowman  ;  and  the  sermon  was  preached 
by  the  Rev.  William  Arthur,  of  the  British  Wesleyaii  Con- 
ference. After  the  sermon  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per was  administered  to  a  deeply  devout  multitude,  in  which 
mingled  the  complexions  of  Europe,  Africa,  and  America, 
black  and  white,  fair  and  brown,  together  showing  forth  till 
He  comes  the  death  of  Him  who  with  one  blood  redeemed  all 
dwellers  upon  earth,  as  of  one  blood  the  Creator  had  made 
them  all. 

On  the  evening  of  October  8  a  reception  was  given  to  the 
whole  body  of  the  delegates  and  their  friends  by  the  Hon.  M. 
G.  Emery,  an  ex-mayor  of  the  city  of  Washington.  On  the 
evening  of  October  9  a  reception  was  also  given  in  the  African 
Methodist  Episcopal  Metropolitan  Church. 

On  October  12,  at  the  Executive  Mansion,  the  Hon.  Benjamin 
Harrison,  President  of  the  United  States,  gave  a  special  recep- 
tion to  the  members  of  the  Conference.  And  on  October  17, 
while  the  Conference  had  under  consideration  questions  touch- 
ing war  and  peace,  and  international  arbitration  as  a  means  of 
preventing  wars,  President  Ilamson  visited  the    Conference 


INTEODCCTION.  XI 

and  delivered  an  important  address,  expressing  his  own  desire 
to  see  such  views  prevail. 

As  to  the  proceedings  of  the  Conference  itself,  the  following- 
pages  give  the  extended  reports  of  them. 

In  almost  every  case  when  action  was  taken  the  whole  of  the 
delegates  voted  for  the  proposal,  and  in  no  case  did  any  vote 
against  action  as  finally  taken. 

Outside  of  the  Conference  was  held  an  nnofficial  meeting  of 
the  presidents  of  the  British  Methodist  Churches,  wlio  in  their 
])ersonarcapacity,  having  no  mandate,  held  consultation  as  to  any 
possible  forms  of  co-operation,  with  a  desire  for  ultimate  union, 
at  least  in  certain  cases.  The  bishops  and  presidents  of  all  the 
African  Churches  of  America  also  had  a  private  meeting,  of 
which  the  result,  as  announced,  was  that  those  who  constituted 
the  meeting  were  prepared  in  their  individual  capacity  to  rec- 
ommend their  respective  Conferences  to  take  steps  towards 
organic,  union. 

In  noting  the  important  fact  that  the  Conference  is  not  re- 
sponsible for  the  opinions  of  individuals,  whether  expressed  in 
the  papers  or  read  in  speeches,  one  remark  seems  necessary. 
When  the  first  Ecumenical  Conference  was  proposed,  limita- 
tions on  the  topics  to  be  brought  up  for  discussion  were  on  all 
hands  agreed  upon  as  absolutely  necessary,  if  the  end  for  which 
the  Conference  was  originated  was  not  to  be  frustrated,  namely, 
the  holdino;  of  deliberations  which  should  allay  and  not  excite 
controversy.  This  principle  was  re-aftii-med  in  1888  by  the 
General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in 
ado])ting  resolutions  in  favor  of  the  calling  of  a  second  Ecu- 
menical Conference.  The  fact  that  an  individual  is  solely 
responsible  for  his  opinions  does  not  alter  the  fact  that  if  he 
accept  the  place  of  delegate  to  an  Ecumenical  Conference  he 
comes  under  an  honorable  understanding  to  abide  within  the 
limits,  and  not  to  raise  questions  either  of  doctrine  or  disci- 
])line  which  would  necessarily  provoke  serious  disagreement. 
Outside  of  the  Ecumenical  Conference  his  individual  opinions 
may  be  circulated  in  any  channel  of  his  own  selection  ;  but  in 
such  Conference  he  cannot  speak  as  a  mere  individual  repre- 
senting no  one  but  himself.  He  is  a  delegate  of  a  public  body, 
and  its  name  as  well  as  his  own  is  more  or  less  connected  in 
the  general  mind  with  his  expressed  views.     This  fact  ought 


Xll  INTftODUCTION. 

to  lead  all  bodies  in  selecting  delegates  to  designate  only  men 
whose  words,  whether  written  or  extempore^  are  likely  to  give 
only  such  an  impression  of  their  views  and  tendencies  as  they 
would  wish  to  be  given.  No  public  body  w^ould  like  itself  to 
be  considered  as  willing  to  send  men  to  connect  in  the  public 
mind  the  name  of  an  Ecumenical  Conference  with  the  dis- 
cussion of  points  to  the  raising  of  which  the  consent  of  such 
Conference,  if  asked,  could  not  have  been  obtained. 

Two  Ecumenical  Methodist  Conferences  have  now  left  their 
record  behind  them,  and  only  the  future  can  declare  what  their 
fruits  will  be.  May  they  be  such  as  will  set  forward  tlie  cause 
of  Christ's  kingdom  and  the  salvation  of  the  world. 

AViLLiAM  Arthur. 


OFFICIAL  LIST  OF  DELEGATES. 


WESTERN   SECTION. 


METHODIST   EPISCOPAL   CHURCH. 
Bishop  Thomas  Bowman,  D.D.,  LL.D St.  Louis,  Mo. 

"       Randolph  S.  Foster,  D.D.,  LL.D.  .Roxbury,  Mass, 

"       Stephen  M.  Merrill,  D.D Chicago,  111. 

"       Edward  G.  Andrews,  D.D.,  LL.D.  New  York,  N.  Y. 

"       Henry  W.  Warren,  D.D Denver,  Col. 

"       Cyrus  D.  Foss,  D.D.,  LL.D Philadelphia,  Pa. 

"       John  F.  Hurst,  D.D.,  LL.D Washington,  D.  C. 

"       William  X.  Ninde,  D.D Topeka,  Kan. 

"       John  M.  Walden,  D.D Cincinnati,  O. 

"       Willard  F.  Mallalieu,  D.D New  Orleans,  La. 

"       Charles  H.  Fowler,  D.D.,  LL.D.  .  .San  Francisco,  Cal. 

"       John  H.  Vincent,  D.D.,  LL.D. . .  .Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

"       James  N.  FitzGerald,  D.D. ,  LL.D. Minneapolis,  Minn. 

"       Isaac  W.  Joyce,  D.D Chattanooga,  Tenn. 

"       John  P.  Newman,  D.D.,  LL.D Omaha,  Neb. 

"       Daniel  A.  Goodsell,  D.D.,  LL.D.  .Fort  Worth,  Tex. 

Rev.  A.  E.  P.  Albert,  D.D New  Orleans,  La. 

"     J.  G.  Bauer Minneapolis,  Minn. 

"     L.  A.  Belt,  D.D Kenton,  O. 

"     W.  S.  Birch,  D.D Kokomo,  Ind. 

.    "     J.  D.  Botkin Wichita,  Kan. 

"     J.  W.  E.  Bowen,  D.D Washington,  D.  C. 

'•     Elbridge  Bradford,  Jr .Augusta,  Wis. 

"     James  M.  Buckley,  D.D.,  LL.D New  York,  N.  Y. 

"     H.  A.  Buttz,  D.D.,  LL.D Madison,  N.  J. 

"     R.  S.  Cantine Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

"     J.  G.  Chaffee,  D.D Mapleton,  Ind. 

"     J.  A.  M.  Chajiman,  D.D Philadelphia,  Pa. 

"     T.  C.  Clendenning Omaha,  Neb. 

"     Earl  Cranston,  D.D Cincinnati,  O. 

"     M.  D'C.  Crawford,  D.D New  York,  N.  Y. 

"     Lewis  Curts,  D.D Chicago,  111. 

"     J.  C.  Davison Hackettstown,  N.  J. 

"     Nehemiah  Doane,  D.D Portland,  Ore. 

"     S.  N.  Fellows,  D.D Manchester,  la. 

"     William  Fielder Huron,  S.  Dak. 

"     C.  O.  Fisher,  D.D Atlanta,  Ga. 

"     L.  R.  Fiske,  D.D.,  LL.D Albion,  Mich. 

"     J.  N.  Fradenburgh,   D.D Warren,  Pa. 

"     J.  L.  Freeman Walnut  Grove,  Ala. 

"     B.  St.  James  Fry,  D.D St.  Louis,  Mo. 


>:iV  LIST   OF    DELEGATES. 

IJev.  J.  A.  FuUerton,  D.D Wheeling,  W,  Va. 

"  Ernst  Gebhardt Germany. 

' '  A.  M.  Gould Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

"  C.  N.  Grandison,  D.D Grecnsborough,  N.  C. 

"  E.  J.  Gray,  D.D Williamsijort,  Pa. 

"  Samuel  N.  Griffith,  M.A Larimore,  N.  Dak. 

"  J.  W.  Hamilton,   D.D East  Boston,  Mass. 

"  E.  W.  S.  Hammond,  D.D Covington,  Ky. 

"  J.  W.  Haney,  D.D Geneseo,  111. 

"  J.  C.  Hartzell,  D.D Cincinnati,  O. 

"  D.  W.  Hays,  D.D .Cleveland,  Tenn. 

"  H.  K.  Hines Portland,  Ore. 

"  A.  S.  Hunt,  D.D New  York,  N.  Y. 

"  J.  W.  Hughes Kansas  City,  Mo. 

"  F.  F.  Jewell,  D.D San  Jose,  Cal. 

"  T.  S.  Johnson,  M.D Lucknow,  India. 

"  P.  G.  Junker Germany. 

"  J.  M.  King,  D.D New  York,  N.  Y. 

"  D.  C.  Knowles,   D.D Tilton,  N.  H. 

"  John  Lanahan,  D.D Baltimore,  Md. 

"  A,  B.  Leonard,  D.D New  York,  N.  Y. 

' '  J.  H.  Lockwood Salina,  Kan. 

"  R.  H.  Manier Ellensburg,  Wash. 

"  James  Marvin,  D.D Lawrence,  Kan. 

"■  T.  J.  Massey Whatcom,  Wash. 

"  J.  W.  Meudenhall,   D.D.,  LL.D New  York,  N.  Y. 

"  Emory  Miller,  D.D Indianola,  la. 

"  W.  G.  Miller,  D.D University  Place,  Neb. 

"  D.  S.  Monroe,  D.D Altoona,  Pa. 

"  Lyttleton  F.  Morgan,  D.D Baltimore,  Md. 

"  D.  II.  Muller,  D.D Canton,  O. 

•'  William  Nasi,  D.D Cincinnati,©. 

"  W,  F.  Oldham Pittsburg,  Pa. 

"  W.  J.  Paxson,  D.D Chester,  Pa. 

"  N.  J.  Plumb New  Haven,  Conn. 

"  Wesley  Prettyman Decatur,  Ala. 

"  Paul  Quatlander New  York,  N.  Y. 

"  L.  C.  Queal,  D.D Auburn,  N.  Y. 

"  II.  R.  Revels,  D.D Holly  Springs,  Miss. 

"  A.  G.  Robb Emporia,   Kan. 

"  R.  H.  Robb Atlanta,  Ga. 

"  J.  A.  Scarritt Alton,  111. 

•'  LB.  Scott,  D.D Houston,  Tex. 

"  C.  W.  Smith,  D.D Pittsburg,  Pa. 

"  Y.  C.  Smith,  D.D West  Pittston,  Pa. 

"  N.  E.  Simonsen E vanston.  111. 

"  M.  J.  Tall)ot,  D.D Providence,  R.  L 


u 


(1 


(I 
<( 


LIST    OF    DELEGATES.  XV 

Kev.  H.  J.  Talbott New  Albany,  Ind. 

M.  S.  Terry,  D.D Evanston,  111. 

Jacob  Todd,  D.D Philadelphia,  Pa. 

D.  H.  Tribou Ellsworth,  Me. 

T.  S.  Walker Chuckey  City,  Tenn. 

W.  F.  Warren,  D.D.,  LL.D Boston,  Mass. 

M.  R.  Webster,  D.D Rome,  N.  Y. 

T.  C.  Webster Chadron,  Neb. 

Wilmot  Whitfield,  D.D Sioux  City,  la. 

C.  W.  Winchester Medina,  N.  Y. 

Preston  Wood,  D.D Springfield,  111. 

Mr.  B.  F.  Bennett Washington,  D.  C. 

"    R.  A.  W.  Bruehl Cincinnati,  O. 

"    J.  M.  Cornell New  York,  N.  Y. 

"    William  Connell Scranton,  Pa. 

Hon.  S.  M.  Coon Oswego,  N.  Y. 

"      W.  P.  Dillingham Montpelier,  Vt. 

M.  G.  Emery Washington,  D.  C. 

John  Evans Denver,  Col. 

"      G.  J.  Ferry. . East  Orange,  N.  J. 

Professor  J.  R.  French Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

Mr.  James  Gillinder Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Hon.  James  Harlan Mount  Pleasant,  la. 

Mr.  Daniel  Hays Gloversville,  N.  Y. 

"    C.  E.  Hendrickson Mount  Holly,  N.  J. 

"    J.  B.  Hobbs Chicago,  111. 

"    German  H.  Hunt Baltimore,  Md. 

Hon.  F.  G.  Niedringhaus St.  Louis,  Mo. 

"      M.  G.  Norton Winona,  Minn. 

"      R.  E.  Pattison Harrisburg,  Pa. 

"      John  Patton Curwensville,  Pa, 

H.  W.  Rogers,  LL.D Evanston,  111. 

Mr.  H.  H.  Shaw Portland,  Me. 

"    Amos  Shinkle Covington,  Ivy. 

Hon.  H.  L.  Sibley Marietta,  O. 

' '      Alden  Speare Boston,  Mass. 

Mr.  Clement  Studebaker South  Bend,  Ind. 

Hon.  J.  D.  Taylor Cambridge,  O. 

Professor  J.  M.  Van  Vleck,  LL.D . .  .Middletown,  Conn. 

METHODIST   EPISCOPAL  CHURCH,   SOUTH. 

Bishop  J.  C.  Keener,  D.D New  Orleans,  La. 

"      A.  W.  Wilson,  D.D.,  LL.D Baltimore,  Md. 

"      J.  C.   Granbery,   D.D Ashland,  Va. 

"      R.  K.  Hargrove,  D.D Nashville,  Tenn. 

"      W.  W.  Duncan,  D.D Spartanburg,  S.  C. 

"      C.  B.  Galloway,  D.D Jackson,  Miss. 


XVI  LIST    OF    DELEGATES. 


Bishop  E.  R.  Hendrix,  D.D.,  LL.D Kansas  City,  Mo. 

"      J.  S.  Key,  D.D Fort  Worth,  Tex. 

"      A.  G.  Haygood,  D.D Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

"      O.  P.  Fitzgerald,  D.D San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Rev.  J.  A.  Anderson Greenwood,  Ark. 

"     James  B.  Anderson,  D.D Jacksonville,  Fla. 

"     James  Atkins,  D.D Emory,  Va. 

' '     James  Campbell Dallas,  Tex. 

C.  W.  Carter,  D.D New  Orleans,  La. 

L.  W.  Crawford,  D.D Trinity  College,  N.  C. 

J.  D.  Hammond,  D.D Fayette,  Mo. 

W.  P.  Harrison,  D.D Nashville,  Tenn. 

J.  W.   Heidt,  D.D Atlanta,  Ga. 

"     E.  E.  Hoss,  D.D Nashville,  Tenn. 

Horace  Jewell Searcy,  Ark. 

I.  G.  John,  D.D Nashville,  Tenn. 

A.  B,  Jones,  D.D.,  LL.D Hiintsville,  Ala. 

"     J.  O.  Keener Montgomery,  Ala. 

"     W.  B.  Kirkland,  D.  D Columbia,  S.  C. 

Walter  R.  Lambuth Kobi,  Japan. 

J.  W.  Lewis,  D.D Bowling  Green,  Ky. 

.J.  H.  McLean Georgetown,  Md. 

"     R.  H.  Mahon,  D.D Memphis,  Tenn. 

"    B.  M.  Messick,  D.D St.  Louis,  Mo. 

"     David  Morton,  D.D Louisville,  Ky. 

"     E.  H.  Mounger   Hattiesburg,  Miss. 

"     W.  B.  Murrah,  D.  D Brookhaven,  Miss. 

"     W.  B.  Palmer St.  Louis,  Mo. 

"     P.  A.  Peterson,  D.D Richmond,  Va. 

'•     W.  W.  Pinson San  Antonio,  Tex. 

C.  F.  Reid Florence,  Ky. 

F.  L.  Reid,  D.D Raleigh,  N.  C. 

"     C.  B.  Riddick,  D.D Birmingham,  Ala. 

"     Andrew  Shorter,  D.D Little  Rock,  Ark. 

J.  C.  Simmons,  D.D Santa  Rosa,  Cal. 

A.  Coke  Smith,  D.D Nashville,  Tenn. 

E.  L.  Southgate Lexington,  Ky, 

W.  V.  Tudor,  D.D Richmond,  Va. 

T.  S.  Wade Catlettsburg,  Ky. 

P.  H.  Whisncr,  D.D Salem,  Va. 

E.  E.  Wiley,  D.D Emory,  Va. 

John  H.  Witt McKenzie,  Texas. 

"     J.  M.  Wright,  D.D Bellbuckle,  Tenn. 

Hon.  Mr.  Justice  L.  Q.  C.  Lamar Washington,  D.  C. 

J.  W.  Brown,  M.D Camden,  Ark. 

J.  H.  Carlisle,  LL.D Spartanburg,  S.  C. 

Mr.  John  L.  Wheat Louisville,  Ky. 


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LIST    OF    DELEGATES.  Xvii 

Mr.  A.  G.  Clarke Helena,  Mont . 

Chancellor  L.  C.  Garland,  LL.D   Nashville,  Tenn. 

Hon.  W.  B.  Hill Mucon,  Ga. 

"      Asa  Holt Abilene,  Tex. 

"      T.  J.  Jarvis Greenville,  N.  C. 

Chancellor  Edward  Mayes Oxford,  Miss . 

Mr.  S.  B.  McCutcheou Shreveport,  La . 

Hon.  W.  L.  Nugent Jackson,  Miss . 

"      E.  B.  Prettyman Baltimore,  Md . 

Professor  F.  H.  Smith,  LL.D Charlottesville,  Va. 

Hon.  R.  B.  Yance Asheville,  N .  C . 

METHODIST   CHURCH,   CANADA. 

Gen'l  Superintendent  A.  Carman,  D.D  . .  .  .Belleville,  Ontario. 

Rev.  William  Briggs,  D.D Toronto,  Ontario. 

"     N.  Burwash,  S.T.D Cobourg,  Ontario. 

E.  H.  Dewart,  D.D Toronto,  Ontario . 

George  Douglas,  D.D.,  LL.D Montreal,  Quebec. 

"     S.  F.  Huestis Halifax,  Nova  Scotia. 

"     W.  S.  GrifEn,  D.D Gait,   Ontario. 

"     John  Lathern,  D.D Halifax,  Nova  Scotia. 

"     E.  B.  Ryckman,  D.D Ottawa,  Ontario. 

"     John  Wakefield Thorold,  Ontario. 

«*     T.  G.  Williams,  D.D Montreal,  Quebec. 

"     James  Woodsworth Brandon,  Manitoba. 

D.  Allison,  LL.D Halifax,  Nova  Scotia. 

Mr.  J.  H.  Beatty Thorold,  Ontario. 

"     William  Bowman London,  Ontario. 

"     J.  H.  Carson Montreal,  Quebec. 

"     W.  E.  Dawson Charlottetown,  P.  E.  Island. 

* '     S.  Fiuley jVIontreal,  Quebec . 

J.  R.  Inch,  LL.D Sackville,  New  Brunswick. 

Mr.  Warring  Kennedy Toronto,  Ontario. 

"    W.  H.  Lambly Inverness,  Quebec. 

J.  J.  Maclaren,  Q.C.,  D.C.L.,  LL.D Toronto,  Ontario. 

Hon.  J.  J.  Rogerson St.  Johns,  Newfoundland. 

Mr.  David  Spencer Victoria,  British  Columbia. 

AFRICAN   METHODIST   EPISCOPAL   CHURCH. 

Bishop  B.  W.  Arnett,  D.D Wilberforce,  O. 

"        J.  M.  Brown,  D.D Washington,  D.  C. 

W.  J.  Gaines,  D.D Atlanta,  Ga. 

A.  Grant,  D.D San  Antonio,  Tex. 

D.  A.  Payne,  D.D.,  LL.D Wilberforce,  O. 

T.  M.  D.  Ward,  D.D St.  Jose,  Mo. 

"        H.  M.  Turner,  D.D.,  LL.D Atlanta,  Ga. 

A.  W.  Wayman,  D.D Baltimore,  Md. 


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yvill  LIST   OF   DELEGATES. 

Rev.  L.  J.  Coppin,  D.D Philadelphia,  Pa. 

J.  C.  Embry,  D.D Leavenworth,  Kau. 

A.  M.  Green,  D.D New  Orleans,  La. 

"     T.  W.  Henderson,  D.D Springfield,  111. 

"     T.  W.  Anderson Vicksburg,  Miss. 

"     J.  H.  Jones,  B.D Columbus,  O. 

"     P.  A.  Hubbard   Denver,  Colo. 

"     W.  A.  J.  Phillips Little  Rock,  Ark. 

"     John  M.  Abbey,  D.D Louisville,  Ky. 

"     L.  H.  Smith Macon,  Ga. 

"     J.  H.  A.  Johnson,  D.D Hagarstown,  Md. 

AFRICAN   METHODIST   EPISCOPAL  ZION   CHURCH. 

Bishop  C.  R.  Harris,  D.D Atlanta,  Ga. 

"        J.  W.  Hood,  D.D Fayetteville,  N.  C. 

"        Thomas  H.  Lomax,  D.D Charlotte,  N.  C. 

"        J.  J.  Moore,  D.D Salisbury,  N.  C. 

"        C.  C.  Pettey,  D.D Mobile,  Ala. 

Rev.  G.  W.  Clinton,  A.B Pittsburg,  Pa. 

"     J.   S.  Cowles Washington,  D.  C. 

"     W.  H.  Day,  D.D Harrisburg,  Pa. 

"     N.  J.  Green,  D.D Providence,  R.  L 

"     R.  H.  G.  Dyson Washington,  D.  C. 

'•     I.  C.  Clinton  , Lancaster,  S.  C. 

J.  0.  Price,   D.D Salisbury,  N.  C. 

A.  Walters,   D.D New  York,  N.  Y. 

T.  A.  Weathington Montgomery,  Ala. 

Hon.  J.  C.  Dancy Wilmington,  N.  C. 

COLORED    METHODIST   EPISCOPAL   CHURCH, 

Bishop  Isaac  Lane Jackson,  Tenn. 

Rev.  Elias  Cottrell Memphis,  Tenn. 

Edward  W.  Moseley Jackson,  Tenn. 

Charles  H.  Phillips,  D.D Washington,  D.  C. 

"     J.  T.   Sackleford,  M.D Wasliington,  D.  C. 

"     A.  J.  Stinson Columbia,  S.  C. 

"     S.  B.  Wallace Louisville,  Ivy. 

"     J.  C.  Waters Memphis,  Tenn. 

"     Robert  S.  Williams Columbia,  S.  C. 

METHODIST    PROTESTANT   CHURCH. 

Rev.  T.  B.  Appleget Hi.uhtstown,  N.  J. 

"     M.  L.  Jennings,  D.D Steubenville,  O. 

"     J.  T.  Murray,  D.D Baltimore,  Md. 

"     T.  J.  Ogburn Henderson,  N.  C. 

"     J.  J.  Smith,  D.D Fishkill-on -Hudson,  N.  Y. 

Hon.  C.  W.  Button Lynchburg,  Va. 


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LIST   OF   DELEGATES.  XIX 

Mr,  W.  R.  Peters Steuben ville,  O. 

"   J.  S.  Topham Washington,  D.  C. 

"   W.  C.  Wliittaker Enfield,  N.  C. 

UNITED   BRETHREN   IN   CHRIST. 

Rev.  C.  I.  B.  Brane Washington,  D.  C. 

S.  D.  Foust Harrisburg,  Pa. 

J.  P.  Landis,  D.D Dayton,  O. 

W.  McKee Dayton,  O. 

D.  R.  Miller Dayton,  O. 

W.  J.  Shuey Dayton,  O. 

C.  T.  Steam Chambersburg,  Pa. 

UNION   AMERICAN   METHODIST   EPISCOPAL   CHURCH. 

Rev.  H.  R.  Edmunds Philadelphia,  Pa. 

"     B.  T.  Rulley Wilmington,  Del. 

"     Ezekiel  Smith Newark,  Del. 

AFRICAN   UNION   METHODIST    PROTESTANT   CHURCH. 

Rev.  E.  H.  Chippey Wilmington,  Del. 

"     A.  Woodards Wilmington,  Del. 

FREE  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

Gen'l  Superintendent  B.  T.  Roberts,  D.D.  .North  Chili,  N.  Y. 

Rev.  W.  T.  Hogg Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

"     J.  T.  Michael Philadelphia,  Pa. 

CONGREGATIONAL    METHODIST   CHURCH. 

Rev.  John  M.  Thurman Locust  Grove,  Ga. 

PRIMITIVE  METHODIST   CHURCH. 

Rev.  E.  Humphries Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

BRITISH    METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH. 

Bishop  W.  Hawkins Chatham,  Ontario. 

Rev.  R.  Miller 

"      T.  C.   Slater 

INDEPENDENT  METHODIST   CHURCH. 

Rev.  A.  W.  Green Baltimore,  Md. 

Hon.  Charles  J.  Baker "  " 

UNITED   BRETHREN   IN   CHRIST  (Old  Constitution). 

Rev.  Bishop  Halleck  Floyd,  D.D Dublin,  Ind. 

Professor  C.  H.  Kiracofe,  D.D Dayton,  O. 


XX  LIST   OF    DELEGATES. 

APPORTIONMENT   OF   DELEGATES    IN   THE   WESTERN   SECTION. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church 126 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South 64 

Methodist  Church,  Canada 34 

African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 19 

African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church 15 

Colored  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 9 

Methodist  Protestant  Church 9 

United  Brethren  in  Christ 7 

American  Wesleyan  Church 6 

Union  American  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 3 

African  Union  Methodist  Protestant  Church 3 

Free  Methodist  Church 3 

Congregational  Methodist  Church 3 

Primitive  Methodist  Church 3 

British  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 3 

Independent  Methodist  Church 2 

United  Brethren  in  Christ  (Old  Constitution) 2 

EASTERN   SECTION. 

Those  marked  thus  *  were  not  present  at  the  Conference. 
WESLEYAN    METHODIST   CHURCH. 

Rev.  T.  B.  Stephenson,  D.D.,  LL.D 6  Church  Terrace,  Bonner  Road, 

Victoria  Park,  London,  E. 

David  J.  Waller,  D.D 3MacaulayRoad,  Clapham  Com- 
mon, S.W.,  London,  W. 

Richard  W.  Allen 26  Edith  Road,  West  Kensing- 
ton, London,  W. 

Thomas  Allen Sheffield. 

William  Arthur,  M.A Glenelg,  Clapham  Com.,  S.W. 

Frank  Ballard,  M.A.,  B.Sc Great  Crosby,  Liverpool. 

Wesley  Brunyate 16  St.  Catherine  Place,  Edin- 
burgh, [don. 

John  Bond Wilton  House,  Tottenham,  Lon- 

E.  J.  Brailsford Blairgow^rie,  Scotland. 

James  Chapman Oxford . 

J.  Ernest  Clapham Dalriada,  Blackheath,  London. 

J.  Surman  Cooke 52    Victoria    Road,    Clapham, 

London.  [chester. 

James  Crabtree Great   Cheetham  Street,   Man- 

Forster  Crozier Arley  Hill,  Bristol . 

Robert  Culley Keswick,     Clapham    Common, 

London,  S.W. 

Nehemiali  Curnock Glengall     Road,    Woodford 

Green,  Essex.  [Surrey. 

William  T.  Davison,  M.A Wesleyan  College,   Richmond, 


LIST    OF   DELEGATES.  XXI 

Rev.  William  J.  Dawson 8  Queen's  Crescent,  Glasgow. 

"     William  Gibson,  B.A 4  Rue  Roquepine,  Paris. 

' '     Thomas  B.  Harrowell Nottingham . 

"     David  Hill China.  [don. 

"     Josiah  Hudson,  B.A Wesleyan  Mission  House,  Lon- 

"     Hugh  P.  Hughes,  M.  A Taviton  Street,  Gordon  Square, 

London,  W.  C. 

"     E.  Lloyd  Jones Rhyl,  North  Wales. 

"     J.  Hugh  Morgan 50  Francis  Road,  Birmingham. 

"     Joseph  Nettleton 154  Lambeth  Road,  London. 

"     Joseph  Posnett 7  West  Parade,  Anlaby  Road, 

Hull.  [don. 

George  Patterson Wesleyan  Mission  House,  Lon- 

John  Rhodes .20  Sydenham  Park,  Sydenham, 

London. 
*  David  Roe Jesmond  Vale  Terrace,    New- 

castle-on-Tyne.        [London. 

"     Enoch  Salt Clyde    House,     Brixton     Hill, 

"     John  S.  Simon The    Manse,    Hoi  wood    Road, 

Bromley,  Kent. 

' '     Thomas  G.  Selby Greenock,  Scotland . 

"     William  F.  Slater,  M.A Didsbury  College,  Manchester. 

' '     Peter  Thompson 242  Cable  Street,  London,  E . 

"     W.  D.  Walters 12  Cathcart  Hill,  Upper  Hol- 

loway,  London,  N. 
"     Thomas  E.  Westerdale Booth  Street,  Handsworth,  Bir- 


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mingham. 


Thomas  Wilkes 7  Vernon  Street,  Derby,  [field. 

"     William  Wilson 90  Great  King  Street,  Maccles- 

"     David  Young 88  Llandaff  Road,  Cardijff. 

"     John  Griffiths Bryn    Sion    House,    Aberdare, 

South  Wales. 

"     Robert  Jones Bangor,  North  Wales. 

Mr.  Henry  J.  Farmer- Atkinson,  M.P Ore,  Hastings. 

"     James  Banner 15   Noel   Street,   Forest   Side, 

Nottingham . 

' '     Thomas  Barclay Birmingham . 

Joseph  Beckett,  CO.,  .LP Whitchurch,  Salop. 

Samuel  Budgett Beckenham,  Kent. 

Percy  W.  Bunting,  M.A.* 4.3  Euston  Square,  London. 

John  Clapham The     Hills,    Prestwich,    Man- 
chester, [don. 

J.  Calvert  Coates 109  Highbury  Quadrant,  Lon- 

John  Coy Stoneycroft,  Leicester. 

William  Craze  * Girvan     House,    West    Derby 

Road,  Liverpool. 
George  Curtis,  J. P.* Poole,  Dorset. 


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Xxii  LIST    OF    DELEGATES. 

Mr.  Thomas  Davenport Wilton  House,  RadcliflEe,  Man- 
chester. 

"     E.  P.  Davies   Fairhill,  Lansdown,  Worcester. 

"     John  Hardcastle* Sherburniu  Elmet,  Selby,  York- 
shire. [Manchester. 

"     H.  B.  Harrison Hilton   Lane,    Prestwich,    near 

"     T.  Morgan  Harvey Audley,  New  Barnet,  London. 

"     Norval  W.  Helme Castramont,  Lancaster. 

"     Obed  Hosegood,  J.P Clifton,  Bristol.        [Liverpool. 

"     Edward  Hutchinson,  J.P Holly  Lodge,  West  Derby  Road, 

"     Richard  Jones Glen    Aber    Llaurhaiadr,    Os- 
westry. 

William  Kilner 16  Alexandra  Villas,  Finsbury 

Park,  London. 

John  H.  Lile,  C.C Warrior  Square,  Hastings. 

' '     Benjamin  Moore* Burnley.  ,      [London. 

"     A.  T.  Morse Fairlop      Road,     Ley tonstone, 

"     G.  William  Munt Oakwood,     Haselmere     Road, 

Crouch  End,  London. 

James  Nix 21  Warnborough Road,  Oxford. 

Thomas  Owen Henly     Grove,     Westbury-on- 

Tryrn,  Bristol. 

W.  O.  Quibell Newark. 

Edward  Rees Machynlleth,  Wales. 

J.  Sykes  Rymer Park  House,  York. 

J.  Bamford  Slack,  C.C,  B.A 10  Woburn  Square,  London. 

James  S.  Stocks Chapel  AUerton,  Leeds. 

J.  Thorpe  Taylor,  J.P Holmfirth,  Yorkshire. 

John  Wills,  F.S.Sc Dodbrooke,    Littleover     Hill, 

Derby.  [Wales. 

' '     William  Williams Summerfield,     Rhyl,    North 

IRISH   METHODIST    CHURCH. 

Rev.  James  Donnelly Newry,  Ireland. 

"     William  Nicholas,  M.  A.,  D.D 32  Great  Charles  Street, Dublin. 

"     WiUiam  Gorman The   Manse,   College  Gardens, 

Belfast. 

"     R.  Crawford  Johnson 1  Westminster  Villas,  Antrim 

Road,  Belfast. 

"     Henry  Evans,  D.D Dublin. 

"     James  D.  Lamont Blackrock,  Dublin. 

Mr.  S.  McComas,  J.P Dalkey,  near  Dublin. 

William  Greeuhill University  Square,  Belfast. 

J.  H.  Thomj^son Adelaide  Place,  Cork.      [rone. 

R.  Clarke,  J.P Charlemont,  Moy,  County  Ty- 

"     T.  F.  Shillington Dromart,  Antrim  Road,  Belfast. 

George  Cham])ers 12  St.  Stephen's  Green,  Dublin. 


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LIST    OF    DELEGATES.  XXlll 

METHODIST   NEW    CONNEXION. 

Rev.  H.  T.  Marshall Heath     Bank,     Ashtoa-under- 

Lyne. 

"     J.  Le  Huray Hawkeshead  Street,  Southport. 

* '     J.  Medicraft Eccles,  Manchester. 

"     G.  Packer Milton  Place,  Halifax. 

"     W.  J.  Townsend Claremont  Road,  Handsworth, 

Birmingham.  [London. 

"     J.  C.  Watts,  D.D 25    Park    Road,    Forest    Hill, 

Mr.  Alderman  A.  Edwards,  J.P Longton,  Staffordshire. 

"     J.  Greenwood 17  Clare  Hill,  Huddersfield. 

"     J.  Hepworth Headingley  House,  Leeds. 

"     Alderman  T.  S.  Midgeley Elm  wood,   Halifax. 

"     J.  Mackintosh  * Milton  Place,  Halifax. 

J.  B.  Shelley Longton,  Staffordshire. 


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PRIMITIVE  METHODIST  CHURCH. 

Mr.  Alderman  William  McNeil Herdman  Street,  Crewe . 

Rev.  Samuel  Antliff,  D.D.* Draycott,  Derby. 

"     Thomas  Mitchell St.  Hilda  Street,  Hull. 

' '     John  Smith , Luton,  Beds. 

"     T.  H.  Hunt 36  Meadow  Street,  Moss  Side, 

Manchester. 
"     Stewart  Hoosen Belmont,  Devizes  Road,  Salis- 
bury. 

"     Murray  Wilson 7  Berkeley  Place,  Bath,    [field. 

"     John  Slater 103  Club  Gardens  Road,  Slief- 

' '     W.  Wray  * 218    Barking    Road,    Canning 

Town,  London.  [ham. 

IVIr.  Henry  Bolton 78    Stratford    Road,    Birraing- 

' '     M.  Parsons 15  Lawry  Place,  Bradford . 

Rev.  James  Pickett Hinckley  Road,  Leicester. 

Mr.  Stephen  Hilton. Burley   House,  Belgrave,  Lei- 
cester. 

Rev.  J.  Dorricott* 21  Duffield  Road,  Derby. 

"     James  Travis 71  Freegrove  Road,  London,  N. 

Mr.  Thomas  Lawrence The  Oaks,  Stony  Gate,  Leices- 
ter. 

Rev.  George  Windram Cross  Street,  Chesterfield. 

Mr.  Alderman  Smith Brierfield,  Burnley,  Lancashire. 

Joseph  Gibbs Cliftonville,  Northampton. 

Levi  L.  Morse Regent  Street,  Swandon,  Wilts. 

Samuel  Terry Ash  Road,  Aldershot. 

Rev.  J.  Goldthorpe 42  Hutt  Street,  Hull. 

"     Joseph  Ferguson,  D.D 26  Abyssinia  Street,  Leeds. 

Mr.  W.  Beckworth,  J. P.* Joppa,  Leeds.  [pool. 

Rev.  D.  McKinley 33  Milton  Street,  West  Hartle- 


XXIV  ■     LIST   OF   DELEGATES. 

Rev.  Joseph  Odell Highgate  Lodge.Moseley  Road, 

Birmingham. 

Mr.  Councilor  A.  Roberts* Clitheroe,  Lancashire . 

"     George  Green Balshagray     Terrace,    Partick, 

Glasgow.  [gow. 

"     W.  Matthews 5  Charing  Cross  Mansions,  Glas- 

"     W.    Arundel 87  Bristol  Street,  Birmingham. 

"     W.  Dann Chesterfield. 

BIBLE    CHRISTIAN   CHURCH. 
Rev.  F.  W.  Bourne Orlando  Road,  Clapham,  Lon- 
don. 

"     "W.  B.  Lark 78  Alexandra  Road,  Newport, 

Isle  of  Wight. 

"     J.  Herridge  Batt 16  Chesham  Street,  Brighton. 

"     H.  W.  Horwill,  M.A Queen  Street,  Newton  Abbot^ 

Devon. 

"     W.  Lee Kilkhampton,  Stratton,  Devon. 

Mr.  W.  Vaughan,  C.C Torrington,  Devon . 

' '     T.  Ruddle,  B.  A College  House,  Shebbear,  High- 

ampton,  Devon.  [don. 

"     "W.  B.  Luke 64  Princess  Road,  Kilburn,  Lon- 

"     G.  T.  Humplireys 63  Marine  Parade,  Brighton . 

Hon.  S.  J.  Way,  D.C.L.  (Oxou.),  Lieutenant-Governor  and  Chief -Justice 
of  South  Australia,  Adelaide,  South  Australia. 

UNITED   METHODIST   FREE   CHURCH. 

Rev.  M.  T.  Myers 7  West  Street,  Rochdale. 

"     Ralph  Abercrombie,  M.A 2  Albert  Street,  Shrewslmry. 

"     J.  S.  Balmer Lynwood  Terrace,  Blackpool. 

"     John  Truscott Burslem. 

"     Edward  Boaden Cheetham  Hill,  Manchester. 

"     David  Brook,  M.A.,  B.C.L Clareniont,  Todmorden. 

"     William  R.  Sunman High  town,  Crewe.       [chester. 

"     Anthony  Holliday Crescent  Grange  College,  Man- 
Rev.  George  Turner 17  Wharncliflfe  Road,  Sheffield. 

"     William  Redfern 40  Fernbank  Road,  Bristol. 

"     J.  Swann  Withington Beaufort     Villa,     Cumberland 

Road,  Bristol.  [land. 

Mr.  .1.  G.  Addison North  Bridge  Street,   Sunder- 

"     Alderman  J.  H.  Crosfield,  C.C,  J. P.  .Burgess  Terrace,  Hyde  Road, 

Manchester. 

"     Councilor  J.  Duckworth Castlefield,  Rochdale. 

Councilor  William  Penrose Helston,  Cornwall. 

W.  H.  Butler St.  George's,  Bristol. 

.T.  E.  Balmer Cheetham  Hill,  Manchester. 

H.  G.  Gregory Salisbury. 

Robert  Turner   Woodroyd,  Rochdale. 


LIST    OF    DELEGATES.  XXV 

Mr.  Thomas  Snape,  C .  C The    Gables,    Croxteth    Road 

Liverpool. 
"     Stephen  Hartley Littleborough,  Rochdale. 

FRENCH    METHODIST   CHURCH. 

Rev.  M.  Lelievre,  D . D Nimes,  France.  [Paris. 

"     James  Wood 16  Rue  Demours,  Les  Ternes, 

AUSTRALASIAN   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

Rev.  W.  H.  Fitchett,  B.A.* Methodist      Ladies'      College, 

Hawthorne,  Victoria. 

"     Joseph  Spence Sydney,  New  South  Wales. 

W.  Morley Chester    Street,    Christchurch, 

New  Zealand. 

J-  Berry Wellington,  New  Zealand . 

J.  C.  Hill Adelaide,  South  Australia. 

Mr.  W.   H.  McClelland* Kings  Street,  Sydney. 

"     Henry  Berry* Kew,  Melbourne,  Victoria  (St. 

Helen's  Wood,  Hastings). 
"     David  Nock,  J.P.* 

"     Thomas  Allen Auckland,  New  Zealand. 

' '     Andrew  C.  Caughey Auckland,  New  Zealand. 


(( 


INDEPENDENT   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

Mr.  T.  Worthington The  Elms,  Wigan. 

Rev.W.  Brimelow Park  Road,  Bolton. 

WESLEYAN   REFORM   UNION. 

Rev.  Thomas  Bromage Hollin    Cross    Lane,    Glossop, 

Manchester.  [Yorks. 

"     G.  Green Parsonage     Road,      Bradford, 

"     Alexander  Holland Park  Lane,  Bradford. 

Mr.  W.  Marsden 8  Priory  Place,  Doncaster. 

SOUTH   AFRICAN    METHODIST  CHURCH. 

Rev.  J.  Smith  Spencer Clairville,  Sale,  Manchester. 

WEST   INDIAN    METHODIST   CHURCH. 

Rev,  G.  Sargeant Wesleyan     Mission      House, 

Bishopsgate  Street,  London. 
"     T.  M.  Geddes. .Kingstown,  Jamaica. 

APPORTIONMENT   OF   DELEGATES   IN   THE   EASTERN   SECTION. 

(N.  B.— This  table  is  made  up  from  the  official  lists  received.) 

Wesleyan  Methodist  Church 77 

Irish  Methodist  Church 12 

Methodist  New  Connexion 13 

Primitive  Methodist  Church 31 

Bible  Christian  Church 10 

United  Methodist  Free  Church .  31 


French  Methodist  Church 3 

Australasian  Methodist  Church. .  10 

Independent  Methodist  Church.  3 

Wesleyan  Reform  Union 4 

South  African  Methodist  Church  1 

West  Indian  Methodist  Church .  3 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  CONFERENCE. 


PRESIDENTS. 

Rev.  Thomas  Bowman,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

Bishop  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Rev.  J.  C.  Keener,  D.D., 

Bishop  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 

Rev.  T.  B.  Stephenson,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

President  Wesleyan  Methodist  Conference. 

Rev.  a.  Carman,  D.D., 

General  Superintendent  Methodist  Church,  Canada. 

Rev.  H.  T.  Marshall, 

President  Methodist  New  Connexion. 

Rev.  Henry  W.  Warren,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

Bishop  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Rev.  William  Arthur,  M.A., 

Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 

Rev.  J.  W.  Hood,  D.D., 

Bishop  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zioa  Church. 

Rev.  M.  T.  Myers, 

President  United  Methodist  Free  Church. 

Rev.  R.  K.  Hargrove,  D.D., 

Bishop  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 

Rev.  D.  J.  Waller,  D.D., 

Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 
Rev.  J.  T.  Murray,  D.D., 

Methodist  Protestant  Church. 

Rev.  J.  Ferguson,  D.D., 

President  Primitive  Methodist  Church. 

Rev.  E.  G.  Andrews,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

Bishop  Methodist  Episcojxal  Church. 

Rev.  James  Donnelly, 

Vice-President  Irish  Methodist  Conference. 

Rev.  a.  W.  Wayman,  D.D., 

Bishop  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


OFFICERS    OF    THE    CONFERENCE.  XXVU 

Eev.  F.  W.  Bourne, 

President  Bible  Christian  Church. 

Rev.  W.  W.  Duncan,  D.D., 

Bishop  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 

Rev.  W.  Morley, 

Australasian  Methodist  Church. 

Rev.  T.  G.  Williams,  D.D., 

Methodist  Church,  Canada. 

Mr.  W.  Marsden, 

Wesleyan  Reform  Union. 

Rev.  E.  R.  Hendrix,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

Bishop  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South, 

Rev.  G.  Sargeant, 

West  Indian  Methodist  Church. 

Rev.  Thomas  Allen, 

Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 

Rev.  J.  F,  Hurst,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

Bishop  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 


SECRETARIES, 
Rea\  James  M.  King,  D.D.,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
Rev.  E.  B.  Ryckman,  D.D.,  Methodist  Church,  Canada. 
Rev,  John  Bond,  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 
Mr.  Thomas  Snape,  C.C,  United  Methodist  Free  Church. 


LIST  OF  COMMITTEES. 


BUSINESS 

First  Division. 

Bishop  J.  F.  Hurst,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

Chairman. 
"      E.  R.  Hendrix,  D.  D.  ,  LL.  D. 
Rev.  J,  W.  Hamilton,  D.D. 
"     J.  M.  King,  D.D.,  Secretary. 
"    P.  H.  Whisner,  D.D. 
Prof.  J.  M.  Van  Vleck,  LL.D. 

Second  Division. 

General  Sup't  A.  Carman,  D.D. 
Rev.  J.  C.  Embury,  D.D. 

"     J.  T.  Murray,  D.D. 

"    A.  Walters,  D.D. 


COMMITTEE. 

Third  Division. 

Rev.  T.  B.  Stephenson,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

"     John  Bond. 

"     Hugh  P.  Hughes,  M.A. 
Mr.  T.  Morgan  Harvey. 
Mr.  William  Greenhill. 

Fourth  Division. 

Rev.  F.  W.  Bourne. 
"     J.  C.  Watts,  D.D. 

"      W.  R.    SUNMAN. 

Mr.  George  Green. 
Mr.  W.  Marsden. 


GENERAL   EXECUTIVE   COMMITTEE. 


western 

Bishop  J.  F.  Hurst,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

GTimrman. 
"      CD.  Foss,  D.D.,  LL.D. 
"      J.  C.  Granbery,  D.D. 
General  Sup't  A.  Carman,  D.D. 
Bishop  B.  W.  Arnett,  D.D. 

"      J.  W.  Hood,  D.D. 
Rev.  W.  S.  Griffin,  D.D. 
"     J.  W.  Hamilton,  D.D. 


section. 

Rev.  W.  P.  Harrison,  D.D. 

"     J.  M.  King,  D.D. 

"     D.  S.  Monroe,  D.D., /Secretory. 

"     J.  T.  Murray,  D.D. 

"     W.  J.  Paxson,  D.D. 

"    P.  H.  Whisner,  D.D. 
Mr.  G.  H.  Hunt,  Treasurer. 
Hon.  E.  B.  Prettyman. 
Prof.  J.  M.  Van  Vleck,  LL.D. 


PROGRAMME  COMMITTEE. 


Bishop  J.  F.  Hurst,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

Chairman. 
"      J.  C.  Granbery,  D.D. 
General  Sup't  A.  Carman,  D.D. 
H.  K.  Carroll,  LL.D. 


Rev.  J,  W.  Hamilton,  D.D.,  Sec'y, 
"     W.  P.  Harrison,  D.D. 
"     .L  M.  King,  D.D. 
"     B.  F.  Lee,  D.D. 

Prof.  J.  M.  Van  Vleck,  LL.D. 


Mr.  .J.  H.  Beatty. 

"  S.  W.  BOWNE. 

"  J.  P.  Branch. 

"  .J.  S.  Carr. 

"  E.  W.  Cole. 

"  C.   C.  CORBIN. 

"  J.  M.  Cornell. 

"  .J.   Gn.LINDER. 


FINANCE   committee. 

Rev.  J.  F.  Goucher,  D.D.,  C^'w. 

Rev.  .J.  A.  Handy. 

Bishop  L.  FL  Holsey. 

Mr.  G.  H.  Hunt,  Treasurer. 

"    L.  D.  Krause. 

' '    Warring  Kennedy. 

"   h.  b.  3i0ulton. 

"    Amos  Shinkle. 


LIST   OF   COMMITTEES. 


XXIX 


WASHINGTON    ENTERTAINMENT   AND   RECEPTION    COMMITTEE. 


Bishop  J.  F.  Hdrst,  D.D.,  LL.D. 
Rev.  G.  H.  Corey,  D.D.,  Chairman. 

"     C.  W.  Baldwin. 

"     J.  H.  Becket. 

"      J.  W.  E.  BOWEN. 

"     T.  E.  Carpon. 

"     R.  H.  G.  Dyson. 

"     George  Elliott,  Secretary. 

"     S.  R.  Murray. 

"     C.  H.  Phillips. 

''     J.  A.  Price. 

"     E.  S.  Todd. 

"      L.    T.  WiDERMAN. 
"      J.  T.   AViGHTMAN. 

"     L.  B.  Wilson. 
Mr.  Alexander  Ashley. 

"    E.  S.  Atkinson. 

"    W.  S.  Birch. 
General  Cyrus  Bussey. 
Mr.  J.  F.  Chestnut. 

"    D.  S.  Cissell. 

"    Robert  Cohen. 

"    George  Compton. 

"    L.  A.  Cornish. 

"    G.  S.  Deering. 

"    Robert  Dunn. 


Mr.  A.  B.  Duval. 
Hon.  M.  G.  Emery. 
Professor  Edgar  Frisbie. 
Mr.  D.  B.  Groff. 
Hon .  E,  M.  Halford. 
Mr.  T.  A.  Harding. 
General  S.  S.  Henkle. 
Mr.  W.  H.  Houghton. 

"    W.  J.  Hutchinson. 

"    Thomas  Jarvis. 

"    B.  F.  Leighton. 

"    William  Mayse. 

"      H.   B.   MOULTON. 

Hon.  Hiram  Price. 
Mr.  B.  Robinson. 

"    W.  J.  Sibley. 

"    T.  B.  Stahl. 

"    B.  H.  Stinemetz. 

"    H.  L.  Strang. 

"      G.  W.   F.   SWARTZELL. 

"  Frederick  Tasker. 

"  J.  S.  Topham. 

"  L.  H.  Walker. 

"  E.  S.  Westcott. 

"  J.  B.  Wilson. 

"  W.  R.  Woodward. 


PUBLICATION    COMMITTEE. 

J.  M.  King,  D.D.,  J.  M.  Van  Vleck,  LL.D. 


RULES  AND  REGULATIONS  FOR  THE  GOVERNMENT 
OF  THE  CONFERENCE. 


I. — For  convenience  of  organization,  and  for  the  purposes  of  equity  and 
fraternity,  the  whole  Methodist  community  shall  be  included  in  four  gen- 
eral divisions,  as  follows: 

First  Division. — The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South. 

Second  Division. — Other  Methodist  Churches  in  the  United  States  and 
Canada. 

Third  Division. — The  British  Wesleyan  Methodist  Churches. 

Fourth  Division. — Other  British  Methodist  Churches. 

It  is  understood  that  the  several  Churches  described  are  inclusive  of 
their  respective  mission  fields  and  affiliated  Conferences. 

n. — There  shall  be  a  Business  Committee,  consisting  of  twenty  mem- 
bers, six  of  whom  shall  be  selected  from  the  First  Division,  four  from  the 
Second  Division,  five  from  the  Third  Division,  and  five  from  the  Fourth 
Division. 

Two  from  each  Division  shall  be,  if  practicable,  laymen.  This  Com- 
mittee shall  be  chosen  by  the  Eastern  and  "Western  Sections  of  the 
Executive  Committee,  on  nomination  of  the  members  of  said  Executive 
Committee  representing  respectively  the  several  general  Divisions.  The 
first-named  on  the  Business  Committee  by  the  First  Western  Division  shall 
be  the  convener,  but  the  Committee  shall  choose  by  ballot  its  own  Chair- 
man and  Secretary.  All  questions,  proposals,  resolutions,  communica- 
tions, or  other  matters  not  included  in  the  regular  progi'amme  of  exercises, 
which  may  be  presented  to  tlie  Conference  shall  be  passed  to  the  Secre- 
tary, read  by  their  titles  only,  and  referred  without  debate  or  motion  to 
the  Business  Committee.  A  period  at  the  close  of  the  regular  programme 
of  the  final  session  of  each  day  shall  be  set  apart  for  reports  from  the 
Business  Committee,  but  the  reports  of  the  Business  Committee  shall  at  all 
times  be  privileged,  and  shall  take  precedence  of  any  other  matter  which 
may  be  before  the  Conference. 

III. — The  Business  Committee  shall  appoint  some  one  to  preside  at  each 
session  of  the  Conference,  and  in  the  following  manner — to  wit,  at  the  first 
session  from  the  First  Division ;  at  the  second  session  from  the  Third 
Division ;  at  the  third  session  from  the  Second  Division ;  at  the  fourth 
session  from  the  Fourth  Division;  repeating  this  order  during  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  Conference. 

IV. — The  Business  Committee  at  the  opening  of  the  first  regular  busi- 
ness session  of  the  Conference  shall  nominate  four  secretaries,  one  from 
each  General  Division,  the  one  named  from  the  First  Division  to  be  chief; 
but  if  the  nominations  thus  made  shall  fail  of  confirmation,  in  whole  or 


I  KULES    AND    REGULATIONS.  XXXI 

in  part,  then  the  Conference  shall  proceed  to  fill  the  vacant  place  or  places 
in  such  manner  as  it  may  determine;  provided,  that  the  mode  of  distri- 
bution herein  indicated  shall  be  maintained. 

V. — Every  session  of  the  Conference  shall  be  opened  with  devotional 
exercises,  to  be  conducted  by  some  person  selected  by  the  President  of  the 
session. 

VI. — -The  first  hour  of  each  forenoon  session,  after  devotional  exercises 
and  reading  of  Journal,  shall  be  set  apart  for  the  presentation  of  resolutions 
or  other  papers  not  included  in  the  regular  programme.  Every  resolution 
must  be  reduced  to  writing,  and  be  signed  by  at  least  two  names.  The 
Conference  may,  at  any  time,  close  the  morning  hour  and  proceed  to  the 
regular  order,  but  the  question  must  be  taken  without  debate  or  subsid- 
iary motion. 

VII. — No  essay  presented  in  the  regular  programme  shall  occupy  more 
than  twenty-five  minutes  in  the  reading;  the  appointed  addresses  shall  be 
allowed  fifteen  minutes  each.  After  the  appointed  addresses,  whatever 
unoccupied  time  remains  of  any  session  shall  be  devoted  to  a  general 
discussion  of  the  topics  under  consideration ;  but  no  member  shall  occupy 
more  than  five  minutes,  or  speak  more  than  once  on  the  same  subject. 

The  appointed  addresses  may  not  be  read,  but  notes,  as  aids  to  memory, 
may  be  used. 

VIII. — At  the  close  of  the  regular  order,  at  the  final  session  of  each  day, 
the  President  shall  call  for  a  report  from  the  Business  Committee.  In 
debates  on  reports,  whenever  presented,  no  member  shall  occupy  more  than 
ten  minutes,  nor  speak  more  than  once  on  the  same  report,  but  the  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee,  or  some  one  designated  by  him,  shall  be  allowed 
ten  minutes  in  which  to  close  the  debate. 

IX. — All  votes  taken  in  the  Conference  shall  be  by  individual  count, 
without  any  reference  to  the  particular  body  with  which  the  voter  is  con- 
nected. 

X. — No  votes  shall  be  taken  on  matters  affecting  the  internal  arrange- 
ments of  any  of  the  several  Methodist  Churches. 

XL — Any  alteration  of,  or  addition  to,  these  regulations  thought  desir- 
able must  be  sent  to  the  Business  Committee,  and  reported  back  to  the 
Conference,  before  a  final  vote  is  taken,  and  no  rule  shall  be  suspended 
except  by  consent  of  three  fourths  of  the  Conference. 

N.  B, — The  manuscripts  of  the  essays  read  and  of  addresses  deliv- 
ered, being  the  property  of  the  Conference,  should  be  immediately 
passed  over  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Conference  for  publication  in  the 
volume  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Conference.  Compliance  with  this 
rule  is  absolutely  indispensable  to  accuracy  in  the  records  of  the  Con- 
ference. 


DAILY  PROGRAMME. 


October  1  to  20,  1891. 


Places  assigned  to  Western  Section  marked  W. 

Places  assigned  to  Eastern  Section  marked.  E. 


I^^irst  Day,  Wednesday,  October  V. 

FIRST    SE&;SION. 

10  A.  M. — Sermon Rev.  "William  Arthur,  M.A. 

Celebration  of  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

SECOND    SESSION. 

2:30  P.  M. — Devotional  Exercises,  etc. 

Election  of  Officers  on  Nomination  of  the  Business  Committee. 

Rev.  Bishop  John  F.  Hurst,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

James  II.  Carlisle,  LL.D., 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 

Rev.  George  Douglas,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
Methodist  Church,  Canada. 

Rev.  T.  B.  Stephenson,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
Wesleyan  Methodist  Conference. 

Mr.  George  Green, 

Primitive  Methodist  Church. 

Rev.  R.  Abercrombie,  M.A., 

United  Methodist  Free  Church, 


Addresses  of  Welcome. 


Responses . 


/Second  Day,  Thmsday,  October  8. 
Tojnc:    Ecumenical  Methodism. 

FIKST   SESSION. 

10  A.  M. — Devotional  Exercises,  etc. 

(1)  E.   11  A.  M. — Essay,  The  Present  Status  of  Methodism  in  the  Eastern 

Section, Rev.  D.  J.  Waller,  D.D., 

Secretary  Wesleyan  Methodist  Conference. 


DAILY    PKOGKAMME.  XXXIU 

E.  First  Address, Rev.  John  Medicraft, 

Methodist  New  Connexion, 

E.  Second  Address, Rev.  James  Donnelly, 

Vice-President  Irish  Methodist  Conference. 

E.  Third  Address, Rev.  J.  H.  Batt, 

Bible  Christian  Church. 

SECOND    SESSION. 

2:30  P.  M. — Devotional  Exercises,  etc. 

(3)  W.  3:40  P.  M.— Essay,  The  Present  Status  of  Methodism  in  the  Western 
Section,  Rev.  Bishop  Charles  H.  Fowler,  D.D.,LL.D., 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

W.  First  Address, Rev.  Bishop   C.  B.  Galloway,  D.D., 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 

W.  Second  Address, Rev.  William  Briggs,  D.D., 

Methodist  Church,  Canada. 

W.  Third  Address, Rev.  Bishop  B.  W.  Arnett,  D.D., 

African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Third  Day,  Friday,  October  9. 

Topic:    The  Christian  Church:    Its  Essential  Unity  and  Genuine 

Catholicity, 
first   session. 
10  A.  M. — Devotional  Exercises,  etc. 

(3)  E.  11  A.  M.— Essay,  Christian  Unity, Rev.  T.  G.  Selby, 

Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 
W.  First  Address, Rev.  A.  S.  Hunt,  D.D., 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
E.  Second  Address, Rev.  Thomas  Mitchell, 

Primitive  Methodist  Church. 

SECOND    session. 

2:30  P.M. — Devotional  Exercises,  etc. 

(4)  W.  3:40  P.  M.— Essay,  Christian  Co-operation,  Rev.  A.  Coke  Smith,  D.D., 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 

E.  First  Address, Rev.  W.  Redf ern. 

United  Methodist  Free  Church. 

W.  Second  Address, Rev.  T.  J.  Ogburn, 

Methodist  Protestant  Church. 

E.  Tlurd  Address, Rev.  James  Le  Huray, 

Methodist  New  Connexion. 

Fourth  Day,  Saturday,  October  10. 
Topic:   The  Church  and  Scientific  Thought. 
10  A.  M. — Devotional  Exercises,  etc. 

(5)  E.  11  A.  M. — Essay,  The  Influence  of  Modern  Scientific  Progress  on  Re- 

ligious Thought, Percy  W.  Bunting,  Esq.,  M.A., 

Editor  The  Contemporary  Beview,  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 
3 


XXXIV  DAILY    PKOGRAMME. 

W.  First  Address,  The  AttiUide  of  the  Church  toward  the  Various  Phases 

of  Unbelief, Rev.  M.  S.  Terry,  D.D., 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
E.  Second  Address,  The  Bible  and  Modern  Criticism, 

Rev.AV.  T.  Davison,  M.A., 
Tutor  in  Biblical  Literature  and  Exegesis,  Richmond  College,  Wesleyan 
Methodist  Church. 

Sunday,    October  11. 

10:30  A.  M. — Memorial  Sermon  on  John  "Wesley, 

Rev.  Bishop  J.  P.  Newman,  D.D.,LL.D., 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Fifth  Bay,  Ilonday,    October  12. 
Topic:    The  Church  and  Her  Agencies. 

FIRST     SESSION. 

10  A.  M. — Devotional  Exercises,  etc. 

(6)  W.  11   A.  M. — Essay,    TTie   Besponsibility  and   Qualifications    of  the 

Preacher, Rev.  Bishop  R.  S.  Foster,  D.D.,LL.D., 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

E.  First  Address, Rev.  John  Bond, 

Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 

W.  Second  Address, Rev.  William  Howard  Day, 

African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church. 

SECOND    SESSION, 

2 :30  P.  M. — Devotional  Exercises,  etc. 

(7)  E.  3:40  P.  M. — Essay,  The  Religious  Press  and  the  Religious    Uses  of 

the  Secular  Press, Rev.  H.  P.  Hughes,  M.A., 

of  the  London  Mission,  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 

W.  First  Address, Rev.  E.  H.  Dewart,  D.D., 

Methodist  Church,  Canada. 

E.  Second  Address, Rev.  Joseph  Ferguson,  D.D., 

President  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church. 

AV.  Third  Address, Rev.  E.  E.  Hoss.  D.D., 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 

Sixth  -Day,  Tuesday,   October  13. 
Topic:    The  Church  and  Her  Agencies  (continued). 

FIRST    SESSION. 

10  A.  M. — Devotional  Exercises,  etc. 

(8)  E.  11  A.  M. — Essay,  The  Place  and  Power  of  Lay  Agency  in  the  Church, 

Rev.  James  Travis, 

General  Missionary  Secretary  Primitive  Methodist  Church. 

W.  First  Address,  The  Deaconess  Movement,  Rev,  M.  D'C.  Crawford,  D.D.,* 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


DAILY    PROGRAMME.  XXXV 

E.  Second  Address,  Methodist  Brotherhoods  and  Sisterhoods, 

Rev.  W.  D.  Walters, 
Secretary  London  Mission,  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 

SECOND   SESSION. 

2:30  P.  M. — Devotional  Exercises,  etc. 

(9)  W.  2 :40  P.  M.— Essay,  Woman's  Woi-Tc  in  the  Church, 

Rev.  Benj.  St.  James  Fry,  D.D., 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 

E.  First  Address, Rev.  William  Gorman, 

Irish  Methodist  Church. 

W.  Second  Address, Prof.  J.  P.  Landis,  D.D., 

United  Brethren  in  Christ. 

E.  Third  Address, Rev.  Thomas  H.  Hunt, 

Primitive  Methodist  Church. 


Seventh   Day,    Wednesday,    October  14. 
Topic :    Education. 

FIRST    SESSION. 

10  A.  M. — Devotional  Exercises,  etc. 

(10)  E.  11  A.  M. — Essay,  Religious   Training  and    Culture  of  the   Young, 

Rev.  W.  H.  Fitchett,  B.A., 
Australasian  Methodist  Church. 

W.  First  Address,  The  Family, Rev.  T.  B.  Appleget, 

Methodist  Protestant  Church. 

W.  Second  Address,  The  Sunday-school, Hon.  John  Evans,* 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

SECOND   SESSION. 

2:30  P.  M. — Devotional  Exercises,  etc. 

(11)  E.  2:40  P.  M.— Essay,  Elementary  Education:    How  It  May  Be  Best 

Promoted, Rev.  John  Smith, 

Primitive  Methodist  Church. 
W.  First  Address,  T?ie  Ethics  of  Elementary  Education, 

Rev.  J.  D.  Hammond,  D.D., 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 

E.  Second  Address,  Sectarianism  and  State  Education,  .Rev.  A.  Holliday,* 

United  Methodist  Free  Church. 

W.  Third  Address,  Secondary  Education, Hon.  J.  C.  Dancy, 

African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church. 

THIRD   SESSION. 

7:30  P.  M. — Devotional  Exercises,  etc. 

(12)  W.  7:40  P.  M.— Essay,  The  Broadest  Facilities  for  Higher  Education: 

The  Duty  of  the  Church, . .  .Rev.  N.  Burwash,  D.D., 

Methodist  Church,  Canada, 


XXXVl  DAILY    PKOGKAMME. 

E.  First  Address,  University  Education, Rev.  W.  F.  Slater,  M.A., 

Tutor  in  Biblical  Literature  and  Exegesis,  Didsbury  College,  Wesleyau 

Methodist  Church. 
W.  Second  Address,  University  Education, 

Rev.  W.  F.  Warren,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Eighth  Day,   Thursday,   October  15. 
Topic:  Romanism. 

FIRST     SESSION. 

10  A.  M. — Devotional  Exercises,  etc. 

(13)  E.  11  A.  M. — Essay,  The  Present  Position  of  Romanism, 

Rev.  M.  T.  Myers, 

President  United  Methodist  Free  Church. 

W.  First  Address,  Romanism  as  a  Political  Power,  Rev.  L.  R.  Fiske,  D.D., 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
E.  Second  Address,  Romanism  as  a  Religious  Power, 

Rev.  William  Nicholas,  M.A.,  D.D., 
Irish  Methodist  Church. 

SECOND   SESSION. 

Tojnc :    Temperance. 

2:30  P.  M. — Devotional  Exercises,  etc. 

(14) W.  2:40  P.  M. — Essay,  TJie  Church  and  the  Temperance  Reform, 

Rev.  R.  H.  Mahon,  D.D., 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 

E.  First  Address, Thomas  Worthington,  Esq., 

Independent  Methodist  and  Free  Gospel  Church. 

W.  Second  Address,  Legal  Prohibition  of  the  Saloon, 

Rev.  C.  H.  Phillips,  D.D., 
Colored  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  America. 

E.  Third  Address, Rev.  S.  Antliff,  D.D.,* 

Primitive  Methodist  Church. 

NiiitJi  Day,  Friday,    October  16, 
Topic:    Social  Problems. 

FIRST    SESSION. 

10  A.  M. — Devotional  Exercises,  etc. 

(15)  W.  11  A.  M. — Essay,  The  Church  in  Her  Relation  to  Lalor  and  Capi- 
tal,   Hon.  Alden  Speare, 

Methodist  Episcopal  Cliurch. 
E.  First  Address,  The  Moral  Asptects  of  Labor  Conibinations  and  Strikes, 

Rev.  J.  Berry, 
Australasian  Methodist  Church. 


DAILY    PROGKAMME.  XXXVH 

W.  Second  Address,  Tlie  Moral  Aspects  of  Combinations  of  Capital, 

J.  R.  Inch,  LL.D., 
Methodist  Church,  Canada. 

SECOND    SESSION. 

3:30  P,  M,— Devotional  Exercises,  etc, 

(16)  E.  3:40  P.  M. — Essay,  Obligations  of  the    Church  in  Relation  to  the 

Social  Condition  of  the  People, 

Rev.  Peter  Thompson, 

of  the  London  Mission,  "Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 

W.  First  Address,  Christian  Worh  Among  the  Poor,  Rev.  William  McKee, 

United  Brethren  in  Christ. 
E.  Second  Address,  Christian  WorTc  Among  the  Rich,  Rev.  Thomas  Allen, 

Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 
W.  Third  Address,  Christian  Worh  in  Agricultural  Districts, 

Rev.  J.  C.  Hartzell,  D.D., 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

THIRD   SESSION. 

Topic:     Missions. 

7:30  P.  M. — Devotional  Exercises,  etc. 

(17)  E.  7:40  P.  M. — Essay,  Missions  in  Heathen  Lands, 

Rev.  W.  J.  Townsend, 

Methodist  New  Connexion. 

W.  First  Address,  New  Fields  Entered  Since  1881,  C.  H.  Kiracofe,  D.D., 

United  Brethren  in  Christ  (Old  Constitution). 

E.  Second  Address, Thomas  Lawrence,  Esq.,* 

Primitive  Methodist  Church. 

(18)  W.  Essay,  Missions  i?i  Christian  Lands, .  .Hev.  A.  B.  Leonard,  D.D., 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
E.  First  Address, Rev.  William  Gibson,  B. A., 

Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 
W.  Second  Address, Rev.  C.  K  Grandison,D.D.,* 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


Tenth  Day^  Saturday,    October  17. 
Topic:    War  and  Peace. 

10  A.  M. — Devotional  Exercises,  etc. 

(19)  E.  11  A.  M. — Essay,  Jnte7'natio7ial  Arbitration,  T.  Snape,  Esq.,  C.C., 

United  Methodist  Free  Church. 

W.  First  Address, Hon.  J.  D.  Taylor. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

E.  Second  Address, Rev.  Enoch  Salt, 

Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 


XXXVlll  DAILY    PKOGKAMME. 

Eleventh   Day,  Monday,    October  19. 
Topic:    The  Church  and  Public  Morality. 

FIRST    SESSION. 

10  A.  M. — Devotional  Exercises,  etc. 

(20)  W.  11  A.  M. — Essay,  Legal  Restraint  on  the  Vices  of  Society, 

Hon.  B.  W.  B.  Hill, 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 
E.  First  Address,  Lotteries,  Betting,  Gambling,  and  Kindred  Vices, 

Rev.  Joseph  Posnett, 

Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 

W.  Second  Address,  Marriage  and  Diwrce  Laws, . .  Hon.  Hiram  L.  Sibley, 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

SECOND   SESSION. 

2:30  P.  M, — Devotional  Exercises,  etc. 

(21)  W.  2:40  P.  M.- -Essay,  The  Lord's  Day,. .  .Rev.  T.  G.  Steward,  D.D,, 

African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

E.  Address, Rev.  T.  Bromage, 

Wesleyan  Reform  Union. 
(23)  E.  Essay,  The  Attitude  of  the  Church  toward  Aimtsements, 

T.  Ruddle,  B.A., 
Bible  Christian  Church. 

W.  Address, Rev.  Bishop  C.  D.  Foss,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


Twelfth  Day,   Tuesday,    October  20. 
Topic:     The  Outlook. 

FIRST   SESSION. 

10  A.  M, — Devotional  Exercises,  etc. 

(33)  E.  11  A.  M. — Essay,  Christian  Resources  of  the  Old  World, 

Rev.  J.  S.  Simon, 
Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 

E.,  Address, Rev.  J.  C.  Watts,  D.D., 

Methodist  New  Connexion. 
(24)  W.  Essay,  Christian  Resources  of  the  New  World, 

Chancellor  Edward  Mayes, 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 

W.  Address, Rev.  J.  A.  M.  Chapman,  D.D. , 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


DAILY    I'KOGRAMME.  XXXIX 


SECOND    SESSION. 


2:80  P.  M. — Devotional  Exercises,  etc. 

(35)  W.  2:40  P.  U.—  The  Church  of  the  Future, 

Rev.  J.  M.  Buckley,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

E.  First  Address, Rev.  W.  J.  Davpsou, 

Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 

W.  Second  Address, ^.Rev.  Bishop  E.  R.  Hendrix,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 

E.  Third  Address, Rev.  F.  W.  Bourne, 

President  of  the  Biljle  Christian  Church. 

Note.— Those  whose  names  are  designated  by  an  asterisk  in  the  programme  were  unable 
to  be  present  at  the  Conference,  or,  if  present,  to  give  their  appointed  articles.  Their  places 
were  filled  by  other  persons  designated  by  the  Business  Committee,  whose  names  and  ad- 
dresses will  be  found  in  the  Journal  of  Proceedings. 


JOURNAL  OF  THE  PROCEEDINGS 


OF   THE 


Second  Ecumenical  Methodist  Conference. 


SECOND 

ECUMENICAL  METHODIST  CONFERENCE. 


FIRST  BAY,    Wednesclay,    October  7,  1891. 
FIRST    SESSION. 

THE  Second  Ecumenical  Methodist  Conference  convened  in 
the  Metropolitan  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  on  Wednesday,  October  7,  1891,  at  10 :  30  A.  M. 
The  Rev.  Thomas  Bowman,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Senior  Bishop  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  presided.  The  services  were 
opened  with  the  singing  of  hymn  822  of  the  Methodist 
Hymnal,  "  Jesus,  the  name  high  over  all."  Prayer  was  offered 
by  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Keener,  D.D.,  Senior  Bishop  of  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church,  South  ;  the  Apostles'  Creed  was  recited 
by  the  congregation ;  the  Scripture  lesson's  were  read  by  the 
Rev.  S.  F.  HcESTis,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  Canada;  and 
hymn  955,  "  Come,  let  us  anew  our  journey  pursue,"  was  sung. 
After  these  devotional  exercises  the  Rev.  William  Akthur 
announced  that  his  lack  of  voice  would  prevent  him  from 
delivering  his  prepared  sermon,  but  that  it  would  be  read  by 
the  Rev.  T.  B.  Stephenson,  D.D.,  LL.D,,  President  of  the 
British  Wesleyan  Conference.  Dr.  Stephenson  then  read  the 
following  discourse : 

The  Holy  Seed  the  Credentials  of  the  Church. 

' '  Behold^  I  and  the  children  whom  the  Lord  hath  given  me  are  for  signs 
and  for  wonders  in  Israel  from  the  Loi'd  of  hosts,  which  dwelleth  in  mount 
Zion.''^     (Isa.  viii,  18.) 

In  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  these  words  are  directly  applied  to  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  and  to  that  family  of  the  sons  of  God  of  which  he 
is  the  everlasting  Father,  while  at  the  same  time  he  is  not  ashamed  to  call 
them  brethren.  As  read  in  our  text,  the  words  were  used  by  the  prophet 
Isaiah  as  of  himself  and  his  two  sons.  The  name  of  one  of  these  signified 
the  haste  of  the  spoiler  descending  upon  the  prey,  and  the  name  of  the 
other  the  return  of  a  remnant  from  captivity.     The  name  of  the  father 


4:  OPENING    SERVICES. 

signified  the  salvation  of  the  Lord.  Thus,  taken  together,  the  group  stood 
as  the  symbol  of  a  history  in  which  ruin  should,  indeed,  be  incurred,  but 
restoration  should  be  brought  in  by  a  Saviour — God. 

It  was  in  the  evil  time  of  King  Ahaz.  Fall  had  led  to  fall,  sin  had  fol- 
lowed sin,  and  now  woe  was  treading  upon  the  heels  of  woe.  Judah  had 
been  sorely  smitten  by  the  kindred  nation  of  Israel,  which  had  taken  Syria 
into  alliance,  and  these  two  powers,  united  and  victorious,  were  about  to 
lay  siege  to  .Jerusalem,  openly  boasting  that  they  would  pull  down  the 
house  of  David  and  set  up  on  his  throne  the  son  of  Tabeal.  Having  lost 
his  faith,  Ahaz  could  not  smile  at  tliis  threatening  of  the  idolatrous  as  vain 
breath  because  directed  against  the  jiromise  to  Judah  of  the  scepter  and 
law-giver  till  Shiloah  should  come,  and  against  the  promise  to  David  of  a 
line  that  should  merge  into  the  kingdom  that  cannot  be  moved.  The 
backsliding  king  and  his  backsliding  people  quailed  and  moaned  before 
the  peril,  and  were  moved  "as  the  trees  of  the  wood  are  moved  with  the 
wind." 

Ahaz  had  gone  outside  of  the  Jaffa  gate,  and  stood  by  the  Upper  Pool. 
Doubtless  he  had  with  him  his  best  engineers  and  chief  captains,  contriv- 
ing how  to  secure  for  the  city,  during  the  approaching  siege,  its  supply  of 
water.  In  sight  rose  the  green  peak  of  Nebi-Samuel,  the  monument, 
mountain,  evermore  repeating  to  Jerusalem  the  name  of  him  who  poured 
on  the  son  of  Jesse  the  anointing  oil.  On  the  other  side  rose  the  Tower 
of  David,  the  pinnacle-point  of  Sion,  that  holy  hill  which  even  then  had 
been  made,  by  David's  harp,  forever  memorable.  Between  these  two  ob- 
jects under  the  city  wall  stood  the  faithless  son  of  believing  fathers  ;  he 
who  pu]>licly  preferred  to  the  God  of  Jacob  the  god  of  the  Syrians,  seeing 
that  in  fight  that  people  had  prevailed ;  he  who  passed  his  children  through 
the  fire,  who  demolished  the  altars  of  God,  who  shut  up  the  temple  and 
cut  in  pieces  its  vessels,  and  who  set  up  idol  altars  in  every  corner  of 
Jerusalem. 

Leading  his  son,  whose  name  said  "  The  remnant  shall  return,"  came 
the  man  whose  own  name  said  "Salvation  is  of  the  Lord."  Not  as  a 
war  captain  did  he  come,  nor  as  a  dignitary  of  the  court.  That  man  was 
he  whose  lips  had  been  touched  with  the  coal  from  off  the  altar ;  whose  soul 
had  resounded,  and  had  never  ceased  to  resound,  with  the  voice  of  the 
seraphim,  crying,  ' '  Holy,  holy,  holy  !  " 

To-day,  however,  being  a  dark  day,  he  came  to  bring  gleams  of  hope. 
"  Be  not  faint-hearted  "  was  his  word  to  the  men  of  spear  and  shield. 
Syria  and  Israel  might  together  cry  that  they  would  set  up  a  king  in 
Judah,  but  as  to  this  vaunting,  "  thus  saith  the  Lord,  It  shall  not  stand;  " 
a  sentence  this  which  is  evermore  repeated,  and  will  be  repeated  evermore, 
as  to  all  counsel  taken  and  all  purpose  formed  to  cut  off  the  line  of  the 
Messiah  of,  God,  or  that  of  his  seed  or  his  seed's  seed  forever. 

The  prophet  then  directly  challenges  the  king  to  ask  for  a  sign,  to  ask 
it  "  either  in  the  depth  or  in  the  height  above;"  for  he  was  not  there  as 
the  messenger  of  a  god  of  the  mountains,  nor  of  a  god  of  the  waters,  but 
of  One  whose  word  bore  sway  higher  up  than  the  stars  and  deeper  down 


SERMON    OF    KEV.    WILLIAM    AKTHUK.  5 

than  the  roots  of  the  hills.  Ahaz,  like  a  typical  politician,  veils  his 
thought  under  a  fair  pretence.  He,  indeed,  would  not  tempt  God  by 
asking  for  a  sign  ! 

Thus  shrinking  back,  the  king  is  no  longer  addressed  as  an  individual, 
but  as  representing  the  line  of  the  promised  seed.  "  House  of  David, " 
■cries  the  voice  fii'ed  by  the  altar-coal,  •'  house  of  David,  the  Lord  himself 
shall  give  you  a  sign :  Behold,  a  virgin  shall  conceive,  and  shall  bear  a  son, 
and  call  his  name  Inimunuel."  So,  then,  the  seed  of  the  woman  is  to  arise, 
and  not  as  a  merely  human  prophet,  priest,  or  king,  but  as  God  with  us, 
who  shall  join  together  in  one  the  nature  of  man  and  that  of  God. 

The  all-significant  name  of  Immanuel,  once  uttered,  is  soon  repeated. 
Ahaz,  indeed,  hoped  to  defeat  the  alliance  of  Damascus  and  Samaria  by 
himself  joining  in  alliance  with  the  mightier  Nineveh.  But  this  resort 
would  be  vain  and  would  only  bring  on  heavier  calamity.  The  projihet, 
as  if  pointing  to  the  hidden  waters  gliding  noiseless  in  the  aqueduct,  and 
with  them  contrasting  the  rage  of  swollen  rivers,  told  that  they  who  re- 
fused the  waters  of  Shiloah  should  see  a  headlong  flood.  From  the 
Tigris,  across  the  Euphrates,  would  sweep  the  power  of  Assyria;  it 
would  swallow  up  Syria  and  Israel,  and,  passing  onward,  would  "fill 
the  breadth  of  thy  land,  O  Immanuel."  The  Church,  having  once  caught 
that  name,  takes  it  up  and  makes  it  the  key-note  of  defiance  which  rings 
out  from  her  walls  to  every  weapon  that  is  formed  against  her.  Let  the 
kings  set  themselves ;  let  the  rulers  take  counsel ;  when  directed  against 
her  perpetuity  and  increase,  their  rage  shall  be  as  passing  storms  against 
a  mountain.  "  Associate  yourselves,  0  ye  people,  and  ye  shall  be  broken 
in  pieces;  gird  yourselves,  and  ye  shall  be  broken  in  pieces  ;  take  counsel 
together,  and  it  shall  come  to  nought  ;  speak  the  word,  and  it  shall  not 
stand :  for  God  is  with  us."*  Mark  !  this  fortitude  is  not  that  of  calcula- 
tion, but  of  faith.  The  confidence  that  solid  hosts  shall  be  put  to  rout, 
that  deep  plans  shall  be  frustrated,  that  proud  words  shall  fall  to  the 
ground,  is  felt,  not  because  the  men  of  Judah  are  many  or  brave  or  reso- 
lute ;  not  Ijecause  a  hero  leads  them,  a  prophet  teaches  them,  or  a  psalmist 
makes  music  for  their  march,  but  because  of  one  short  reason:  Ood  is  with 
vs.  On  the  lips  of  a  believing  Church  the  name  of  her  Lord  is  both 
melody  and  thunder. 

It  is  soon  after  the  words  last  mentioned  that  come  those  of  our  text, 
in  the  course  of  an  earnest  exhortation  against  seeking  to  other  deliverer 
than  the  Lord  alone,  or  to  other  oracle  than  his  holy  word  and  testimony. 
And  as  the  ever-recurring  expectation  of  the  coming  Immanuel  swells 
higher  out  breaks  the  strain  which  is  so  familiar  to  our  faith  and  joy: 
"L^nto  us  a  child  is  born,  unto  us  a  son  is  given:  and  the  government 
shall  be  upon  his  shoulder:  and  his  name  shall  be  called  Wonderful,  Coun- 
•  selor.  The  mighty  God,  The  everlasting  Father,  The  Prince  of  Peace,  "t 
The  light  shed  upon  these  ])r()phetic  expressions  h\  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  enables  us  to  see  our  Lord,  and  with  him  the  men  whom  the 

*  Chapter  viii,  9,  10.  +  Chapter  ix,  6. 


b  OPENING    SERVICES. 

Father  has  given  to  him  out  of  the  world,  standing  as  the  sign  that  there 
is  among  men  a  God  and  a  Saviour — they  going  every-where ;  he  with 
them  and  working  with  them.  Thus  are  the  permanent  strength  and  cre- 
dentials of  the  Church  indicated  as  living  forces,  consisting  of 

The  presence  of  her  Lord  in  the  midst  of  her; 
The  image  of  her  Lord  in  her  children ;  and 
The  power  of  her  Lord  in  her  mission. 

From  the  first  naturally  spring  the  other  two. 

1.  As  to  the  'presence  of  the  Lord  in  the  midst  of  the  Church,  whenever 
in  Holy  Scripture  mention  is  made  of  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  more  is 
intended  than  merely  his  existence  in  a  given  place.  Were  that  only 
meant  God  is  as  much  present  on  the  face  of  the  sea  as  in  the  heart  of 
a  saint.  When  Moses  said,  "If  thy  presence  go  not  with  me,  carry  us 
not  up  hence,"  he  had  in  view  a  manifested  presence,  such  as  would  carry 
a  gracious  effect.  Expressly  he  contemplates  something  which  would 
afford  a  practical  token  of  favor  and  help,  asking,  ' '  Wherein  shall  it  be 
known  here  that  I  and  thy  people  have  found  grace  in  thy  sight  ?  Is  it 
not  that  thou  goest  with  us  ? "  The  operation  of  this  token  was  to  be 
both  upon  themselves  and  others,  being  to  themselves  a  reassuring  evidence 
and  to  others  a  striking  sign  that  they  were  "a  people  separate  from  all 
other  people  on  the  face  of  the  earth,"  even  the  people  that  could  say, 
"  God  is  with  us. "  Then,  as  now,  and  as  always,  the  one  attraction  of 
the  Church  for  the  souls  of  men  who  are  without  would  lie  in  tokens  that 
the  Lord  was  with  her.  At  whatever  time  or  place  ten  men  of  the  Gen- 
tiles will  take  hold  of  the  skirt  of  one  man  of  Israel,  "saying,  We  will 
go  with  you,"  their  reason  will  be  identical,  namely,  "We  have  heard 
that  God  is  with  you."  * 

The  Church  of  the  patriarchs  had  his  presence  manifested  by  angelic 
visits  ;  the  Church  of  the  Egyptian  captivity  by  portents  ;  the  Church 
of  tlie  wilderness  and  of  Canaan  by  symbolic  appearances — as  the  fire  of 
the  bush,  the  mount,  the  Shekinah  ;  and  all  these  had  his  presence  man- 
ifested by  spiritual  gifts  and  saintly  graces,  by  providential  interventions 
and  dispensations  of  prosperity  and  adversity,  respectively  attending  upon 
obedience  and  disobedience  ;  and,  further  still,  by  endowments  of  miracle- 
power  and  of  prophecy. 

Prophecy  often  pointed  forward  to  a  form  of  presence  to  be  manifested 
by  the  glory  of  the  Lord  making  its  tabernacle  in  the  flesh  ;  and  when 
that  did  appear  he,  by  whom  it  was  manifested,  himself  pointed  forward 
to  its  speedy  cessation  and  to  the  ever-abiding  presence  of  the  Spirit — a 
presence  which  would  manifest  itself  in  his  members  ;  to  themselves  in 
the  depth  of  the  soul,  and  to  the  world  through  them  in  their  lives,  gifts, 
and  victories.  Obviously,  of  these  varying  forms  of  presence  the  central 
one  was  that  of  the  Son  of  God  manifested  in  the  flesh.  He,  the  virgin- 
born  Immanuel,  it  was  of  whom  the  word  was  spoken,  ' '  When  he  bring- 
eth  in  the  First  Begotten  into  the  world  he  saith,  And  let  all  the  angels 

*  Zech.  viii,  23. 


SEKMON    OF    REV.    WILLIAM    ARTHUR.  I 

of  God  worship  him."  Accordingly,  as  he  entered  the  world,  his  advent- 
morn  was  sung  in  by  a  multitude  of  the  heavenly  host.  This  sinless 
Immanuel  is  pre-eminently  and  typically  the  Holy  Seed,  at  one  and  at  the 
same  time  the  Everlasting  Father  and  the  First-born  among  many  breth- 
ren, in  the  likeness  of  whom  are  born  all  who  are  born  of  God.  He  was 
a  man  of  sorrows  ;  yet  shall  he  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul  and  shall  be 
satisfied.  He  was  numbered  among  the  transgressors;  yet  shall  he  justify 
many.  His  generation  shall  no  man  declare ;  yet  shall  he  see  his  seed.  He 
was  cut  off  out  of  the  land  of  the  living  ;  yet  shall  he  prolong  his  days. 
Him  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  bruise  ;  yet  shall  the  pleasure  of  the  Lord  pros- 
per in  his  hands.     Of  signs  and  wonders  he  is  the  Sign  and  Wonder. 

His  presence  in  the  body,  glorious  and  blessed  as  it  was,  being  local- 
ized, was  necessarily  dependent  on  time  and  space.  When  Lazarus  lay 
dying,  and  the  sisters  looked  away  to  the  distant  blue  lines  of  hills  in 
Moab,  wondering  where  the  Master  might  be  and  whether  he  would 
arrive  in  time,  it  was  not  then  presence,  but  absence.  Therefore,  when 
speaking  of  the  approaching  change  from  his  dwelling  with  them  in  the 
body  to  his  dwelling  with  them  by  the  Spirit,  he  never  described  it  as  one 
that  would  deprive  them  of  his  presence.  True,  he  said,  "I  leave  the 
world,"  but  never,  "I  leave  you."  When  he  spoke  of  their  course  toward 
him  he  told  them  that  every  one  of  them  would  be  scattered  to  his  own, 
"and  leave  me  alone  ;  "  but  in  contrast  with  this,  "I  will  not  leave  you 
comfortless  ;  I  will  come  unto  you."  That  they  should  not  see  him 
he  did  plainly  say  ;  and  also  that  they  should  not  be  able  presently  to  fol- 
low him  whither  he  was  going  ;  but  with  equal  plainness  he  said,  "I  am 
with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

TJie  presence  of  the  Lord  in  the  Church  universal.  Strictly  speaking, 
the  Church  universal  includes  both  the  Church  militant  and  the  Church 
triumphant.  To  our  ascended  Lord  are  ascribed  three  distinct  circles  of 
dominion.  He  is  Lord  both  of  the  dead  and  of  the  living,  a  realm  which 
includes  not  only  the  earth,  but  also  heaven  and  hell.  He  is  Prince  of 
the  kings  of  the  earth,  a  realm  wider  than  that  of  the  Church  ;  and  he  is 
Head  of  the  Church,  her  living  members  being  members  of  himself,  and 
her  collective  living  members  constituting  his  body. 

As  Head  of  the  Church  militant  he  is  her  prophet,  delivering  her  doc- 
trine both  as  to  faith  and  morals.  "I  have  given  unto  them  the  words 
which  thou  gavest  me  ; "  so  spake  he  to  the  Father  ;  and  to  the  apostles 
he  said  that  ' '  the  Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Father  will  send  in  my  name, 
.  .  .  shall  bring  all  things  to  your  remembrance,  whatsoever  I  have  said 
unto  you." 

He  is  also  her  High-priest,  the  sole  mediator  between  God  and  man, 
alone  entering  within  the  veil,  alone  presenting  sacrifice  for  sin  ;  none  of 
his  ministers  ever  bringing  other  sacrifice  than  that  of  a  consecrated  body 
and  of  habitual  praise  and  prayer,  which  is  the  common  offering  of  all 
whom  he  the  Son  makes  free  in  the  Lord's  kingdom  of  priests — a  king- 
dom of  priests  in  which  every  one  of  you  who  is  in  Christ  holds  a  censer 
wherein  may  burn  the  ascending  flame  of  praise  and  prayer,  while  none, 


O  OPENING    SERVICES. 

nay,  not  one  but  the  High -priest  alone,  can  pour  and  sprinkle  the  blood 
without  shedding  of  which  there  is  no  remission  of  sin.  He  assures  and 
maintains  the  Church's  perpetuity,  so  that  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  pre- 
vail against  her.  He  is  her  foundation — not  the  stone  which  is  laid  on 
the  foundation,  but  the  foundation  itself,  the  rock  which  no  man  can 
lay,  but  upon  which  are  laid  the  foundation-stones,  prophets,  namely,  and 
apostles,  over  which  rise  up  other  living  stones,  and  all  are  fashioned  by 
the  Spirit  into  a  habitation  of  God. 

The  presence  of  the  Lord  with  his  members  individually  is  always  spoken 
of  as  an  actual  dwelling,  a  making  of  his  abode  and  of  the  abode  of  the 
Father  with  the  man,  an  inhabitating  of  the  heart  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Citing  his  own  particular  case,  Paul  cries,  ' '  When  it  pleased  God  to  reveal 
his  Son  in  me,  that  I  might  preach  him  among  the  Gentiles."  Mark,  he 
does  not  say  merely  revealed  his  Son  "to  me,"  but  "in  me,"  in  which 
words  he  intimates  two  things — the  real  method  in  which  the  child  of  God 
is  born  again,  that  is,  by  the  revelation  within  his  soul  of  the  Son  of  God 
as  his  Saviour,  and,  in  the  next  place,  the  true  source  of  all  living  testi- 
mony to  Christ,  namely,  the  revelation  of  him  in  the  soul  as  the  Saviour  of 
the  world.  This  inward  revelation  in  the  soul  of  the  Saviour  bears  with  it 
an  impulse  urging  us  to  live  in  the  body  the  life  of  him  whose  work  here 
was  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost. 

When  we  read,  "  In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions,"  the  word 
which  denotes  the  immovable  dwelling-place  set  on  the  eternal  rock  is 
the  same  which  a  few  verses  later  we  translate  "abode,"  so  that  the 
words  of  the  Master  respecting  the  man  who  loves  him  and  keejjs  his 
word  might  be  read:  "My  Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will  come  unto 
him,  and  make  our  mansion  with  him."  The  high  and  lofty  place  on 
the  one  hand  and  the  lowly  and  contrite  spirit  on  the  other  are 
the  two  palaces  wherein  it  pleaseth  the  All  Blessed  to  cause  his  face  to 
shine.  "  Your  bodies  are  members  of  Christ,  .  .  .  your  body  is  a  temple  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  in  you."  The  consecrating  effect  of  the  Lord's 
indwelling  in  his  children  is  to  make  the  entire  frame  a  temple  inclosure, 
the  heart  being  the  inmost  shrine,  and  all  the  members  temple-vessels,  in- 
struments of  righteousness,  unto  God. 

The  presence  of  the  Lord  in  the  assembly  received  on  the  first  night  of 
the  resurrection  an  illustration  which  should  ever  shine  in  the  eye  of  the 
Church.  When  the  disciples  were  met,  with  doors  closed  for  fear,  then 
stood  Jesus  in  the  midst  of  them.  If  they  had  fled  and  left  him  alone  he  had 
not  left  them.  Would  he  now  come  with  a  rod  ?  Hearken  how  he  greets 
the  unfaithful.  Is  it,  "Woe  unto  you?"  Nay,  nay;  his  first  word  is, 
"  Peace  be  unto  you."  And  this  said,  "  He  showed  them  his  hands  and 
his  side;"  and  no  wonder  it  is  added  :  "Then  were  the  disciples  glad 
when  they  saw  tlie  Lord."  This,  his  first  act  in  an  assembly  of  disciples 
after  the  resurrection,  followed  up  his  first  word,  "  peace,"  the  act  point- 
ing back  to  his  cross,  whereby  he  had  made  peace  ;  pointing  back  to  it 
now  in  like  manner  as,  before  his  crucifixion,  he  had  been  wont  to  point 
forward  to  it,  beginning  from  the  night  when  to  Nicodemus  he  foretold 


SERMON    OF    REV.    WILLIAM    ARTHUR.  9 

that  as  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even  so  should  he 
be  lifted  up ;  and  not  ending  till  the  night  when,  taking  the  bread,  he 
broke  it  with  his  own  hand,  and  foreshowed  the  breaking  of  his  body 
which  was  instantly  impending.  In  his  life  of  humiliation  he  had  ever 
pointed  forward  to  the  cross  as  to  his  life-goal ;  so  now  in  the  first  stage  of 
his  life  of  triumph  he  pointed  back  to  it  as  the  finishing  of  the  work  his 
Father  had  given  him  to  do ;  and  so  afterward  when  he  had  carried  tri- 
umph up  to  the  heavens  he  appeared  in  his  glory,  speaking  of  himself  as 
of  him  ' '  who  liveth  and  was  dead  ;  "  yea,  even  in  the  midst  of  the  throne 
he  stands  the  Lamb  "  as  it  had  been  slain."' 

A  second  time  he  pronounces,  "  Peace  be  unto  you,"  and  straightway 
adds  a  commission  which  might  bring  to  them  also  the  cross  and  the 
stoning,  "  As  the  Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you."  The  Father 
had  indeed  sent  him  that  the  world  through  him  might  be  saved,  but  by 
the  sacrifice  of  himself;  and  did  he  now  mean  that  they,  too,  were  to  live 
laboriously,  and,  at  need,  to  die  for  the  salvation  of  the  world  ?  Yea, 
verily,  that  was  what  he  did  mean.  And  now  succeeds  an  act  full  of 
teaching  and  of  hope  for  all  meetings  of  his  disciples.  "When  he  had 
said  this  he  breathed  on  them,  and  saith  unto  them,  Receive  ye  the 
Holy  Ghost  ?  "  This  may  be  taken  as  the  typical  action  of  his  unchange- 
able priesthood,  in  so  far  as  it  is  the  act  of  the  high-priest,  not  when  pre- 
senting his  sacrifice,  but  when  blessing  the  people.  It  is  the  risen  Lord 
breathing  the  life  of  God  into  the  soul  of  man,  and  filling  weak  messengers 
with  power  from  on  high. 

This  typical  meeting  of  the  Church,  and  of  the  Lord  with  the  Church, 
leads  us,  then,  with  reverent  trust  to  ex2;)ect,  whether  in  the  assembly  of  two 
or  three,  or  of  hundreds  or  of  thousands  gathered  in  the  name  of  .Jesus,  the 
presence  of  our  Lord  speaking  peace ;  his  presence  setting  himself  forth  to 
our  faith  as  evidently  crucified  before  our  eyes;  his  presence  thrusting  us 
out  into  the  harvest,  constraining  us,  in  his  stead,  to  pray  men  to  be 
reconciled  to  God ;  and  his  presence  enduing  us  with  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
with  power  from  on  high. 

Now,  beloved  and  honored  fathers  and  brethren,  we  are  all  here  present 
before  God  this  day  to  hear  all  things  that  are  commanded  us  of  God,  and 
if  we  dwell  on  his  presence  in  the  assembly  it  is  not  for  the  sake  of  dis- 
coursing upon  it  or  of  speculating  about  it,  but  of  realizing  it,  and  that 
in  this  our  first  meeting.  Therefore,  now,  let  heart  in  heart  be  deliber- 
ately lifted  up — lifted  up  unto  the  Lord;  one  by  one  let  each  soul  for 
itself,  in  an  act  of  faith  intense  with  purpose,  say :  "My  Lord  and  my  God, 
thou  who  for  me  wast  crucified,  and  for  me  wast  raised  up  from  the  dead, 
thou  art  here  in  the  midst  of  us.  What"  I  am  thou  knowest,  and  how  un- 
worthy I  am  to  look  up  unto  thee.  But  thou  speakest  peace.  Pronounce 
thou  upon  my  sinful  soul  thy  word  of  peace,  yea,  the  perfect  peace  of 
God  !  Tell  me  once,  toll  me  again,  my  peace  is  made  !  Breathe  thou,  O 
Lord  Christ,  upon  me  !  I^id  me  receive  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  as  the 
Father  sent  thee  to  live  and  to  suffer,  that  the  world  through  thee 
might   be  saved,  so,  since   thy  grace  is  exceeding   abundant,  send   me 


10  OPENING    SERVICES, 

among  mj-  fellow-sinners  to  do'  and  to  suffer  for  the  salvation  of  the 
world." 

2.  The  image  of  her  Lord  in  her  children.  When  sin  entered  into 
the  world  our  first  parents,  before  they  were  sentenced,  had  heard  the 
promise  of  a  seed  who  should  overcome  the  evil  one,  that  promise  be- 
ing contained  in  the  curse  pronounced  upon  the  serpent.  The  hope  thus 
kindled  always  kept  its  eye  turned  toward  the  promised  seed.  When 
greater  definiteness  was  to  be  given  to  that  hope  by  its  being  attached  ta 
one  particular  lineage,  the  lesson  was  taught  that  not  ordinary  human 
causes  nor  the  natural  course  of  things  were  to  bring  the  promised  seed^ 
apart  from  a  direct  interposition  of  God.  To  credit  the  hope  set  before 
him,  that  in  a  seed  of  his  all  the  families  of  tlie  earth  should  be  blesi^ed, 
Abraham's  faith  needed  to  triumph  over  all  improbabilities.  His  own 
body  being  as  good  as  dead,  and  that  of  Sarah  likewise,  against  deadness 
here  and  deadness  there  he  had  only  the  word  of  him  who  could  not  lie.. 
The  child  of  promise,  then,  appeared  as  the  type  of  a  race  divinely  born,, 
a  race  in  which  each  of  tlie  sons  would  be  one,  not  born  of  the  will  of  the- 
flesh  or  of  tlie  will  of  man,  but  of  God. 

When  the  expectation  of  the  promised  seed  was  to  be  yet  further  defined 
by  being  attached  to  a  narrower  lineage,  within  that  of  Abraham,  namely, 
to  the  family  of  David,  both  its  spiritual  import  and  the  world-wide 
range  of  its  benefits  were  plainly  set  forth.  If  David's  seed  was  to  be 
established  forever  it  was  for  this  end:  "All  the  ends  of  the  world 
shall  remember  and  turn  unto  the  Lord.  ...  A  seed  shall  serve  him.  .  .  . 
They  shall  come,  and  shall  declare  his  righteousness  unto  a  people  that 
shall  be  born."* 

This  people  that  was  to  be  born,  and  whose  distinguishing  mark  was- 
te be  that  they  would  serve  the  promised  seed,  was  to  be  accounted  to  him 
for  a  generation ;  for  other  generation  would  he  have  none.  These,  and 
only  these,  were  to  be  reckoned  as  his  offspring,  deriving  their  life  from 
him,  bearing  his  image,  and  as  sons  who  had  been  made  free  by  tlie  Son, 
holding  titles  to  draw  wealth  out  of  the  treasure-room  in  his  Father's 
house,  and  to  abide  in  that  house  forever.  Coming  from  all  the  ends  of 
the  world,  these  sons  divinely  born,  this  generation  of  Christ,  were  to  be 
many — many  as  the  dew  of  the  morning,  as  the  stars  in  the  sky  for  multi- 
tude, as  the  sand  by  the  sea-shore  innumerable. 

This  holy  seed  was  described  at  large  by  the  prophets;  it  was  to  be  the 
stay  of  Zion  in  the  time  of  desolation:  "  As  a  teil-tree,  and  as  an  oak, 
whose  substance  is  in  them,  when  they  cast  their  leaves:  so  the  holy  seed 
shall  be  the  substance  thereof."  t  Born  of  the  Spirit,  and  multiplied  by 
the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  this  seed  was  to  have  increase  in  long  lines 
of  extending  growth.  "  I  will  pour  my  Spirit  upon  thy  seed,  and  my 
blessing  upon  thine  offspring :  and  they  shall  spring  up  as  among  the  grass," 
rapidly  and  in  multitude;  not,  however,  short-lived  as  grass,  but  though 
of  swift  growth,  stable  "  as  willows  by  the  water-courses."  \ 

*  Psa.  xxii,  27,  30,  31.  +  Isa.  vi,  13.  *  Isa.  xliv,  3,  4. 


SERMON    OF    EEV.    WILLIAM    ARTHUR.  11 

This  holy  seed,  on  the  one  hand,  would  make  their  boast  in  the  heavenly- 
Father,  no  matter  what  name  they  might  previously  have  invoked.  "  One 
shall  say,  I  am  the  Lord's  ;  and  another  shall  call  himself  by  the  name  of 
Jacob ;  and  another  shall  subscribe  with  his  hand  unto  the  Lord,  and  surname 
himself  by  the  name  of  Israel. "  *  Yes,  by  that  name  would  they  have  them- 
selves called,  as  we  would  here  this  day;  for  who  of  us  is  there  who 
would  not  rather  lose  the  name  of  his  father's  house  than  tliat  sacred 
name  of  Christian  by  which  we  are  called  ?  ' '  The  glory  of  children  is 
their  fathers',"  and  the  degree  in  which  this  is  the  case  in  any  other 
instance  is  as  nought  compared  with  his  right  to  rejoice,  even  with  a  joy 
full  of  glory,  in  wliose  soul  the  voice  of  the  Holy  Spirit  raises  the  cry, 
Abba,  Father.  But  if  thus  the  holy  seed  would  glory  in  their  divine 
parent,  the  Lord  liimself  is  pleased  to  acknowledge  them  before  his  ene- 
mies. "  Ye  are,"  he  says,  "my  witnesses;  "  and,  again,  "  Behold,  I  create 
Jerusalem  a  rejoicing,  and  her  people  a  joy.  And  I  will  rejoice  in  Jerusalem, 
and  joy  in  my  people."!  And,  again,  "This  people  have  I  formed  for 
myself;  they  shall  show  forth  my  praise."  | 

Rejoiced  over  by  the  Lord,  they  would  be  recognized  by  men.  "Ye 
shall  be  named  the  Priests  of  the  Lord :  men  shall  call  you  the  Ministers  of 
our  God."  "And  their  seed  shall  be  known  among  the  Gentiles,  and 
their  offspring  among  the  people :  all  that  see  them  shall  acknowledge 
them,  that  they  are  the  seed  which  the  Lord  hath  blessed."  § 

When  the  Son  of  God  was  manifested  among  us  he  became  the  proto- 
type and  exemplar  of  the  holy  seed.  In  the  Old  Testament  the  Lord 
made  his  own  nature  the  standard  for  the  character  of  his  people,  saying, 
"Be  ye  holy,  for  I  am  holy."  So  in  the  New  Testament,  to  us  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  standard  and  the  exemplar  that  we  should  walk  in  his 
steps ;  for  ' '  he  that  saith  he  abideth  in  him  ought  himself  also  so  to  walk 
even  as  he  walked. "  Kindship  of  nature,  manifested  in  kindred  action,  and 
honored  with  formal  recognition,  is  set  forth  even  in  terms  more  tender 
and  winning :  "  He  that  sanctifieth  and  they  that  are  sanctified  are  all  of 
one,  for  which  cause  he  is  not  ashamed  to  call  them  brethren."  Here 
mark  the  ground ;  the  oneness  of  nature,  and  the  fact  of  sanctiflcation. 
Not  on  other  ground,  be  tiiat  ground  what  it  may,  will  he  call  them 
brethren.  They  will  not  win  for  themselves  a  title  to  kindred  with  him 
by  quoting  their  Methodist  parentage,  or  a  saintly  lineage  in  any  other 
Church.  No  more  shall  we  thus  gain  his  recognition  than  did  the  Jews 
by  quoting  to  him  their  descent  from  Abraham.  The  fact  that  they  were 
the  children  of  the  first  Adam  was  testified  to  by  their  manifest  fall  with 
him  in  sin,  and  so  must -their  rising  again  in  the  second  Adam  be  testified 
to  by  their  manifestly  walking  with  him  in  newness  of  life.  If  the  Jew 
was  not  allowed  to  claim  to  be  the  child  of  Abraham  unless  he  did  the 
works  of  Abraham,  and  was  terribly  told  that,  working  evil  works,  he  was 
the  child  of  his  father  the  devil,  most  assuredly  neither  we  nor  our  chil- 
dren nor  our  children's  children  will  ever  be  recognized  if,  naming  the 

*  Isa.  xllv,  5.  +  Isa.  Ixv,  18,  19.  $  Isa.  xliii,  21.  §  Isa.  Ixi,  6,  9. 


12  OPENING    SERVICES. 

name  of  Christ,  we  do  not  depart  from  iniquity.  Other  grounds  of  claim 
to  kindred  with  him  are  continually  jDut  by  the  tempter  into  our  mouths ; 
but  let  us  say  in  faithfulness  one  to  another:  "  Be  the  Church  to  which  you 
belong  what  it  may,  be  the  good  cause  you  support  the  best  in  the  world, 
be  the  line  of  God's  servants  in  your  own  family  bright  and  blessed,  be 
the  life  of  your  pastor  or  that  of  your  fellow-members  ever  so  saintly,  if 
you  yourself  instead  of  being  a  child  of  the  kingdom  are  in  works  a  child 
of  the  wicked  one,  then  will  you  yourself  be  cast  out." 

When  once  our  Lord  had  entered  on  his  public  ministry  he  took  an 
early  opportunity  of  describing  the  holy  seed  in  a  manner  never  to  be  for- 
gotten, a  manner  which,  for  all  ages  invalidates  every  claim  to  kindred 
with  him,  unless  it  be  accredited  by  kindred  action,  since  it  alone  shows 
that  in  the  two  cases  the  nature  is  of  the  same  kind.  Rumors  of  his  words 
and  deeds  had  filled  the  countryside.  Though  of  a  lowly  craft,  he  was 
known  to  be  of  royal  blood ;  and  as  men  talked  of  this  wonderful  Son  of 
David  the  question  ever  and  anon  arose,  whether  it  miglit  not  be  the  Son 
of  David  who  was  to  come.  His  people  at  home  were  troubled.  His 
mother  and  brothers  came  out  seeking  to  win  him  back  to  private  life. 

They  found  him  discoursing  to  a  dense  crowd,  which  did  not  make  way 
for  them,  but  only  passed  in  the  word,  "  Thy  mother  and  thy  brethren 
stand  without,  desiring  to  speak  with  thee."  Hereupon  he  put  a  question 
which  the  Church  must  remember  forever,  a  question  which  finally  set- 
tled the  point  that  blood  relationship,  yea,  though  it  were  of  the  closest, 
and  though,  the  blood  were  itiat  of  the  line  of  David,  did  not  constitute 
any  kindred  which  would  be  acknowledged  by  Christ.  "Who  is  my 
mother?"  he  asked,  "  and  who  are  my  brethren?"  Then  he  looked  round 
about  on  them  which  sat  about  him.  Here  let  the  Church  mark  the  look  of 
Christ  seeking  for  his  kindred,  a  look  that  now  passes  round  about  on  this 
company,  that  pierces  into  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  every  soul.  After 
this  look,  not  to  the  young  men  of  the  seed  royal  did  he  turn ;  but  there 
sat  twelve  poor  men  in  whose  veins  ran  no  drop  of  David's  blood,  and 
toward  these  he  stretched  forth  his  hand  and  pronounced  the  words, 
' '  Behold  my  mother  and  my  brethren  " — words  of  immemorial  value,  which 
without  reversal  annulled  any  claim  of  kindred  with  him  on  grounds  of 
lineage.  Then,  as  if  to  show  that  the  new  and  divinely  born  family  was 
not  to  find  its  bond  of  vital  union  in  new  church  rites  or  new  church 
doctrine  or  new  church  companionships,  Imt  in  kindred  of  nature,  at- 
tested by  kindred  action,  he  added,  "For  whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of 
my  Father  which  is  in  heaven  the  same  is  my  brother,  and  sister,  and 
mother."  Mark  well!  He  says  not,  "  Is  my  Fath'er;  "  that  sacred  title  he 
evermore  reserved  for  the  Father  of  eternity  alone.  But  to  him  all  rela- 
tions which  might  lie  filled  by  human  creatures  would  be  filled  by  those 
who,  like  himself,  would  do  the  will  of  his  Father  in  heaven  and  would 
make  the  doing  of  that  will  their  meat  and  drink — angel  food  which  the 
world  knew  n.ot  that  they  had  to  oat . 

On  a  second  occasion  this  same  lesson  was  pointed  anew.  One  ex- 
claimed, "Blessed  is  the  womb  that   bare  thee;"  and  he   made   reply, 


SEKMON    OF    KEY.    WILLIAM    ARTHUR.  13 

"Yea,  rather,  blessed  are  they  that  hear  the  word  of  God  and  keep  it." 
The  root  of  kindred  was  to  be,  not  in  nature,  but  in  grace;  and  the 
sole  accepted  proof  that  the  root  was  sound  was  to  be  the  fruit  of 
o-ood  living.  That  good  living  in  itself  was  to  be  such  as  is  taught 
in  the  word,  and  was  to  consist  in  the  keeping  of  the  word;  not  in 
the  discovery  of  other  forms  of  saintship,  not  in  unregulated  will-wor- 
ship or  eccentric  devotions,  leading  ofE  from  human  ties  and  the  practical 
life  of  man,  but  in  regulated  habits  of  devotion  and  virtue,  such  as  were 
beheld  in  his  person,  and  such  as  are  taught  in  the  word  of  God.  As 
necessary  to  an  entrance  on  the  new  life  he  proclaimed  a  new  birth — a 
birth  of  the  Spirit,  a  birth  from  above.  To  Nicodemus,  whose  historical 
position  was  unquestionable,  whose  church  relationships  were  regular, 
whose  character  was  not  only  correct,  but  high,  the  word  of  the  Lord  was 
this,  "  Ye  must  be  born  again."  What !  born  when  he  is  old  ?  Yes,  old 
or  young,  in  the  Church  or  out  of  it,  elder  and  ruler  or  only  private  dis- 
ciple, the  sentence  of  the  Saviour  is,  "  Must  be  born  again,"  or  else,  "  Can- 
not see  the  kingdom  of  God." 

In  his  teaching  church  membership,  office,  and  success  were  all  set 
aside  as  tests  of  nature;  action,  and  action  alone,  would  declare  what  that 
was ;  and  action  not  as  man  sees,  but  as  it  is  seen  by  him  to  whom  nought 
is  under  cover.  AVheu  the  disciples  with  joy  exclaimed,  "Even  the  devils 
are  subject  unto  us  through  thy  name,"  he  said,  "In  this  rejoice  not  that 
the  devils  are  subject  unto  you,  but  rather  rejoice  because  your  names  are 
written  in  heaven."  Personal  birth  into  the  divine  family,  personal  reg- 
istration in  the  book  of  the  living  citizens  of  that  city  whose  builder  and 
maker  is  God,  is  the  sole  proper  basis  of  church  office  or  of  success  in  any 
church  mission.  And  as  for  the  individual  the  only  recognized  attesta- 
tion of  his  birth  into  the  family  of  God  is  good  works,  so  for  the  minis- 
ters of  Christ  their  spiritual  offspring  are  the  only  seal  of  their  apostle- 
ship.  It  is  vain  in  any  Church  for  a  member  whose  life  does  not  accredit 
him  to  speak  of  his  adoption  into  the  family  of  God,  and,  above  all 
others,  it  is  vain  in  the  churches  that  are  called  Methodist.  So,  if  in  any 
Church  it  is  a  pitiful  sight  to  see  the  ministers,  instead  of  looking  for  the 
seals  of  their  apostleship,  furbishing  up  an  ecclesiastical  blazon,  that  sight 
is  most  melancholy  of  all  when  exhibited  among  ourselves.  Point  to  liv- 
ing men  and  living  women  walking  in  the  raiment  of  the  holy  seed,  fine 
linen  clean  and  white,  and  say,  "  The  seals  of  our  apostleship  are  ye  in  the 
Lord." 

Personal  service  was  not  to  pass  as  a  substitute  for  the  divine  image  any 
more  than  membership  or  office  or  apparent  success.  "Many,"  he  says 
— and  this  "many"  should  ring  in  the  ears  of  us  who  in  his  name  hold 
office  and  do  work — "many  shall  say  unto  me  in  that  day.  Lord,  Lord, 
have  we  not  prophesied  in  thy  name?  and  in  thy  name  cast  out  devils  ? 
and  in  thy  name  done  many  wonderful  works? "  But  on  the  ground  that 
their  works  were  iniquity  kindred  is  disowned,  even  recognition  is  re- 
fused, and  his  word  to  them  is,  "Depart  from  me." 

If  he  thus  insisted  upon  holiness  of  life  as  the  only  proof  of  a  new  birth, 


14  OPENING    SEKVICES. 

and  upon  a  new  birth  as  the  only  means  whereby  true  holiness  could  be 
obtained,  he  did  it  not  in  order  to  drive  men  to  despair  of  their  salva- 
tion, but,  on  the  contrary,  to  lead  them  to  come  to  him  and  find  rest  for 
their  souls.  Out  of  him  life  for  the  dead  was  an  impossibility;  in  his 
presence  death  itself  departed  and  life  came  in ;  and  when  his  Spirit 
was  breathed  forth  he  poured  out  life  from  himself  and  infused  it  into 
others. 

"To  as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  power  to  become  the 
sons  of  God."  To  possess  power  is  much;  to  have  the  prerogative  of 
giving  it  is  more ;  but  to  give  "  power  to  become  "  is  among  men  unknown ; 
for  it  involves  the  prerogative  of  giving  life  to  the  dead.  Holy  Scripture, 
in  speaking  of  Christ's  work  upon  nature,  employs  no  such  terms.  Its 
language  is,  "All  things  were  made  by  him."  We  can  make  iron  into  an 
engine,  but  we  cannot  give  it  power  to  become  one.  All  the  science  and 
skill,  the  authority  and  force  in  the  United  States  could  not  give  to  this 
church  in  which  we  meet  power  to  become  such  an  editice  as  yonder  capi- 
tol.  Only  where  life  exists  is  there  power  to  become,  and  where  life  does 
not  exist  the  prerogative  of  giving  it  belongs  to  none  save  to  the  Prince  of 
Life  only. 

The  living  seed  has  power  to  become  a  plant,  the  living  child  to  become 
a  man,  but  the  lifeless  mote  cannot  become  any  thing  but  a  lifeless  mote. 
Place  it  in  the  hand  of  a  man  of  science,  and  side  by  side  with  it  the  seed 
of  the  maple,  and  ask  him  to  give  it  power  to  become  a  maple-seed.  No ; 
in  that  presence  science  and  force  both  say,  "It  is  not  in  me."  That  seed 
represents  behind  it  an  invisible  Contriver,  who  gave  it  power  to  become, 
and  to  continue  so  to  do,  until  the  end  of  the  world — to  become  timber, 
leaf,  sap,  fruit,  and  all  along  to  ingrain  its  wood  with  jDoints  of  beauty  of 
a  predetermined  kind.  This  strange  power  so  to  do  draws  its  origin  from 
ages  lost  in  the  unknown  before  the  first  line  of  history,  and  reaches  on 
to  ages  lost  in  the  unknown  hereafter.  Show  us  that  power,  weigh  it 
for  us,  measure  it  for  us.  tell  us  its  chemical  elements  or  its  anatomical 
structure.  It  is  a  power  invisible,  intangible,  inaudible,  silently  enthroned 
in  a  speck,  and  from  that  chair  of  authority  teaching  us  that  it  comes 
forth  from  One  whose  throne  is  set  above  the  river-head  of  life. 

Now,  the  great  and  happy  power  of  becoming  the  sons  of  God,  of  put- 
ting off  the  image  of  the  evil  one  and  putting  on  the  image  of  Him  who 
created  us  ;  of  ceasing  to  be  what  we  ought  not  to  be  but  are,  and  of  be- 
coming what  we  ought  to  be  but  are  not;  of  being  transformed  by  the 
renewing  of  our  mind,  so  as  to  walk  in  newness  of  life  ;  this  thrice  happy 
power  may  be  that  pearl  of  great  price  for  which  in  this  company  some 
soul  is  now  al)()veall  things  longing,  asking,  "Who  can  give  me  power  to 
become  a  child  of  God  ?  "  One  there  is,  my  brother,  and  One  in  the  midst 
of  us  here  this  day,  in  whose  hand  lies  the  fullness  of  that  power  ;  and  if 
thou  wilt  now  and  here  receive  him  in  true  repentance  and  simple  faith 
as  the  Saviour  of  the  lost,  and  as  especially  thine  own  Saviour,  thou  shalt 
go  down  to  thine  house  justified,  and  from  this  day  forward  those  who 
know  thee  will  observe  a  change  that  will  lead  them  to  say,   "Over  thee 


SERMON    OF    RKX.    WILLIAM    ARTHUR.  15 

has  passed  the  hand  of  liim  who  gives  us  power  to  become  the  childrea 
of  God." 

In  the  parable  of  the  soice?'  the  Lord  speaks  of  the  seed  as  the  word  of 
God  without  specifying  by  whom  it  is  sown — prophet,  apostle,  evangelist,  or 
the  Messiah  himself.  It  is  otherwise  in  the  parable  of  the  tares.  There  he 
speaks  of  himself,  and  himself  exclusively,  as  sowing,  and  the  seed  sown 
is  no  longer  only  the  word  of  God,  but  is  "  the  children  of  the  kingdom; " 
not  the  mere  germ  of  growth,  but  the  growth  itself.  "  He  that  soweth 
the  good  seed  is  the  Son  of  man."  The  good  seed  are  the  children  of  the 
kingdom,  but  the  tares  are  the  children  of  the  wicked  one.  We  all, 
€ach  in  his  degree,  may  bear  a  blessed  part  in  sowing  the  incorruptible 
seed  of  the  word,  and  one  may  sow  and  another  reap  ;  but  to  all  our  sow- 
ing only  the  Sou  of  man  can  give  the  increase,  only  he  can  plant  with  the 
trees  of  righteousness,  only  he  can  cause  righteousness  and  truth  to  spring 
forth  before  all  people.  Wherever  the  planting  of  the  Lord  really  covers 
the  ground  it  will  bear  some  witness  of  its  origin,  and  his  name  will  be 
glorified,  "  for  the  trees  of  the  Lord  are  full  of  sap  ;  "  they  bear  their  fruit 
in  their  season,  and  they  are  not  out  of  season  anj-  month  of  the  twelve, 
but  bring  forth  new  fruit  every  month,  and  the  fruit  of  those  trees  is  for 
meat,  and  their  leaf  for  medicine.  In  them  may  the  needy  find  what  will 
relieve,  and  the  bleeding  what  will  heal.  But  any  who  claim  to  be  the 
planting  of  the  Lord  and  bear  not  good  fruit,  nor  yet  fruit  that  can  survive 
a  change  of  season,  have  to  learn  that  the  ax  is  laid  at  the  root  of  the 
trees,  and  such  trees  as  bear  not  good  fruit  are  to  be  hewn  down  and  cast 
into  the  fire.  Tell  me  that  men  are  well  taught,  zealous,  and  liberal,  and 
have  been  very  useful.  That  is  well  ;  but  we  are  here  in  the  eyes  of  him  to 
whom  preacher  and  hearer  must  equally  give  account.  Are  they  just  ? 
Are  they  upright  ?  Are  they  men  of  their  word  ?  Are  they  pure  of  life  ? 
Are  they  gentle  and  forgiving  ?  Are  their  tongues  converted  ?  Are  they 
uublameable  in  business  ?  And  saints  at  home  ?  If  so,  the  tree  is  justified 
of  its  fx'uit,  and  the  Chm-ch  wherein  such  trees  abound  is  the  garden  of  the 
Lord  ;  but  if  such  fruit  they  bear  not,  then  be  their  head  ever  so  lofty  and 
their  leaf  ever  so  green,  bid  them  hearken,  and  heaiken  straightway,  to  the 
voice  that  erreth  not  and  speaketh  only  in  love,  forewarning  them  of  the 
ax  and  the  fire. 

No  mark  of  a  false  religion  can  be  more  certain  than  the  putting  of  relig- 
ion as  a  substitute  for  righteousness,  nor  can  any  perversion  of  a  true  religion 
be  more  dangerous — a  perversion  to  which,  in  all  nations  and  ages,  human 
nature  is  very  prone.  Here  the  all-merciful  Jesus  is  inexorable,  his  goodness 
and  his  severity  working  together,  as  always  do  the  severity  and  goodness 
of  God  ;  severitv  to  wron?  beinff  one  of  the  first  manifestations  of  sjood- 
ness  in  the  case  where  goodness  sits  higher  than  any  bias  of  self-interest, 
holding  in  charge  the  welfare  of  all. 

Children  of  God  are  children  of  the  light — children  of  the  day,  not  of 
the  night  nor  of  darkness.  Being  divinely  born,  they  are  necessarily  di- 
vinely fashioned,  and  bear  in  their  features  some  likeness,  however  distant, 
to  Him  who  hath  taught  them  to  say,  Abba,  Father.     They  are  divinely 


16  OPENING    SERVICES. 

sealed  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise,  who  ' '  beareth  witness  with  their 
spirits  that  they  are  the  children  of  God."  They  are  also  divinely  im- 
pelled, the  impulse  of  the  Spirit  which  forms  them  anew  urging  them  to 
follow  after  holiness,  and  also  urging  them,  like  their  divine  Exemplar, 
to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost.  An  irrepressible  desire  welling  up 
in  the  soul  of  man — "if  by  any  means  I  might  save  some" — is  the  mind 
of  llim  who  loves  us  and  gave  himself  for  us,  working  in  his  child. 

Given,  tlien,  among  men  a  race  born  of  God,  fashioned  and  sealed  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  impelled  by  that  Spirit  to  live  for  the  end  for  which  our 
Saviour  lived  and  died,  you  have  a  race  bearing  two  characteristics — the 
image  of  God,  and  the  devotion  of  their  powers  to  set  forward  his  work. 
When  the  holy  seed  abounds  in  any  Church,  then  does  she  hold  in  her 
hand  credentials  that  no  gainsaying  can  cancel — living  epistles,  not  hid- 
den in  the  parchment  of  the  scholar,  but  known  and  read  of  all  men, 
written  with  the  finger  of  the  mighty  God  in  the  heart,  and  read  through 
the  living  and  the  doings  of'  children  who  bear  the  likeness  of  the  Father. 

Any  Church  that  abounds  in  such  cliildren,  though  she  be  lacking  in  all 
other  wealth,  will  have  her  jewels.  To  her  it  will  be  said,  "As  a  young 
man  marrieth  a  virgin,  so  shall  thy  sons  marry  thee,"  espousing  her  cause 
for  better,  for  Avorse,  to  live  and  die  with  her,  and  espousing  it  for  the 
legitimate  and  ineradicable  reason,  "  I  was  born  in  lier."  And  though 
not  a  soldier  owns  her  word  of  command,  for  her  will  march  bands  of 
joyful  sons  intrejnd  as  an  armj'  with  banners,  resolute  to  overcome  the 
wicked  one,  and  shouting,  "Jesus  the  Conqueror  reigns,"  they  will  take 
the  prey  from  the  lion  and  the  bear.  Ay,  and  richer  endowment  will  she- 
possess,  with  higher  defense  than  even  the  love  and  duty  of  the  best  sons;, 
for  with  the  same  breath  will  be  added  unto  her,  "As  the  bridegroom 
rejoiceth  over  the  bride,  so  will  thy  God  rejoice  over  thee." 

3.  There  remains  for  our  attention  the  third  form  of  credentials  men- 
tioned as  springing  out  of  the  presence  of  the  Lord  in  the  churches,  that, 
namely,  of  the  poioer  of  the  Lord  in,  her  mission. 

What  is  the  scope  of  her  mission  was  made  very  plain ;  she  was  sent 
unto  "  all  the  world" — no  limit  of  territory;  to  "  make  disciples  of  all 
nations" — no  limit  of  race;  to  "preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature  " — no 
limit  of  caste,  class,  or  condition,  nor  yet  any  limit  of  number  until  the 
last  vmit  is  reached.  As  thus  distinctly  set  before  her,  the  objective 
point  of  the  Church  is  all  mankind,  taken  both  collectively  and  distribu- 
tively.  Her  processes  are  distributive — she  baptizes  "every  creatm'e,"' 
one  by  one;  but  her  results  are  collective — "all  shall  know  the  Lord,  from 
the  least  to  the  greatest."  And  so  long  as  any  of  the  least  are  overlooked 
or  any  of  the  greatest  unconquered,  so  long  does  her  commission  remain 
in  part  unfulfilled.  Both  the  papal  and  positivist  schools  preconize 
schemes  for  the  reconstruction  of  society.  Our  Lord  and  his  apostles 
sought  its  regeneration.  They  did  not  look  upon  it  as  one  of  these  struct- 
ures made  with  hands  which  can  be  pulled  down  and  built  again,  but  as 
a  structure  built  up  without  hands,  ' '  fitly  joined  together, "  not  by  labor 
from  without,  but  by  life-force  growing  from  within.    Such  structures  may,. 


SERMON    OF    REV.    WILLIAM    ARTHUR.  17 

indeed,  be  marred  by  hands,  but  only  the  act  of  the  Life-giver  can  build 
them  up  by  making  their  sap  wholesome,  which  makes  sound  timber, 
with  healing  leaf  and  nourishing  fruit. 

The  structure  of  society  is  settled.  It  lies  in  the  couple,  the  family, 
the  kindred,  the  neighborhood  or  township,  the  nation,  and  finally  the 
circle  of  nations.  Regenerated  individuals  constitute  the  basis  of  re- 
generated couples,  these  of  regenerated  families,  these  of  regenerated 
kindred,  tliese  of  regenerated  towns,  and  these  of  regenerated  nations, 
and  so  on  to  a  regenerated  world.  Our  work  as  set  before  us,  then,  is 
not  to  give  to  the  shoots  of  the  wild  tree  new  timber  and  new  bark,  but 
to  have  them  all  grafted  on  new  stems  which  will  give  tliem  new  sap, 
and  then  may  we  look  for  new  fruit. 

The  place  of  the  Church  herself  as  she  moves  on  her  errand  to  bring  all 
men  to  the  knowledge  of  Christ  by  bringing  Christ  to  the  knowledge  of 
all  men  is  marked  in  the  description  of  the  place  of  the  forerunner  John. 
He  "was  sent  to  bear  witness  of  that  light;"  so  is  she.  He  "  was  not 
that  light ;"  no  more  is  she.  She  is  the  candlestick.  And  even  if  the 
candlestick  glisten,  it  is  not  in  its  own  light.  At  midnight  in  a  room 
where  no  light  is  a  golden  candlestick  has  no  more  brightness  than  one 
of  potter's  earth.  John  was  a  lamp  which  burned  and  shone  with  his 
Lord's  light.*  The  Church  is  a  golden  candlestick  which  shines  so  long 
as  it  is  fed  with  the  oil  of  the  Spirit.  His  presence  is  her  sole  illuminat- 
ing power.  She  shines  when  the  glory  of  her  Lord  is  risen  upon 
her.  And  if  as  a  light,  the  Lord  with  her  is  her  illuminating  power, 
so,  as  the  salt  of  the  earth,  the  Lord  with  her  is  her  savor,  and  when 
he  withdraws  his  presence  the  salt  loses  its  savor.  Yea,  and  if  the  light 
of  love  cease  to  shine,  the  candlestick  may  be  removed. 

The  intention  with  w-hich  the  Church  moves  in  her  mission  is  also  in- 
dicated in  the  case  of  the  forerunner;  he  bore  testimony  in  order  "  that 
through  him  all  men  might  believe."  AVere  the  testimony  of  the  Gospel 
intended  only  as  a  witness  against  the  nations  that  they  might  be  without 
excuse,  then  would  the  ministry  of  the  follower  be  less  glorious  than  that 
of  the  forerunner;  for  it  would  be  a  ministry  of  condemnation  compared 
with  the  ministry  of  righteousness.  The  Lord  himself  was  sent  of  the 
Father  not  to  condemn  the  world,  but  that  the  world  through  him  might 
be  saved.  To  him  testified  the  forerunner  in  order  that  all  men  miglit 
believe.  So  did  the  apostle  Paul  testify  that  his  ' '  gospel,  and  the  preaching 
of  Jesus  Christ"  was  "made  known  to  all  nations  for  the  obedience  of 
faith,"  mt  for  the  sealing  of  their  condemnation ;  albeit  to  those  who  refuse 
the  light  condemnation  inust  be  the  result.  The  sauctification  of  Christ's 
members,  the  giving  of  gifts  to  officers,  the  building  up  of  churches,  the 
increase  of  the  holy  seed,  though  all  in  themselves  ends — and  glorious 
ends — are  at  the  same  time  means  toward  the  all-comprehensive  end — the 
salvation  of  the  world.  No  less  than  this  was  the  end  for  which  the  Son 
came  forth  from  the  Father,  and  for  which  he  wdll  be  with  his  own  seed 


♦  The  Revised  Version  has  this  right  rendering ;  he  was  "  a  lamp,"  Christ  is  the  "  light. 


18  OPENING    SERVICES. 

and  his  seed's  seed  to  the  end  of  the  days.  It  is  an  end  demanding  not 
only  power,  but  power  excelling  all  powers.  And  let  us,  in  the  dej^th  of 
our  souls,  say,  "  Ah,  Lord,  in  the  sight  of  this  great  mountain  which  has 
to  be  moved,  the  excellency  of  the  power  is  of  thee,  and  not  of  us." 

In  fulfilling  this  blessed  commission  the  agents  of  the  Church  include 
all  her  true  members.  Her  officers  of  whatever  grade  are  gifts  given  to 
her  by  her  Head;  but  not  these  officers  exclusively  are  to  do  her  work  any 
more  than  are  captains,  colonels,  and  generals  exclusively  to  do  the  work 
of  a  campaign.  The  Church's  officers  are  set  for  the  prompting  of  the 
entire  force  to  move  upon  the  enemy,  for  the  leading  of  them  on,  and  for 
the  setting  of  them  in  order  as  they  advance.  But  the  apostles  never  di- 
vided the  Cliurch  into  the  teaching  Church  and  the  learning  Church. 
Apollos  learned  of  Aquila  and  Priscilla,  and  they  learned  of  him.  In 
the  last  chapter  of  the  Revelation,  when  we  hear  the  voice  of  the  glorified 
Lord  giving  the  world-wide  invitation  to  life  and  grace,  we  are  struck 
with  tlie  pause  made  in  the  midst  of  that  invitation.  He  calls  himself 
the  root  and  offspring  of  David,  and  the  bright  and  morning  star,  and 
cries,  "The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say.  Come;"  then  interjects,  "And  let 
him  that  heareth  say,  Come;"  then  resumes,  "And  let  him  that  is  athirst 
come.  And  whosoever  will,  let  liim  take  of  the  water  of  life  freely." 
Hark,  thou  hearer  of  the  word!  Upon  whom  is  it  that  the  Lord,  speak- 
ing out  of  the  excellent  glory,  here  expressly  calls  to  take  part  with  him, 
part  with  the  Spirit,  part  with  the  bride,  and  as  a  worker  together  with 
God  to  deliver  the  invitation?  It  is  on  thee,  my  brother,  who  will  never 
mount  a  pulpit,  never  write  a  tract,  whose  name  the  newspapers  never 
print,  and  whose  tombstone  few  will  visit.  Even  thou  art  he  who  art 
called  upon  by  the  Root  of  David  to  multiply  the  holy  seed,  called  upon  by 
the  Morning  Star  to  help  on  the  advance  of  day.  The  servant  maid  who, 
in  tlie  ancient  halls  of  his  ancestors,  taught  little  Anthony  Ashley  the  way 
to  Jesus  was  part  of  the  teaching  Church,  and  as  here  below  the  light 
she  kindled  brought  joy  to  many  a  child  of  night,  so  will  she  be  had  in 
remembrance  at  the  great  day-dawn,  w'hen  the  wise  shall  form  a  glowing 
firmament,  standing  out  from  which,  as  from  a  background,  they  that  turn 
many  to  righteousness  will  "  shine  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever." 

Whether  it  be  teaching  by  a  word  in  the  kitchen,  the  nursery,  the  har- 
vest field,  or  by  the  roadside,  or  teaching  by  exposition  in  the  private 
house  or  class-room,  or  by  preaching  in  the  great  congregation,  the  whole 
history  of  power  in  the  ministrations  of  the  Church  is  written  in  one 
word:  "They  went  forth  preaching  every-where,  the  Lord  working  with 
them,  and  confirming  the  word  with  signs  following." 

O,  the  difference  between  agents  who  go  forth  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord  after  waiting  there  till  he  had  endued  them  wnth  jjower,  and  did 
himself  go  with  them,  and  agents  w^ho  go  forth  strong  in  their  own 
strength,  or  else  agents  who  cower  before  the  skeptics,  like  Ahaz  before 
Rezin  the  King  of  Syria,  and  so  handle  as  if,  in  the  ship  of  Galilee,  their 
office  were  so  to  propitiate  the  spirits  of  the  wind  that  they  might  permit 
her,  in  consideration  of  modifying  her  course,  to  keep  the  sea  a  little  longer. 


SERMON    OF    KEY,    WILLIAM    ARTHUR.  19 

He  upon  whom  the  Spirit  and  power  of  the  Lord  have  indeed  come  down, 
in  going  to  meet  his  class  or  lead  his  prayer-meeting,  or  to  exhort  a  hand- 
ful of  neighbors,  or  face  his  blaspheming  work-fellows,  or  write  his  article, 
or  prepare  his  lecture,  or  frame  his  sermon,  or  administer  baptism  or  the 
Lord's  Supper,  goes  afraid  to  look  at  himself  and  loth  to  draw  to  himself 
the  eye  of  any ;  goes  feeling  how  great,  how  holy,  how  awful  is  He  who 
fiUeth  all  in  all;  but  goes  at  the  same  time  feeling  unconsciously  brave  as 
against  all  foes,  pigmy  or  gigantic,  clothed  in  flesh  or  unseen ;  for  what 
are  they  any  more  than  he  in  the  face  of  Him  that  sitteth  in  the  heavens? 

The  2)0ir€r  of  the  agents  in  the  wor-h  of  Ood  is,  first  and  last,  the  power  of 
the  Lord  working  in  them,  working  with  them,  working  above  them, 
and  also  above  all  adversaries,  visible  or  invisible.  Above  them,  far 
above,  out  of  their  sight,  is  held  a  scepter  in  the  hands  of  the 
Lamb  who  is  Lord  of  lords  and  King  of  kings.  When  the  Church  had 
scarcely  begun  to  go  forth  with  the  purj^ose  of  preaching  every- 
where, down  to  a  time  within  the  memory  of  living  men,  the  classic 
lands  of  history,  of  the  Bible,  and  of  romance  were  surrounded  with  high 
walls  and  gates  barred  asjainst  Christian  missionaries.  The  Turkish  Em- 
pire,  the  Mogul  Empire,  the  Chinese  Emjiire,  the  Empire  of  Japan,  and 
that  of  Morocco  were  all  in  this  manner  fenced  around.  The  remote  parts 
of  Africa  were  guarded  by  darkness  and  death  themselves.  And  in  south- 
ern Europe  rare  were  the  spots  where  it  was  not  an  offense  punishable  by 
the  police  to  circulate  the  Bible  or  to  preach  or  worshijD  except  under 
forms  prescribed.  But  over  the  walls  has  passed  the  scepter  which  eye 
seeth  not,  and  they  who  before  could  only  blow  slender  blasts  outside  the 
rampart  now  march  up  straight  before  them,  and  in  the  name  of  .Jesus  of 
Nazareth  enter  in.  This  is  the  Lord's  doing,  and  how  marvelous  in  our 
€yes  it  ought  to  be  we  shall  be  better  able  to  judge  if  we  weigh  the  lan- 
guage used  a  hundred  years  ago  1)y  wise  men  of  j^olitics,  showing  how  silly 
were  hopes  of  any  such  change,  and  by  wise  men  even  of  the  Churches,  all 
alarmed  at  the  danger  of  fanaticism.  The  same  scepter  in  the  same  hand 
is  over  us  this  day — over  us  here  present,  also  over  our  comrades  in  the 
war,  now  out  with  the  field  force,  over  every  corps  bearing  any  flag  which 
is  lowered  before  the  kingly  standard  of  the  Lamb ;  but  it  is  held  aloft  and 
carried  onward  against  any  other.  Over  all  these,  and  over  every  domin- 
ion of  the  earth,  waves  that  scepter  in  this  solemn  moment,  and  he  who 
holds  it  sits  on  the  right  hand  of  power  till  the  Lord  shall  make  all  his 
enemies  his  footstool. 

The  power  which  works  above  us  and  for  us  is  the  same  which  also 
works  with  us.  When  Peter  spake  to  the  multitude  of  his  Lord  as  being 
then  at  the  right  hand  of  God  exalted,  he  also  spake  of  him  as  working 
at  that  moment  in  the  midst  of  them.  "  He,"  said  the  apostle,  "hath 
shed  forth  this  which  ye  now  see  and  hear."  The  distance  from  the  place 
they  were  in  to  the  throne  in  the  midst  of  heaven  was  no  distance  to  him. 
And  Peter  was  therefore  as  clear  as  if  the  Lord  stood  beside  him  that  they 
would  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  if  they  would  repent  and  be 
baptized  in  the  name  of  Jfesus  Christ  for  the  remission  of  sins. 


20  OPENING    SERVICES. 

When  Paul  and  Barnabas  return  from  their  great  missionary  journey,, 
what  they  do  in  the  church  at  Antioch  is  to  "  rehearse  all  that  God  had 
done  with  them,  and  how  he  had  opened  the  door  of  faith  unto  the  Gen- 
tiles." So  again  at  Jerusalem  they  "declared  all  things  that  God  had 
done  with  them." 

The  most  notable  evidence  of  a  superior  power  accompanying  their 
word,  and  that  a  saving  power,  was  not  in  the  gift  of  healing  or  of 
tongues,  but  was  in  the  increase  of  believers  and  their  godly  living.  "  The 
word  of  God  increased ;  and  the  number  of  disciples  multiplied  in  Jeru- 
salem greatly."  *  When  the  sound  of  the  rushing  mighty  wind  had  ceased, 
and  the  cloven  tongues  of  fiame  had  disappeared,  the  three  thousand  men 
and  women  living  new  lives  remained.  So,  when  the  shaking  of  the  place 
where  they  were  on  a  later  occasion  assembled  had  passed  over,  the  power 
in  preaching  and  testifying  continued,  and  the  swelling  numbers  of  the 
five  thousand  covered  the  ground.  When  the  group  around  Cornelius 
broke  out  as  Peter  jireached,  speaking  with  tongues  and  magnifying  God, 
all  felt  that  a  greater  than  Peter  was  there.  Thus  were  apostles  and 
others  certified  as  ministers  of  Christ — instruments  which  worked  as 
moved  by  a  divine  agent,  servants  with  whom  the  Master  went,  embassa- 
dors with  whom  wa's  the  hand  of  the  King — that  King  whose  sign  manual 
is  a  new  creature,  a  sinful  man  created  anew  in  the  moral  image  of  God. 
To  an  apostle,  an  evangelist,  or  a  pastor,  who  in  the  light  of  faith  stood 
as  already  in  the  presence  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  at  his  coming,  what 
was  his  hope,  his  joy,  his  glory,  his  crown  of  rejoicing  ?  Sons  of  the 
holy  seed,  who  were  his  own  sons;  children  of  the  kingdom,  Avhowere  his 
children  in  the  Lord. 

The  working  of  the  Lord  in  us  is  that  in  the  mission  of  the  Church 
which  most  nearly  touches  the  men  of  faith,  and  his  working  in  the  in- 
dividual as  well  as  in  the  assembly.  Whatever  the  duty  may  be,  our 
"  striving  "  in  the  discharge  of  it  is  "according  to  his  working,  which 
worketh  in  us  mightily."  If  he  can  give  more  than  we  can  either  ask  or 
think,  "it  is  according  to  the  power  that  worketh  in  us."  If  we  will 
what  is  according  to  his  pleasure,  and,  having  willed,  do  it,  then  know  we 
practically  that  he  worketh  in  us,  "to  will  and  to  do."  If  to  our  humility 
is  added  a  depth,  to  our  fortitude  a  steadfastness,  to  our  zeal  a  flame  that 
is  not  of  nature,  then  know  we  that  we  are  being  strengthened  by  the 
Spirit's  might  in  the  inner  man. 

The  race  divinely  born  and  divinely  fashioned  are  also  divinely  equipped ; 
and,  as  they  war  not  with  flesh  and  blood,  they  lift  no  weapons  but  those 
of  the  Spirit.  Inflaming  the  soul,  the  Holy  Ghost  supplies  the  entire 
equipment — love,  the  gentlest  and  mightiest  of  all  arms  of  war ;  joy,  which 
prepares  the  shouts  of  victory  in  the  songs  of  the  march — and  so  on  through 
the  whole  armory  to  the  victorious  shield  of  faith.  "Full  of  faith  and 
power"  described  the  fighting  strength  in  which  Stephen  moved  upon  the 
works  of  the  enemy. 

*  Acts  VI,  7. 


SERMON    OF    REV.    WILLIAM    ARTHUR.  21 

As  the  holy  seed  are  divinely  equipped,  so  are  they  divinely  strengthened. 
From  their  Lord  who  causeth  them  always  to  triumph  they  receive  an  in- 
vestiture of  both  authority  and  power.  He  gives  to  his  servants  in  their 
own  souls  power  to  engage  and  to  overcome  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the 
devil.  He  gives  them  also  authority  over  the  conscience  of  the  wicked  in 
calling  them  to  repentance.  He  promises  to  us  a  mouth,  and  wisdom 
which  all  our  adversaries  shall  not  be  able  to  gainsay  or  to  resist.  The 
war  of  the  Gospel  is  not  conducted  on  the  champion  system,  the  bulk  of 
the  host  holding  back  and  a  single  hero  going  out  to  conquer  or  die  for 
all.  The  struggle  is  one  of  all  ranks,  and  the  equipment  of  the  Spirit  with 
the  strengthening  of  the  Spirit  are  for  the  common  man  as  well  as  for  the 
conspicuous  chieftain. 

"Being  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost"  is  the  note  which  introduces  action 
of  special  efficacy  in  the  Lord's  work,  whether  that  of  one  person  or  of  an 
assembly.  The  wliole  company  were  so  filled  at  Pentecost,  and  again,  a 
second  time,  after  the  rulers  had  intimidated  John  and  Peter.  Also  the 
company  at  Samaria,  the  company  at  Cesarea  in  the  home  of  Cornelius, 
tlie  company  at  Ephesus,  are  severally  instances  which  set  before  us  this 
blessedness  as  given  to  all  the  flock.  And  it  is  not  only  to  pastors,  but  to 
believers  in  common  that  is  given  the  command  fraught  with  promise : 
"  Be  filled  with  the  Spririt."  Ah,  when  we  think  of  our  many  meetings 
and  few  converts,  of  our  mucli  speaking,  much  collecting,  much  spending, 
and  much  running  to  and  fro,  and  the  slender  gain  we  have  won  upon  the 
sin  and  misery  of  the  world,  we  are  ready  to  say,  ' '  We  have  not  wrought  any 
deliverance  in  the  earth ;  neither  have  the  inhabitants  of  the  world  fallen."  * 

But  let  not  unbelief  come  in  under  guise  of  humiliation.  Humbled  let 
us  lie,  ay,  down  in  the  dust.  Had  we  been  faithful  as  we  might  have 
been  the  Lord  would  have  wrought  by  us  deliverances  of  wide  scope,  fill- 
ing whole  lands  with  the  f reedmen  of  Jesus ;  but  from  the  deep  of  our  ill- 
desert  we  will  cry  and  stir  ourselves  up  to  lay  hold  upon  God ;  and  thou, 
O  Lord,  "before  Ephraim  and  Benjamin  and  Manasseh,  stir  up  thy 
strengtli,  and  come  and  save  us." 

If,  in  the  days  which  do  this  day  set  in,  every  person  of  those  constitut- 
ing this  representative  assembly  should  in  his  closet  and  in  social  con- 
verse receive  a  fresh  and  full  anointing  of  the  blessed  Spirit:  and  if  in  all 
the  class-meetings  and  prayer-meetings  of  those  who  feel  a  spiritual  fellow- 
ship in  our  proceedings,  if  in  Sunday-schools  and  at  all  places  where  is  spread 
the  table  of  the  Lord  and  where  assemble  little  flocks  and  flocks  of  large  num- 
ber to  worship  and  evangelize,  believing  souls  would  earnestly  seek  on  our 
behalf  the  mighty  power  of  God  to  rest  upon  us  and  our  work,  then  would  our 
assemblies  become  "as  wells  of  water,  and  as  a  watered  garden  whose 
waters  fail  not."  Then  would  the  things  impossible  be  done.  The  earth, 
instead  of  waiting  through  the  slow  seasons  of  the  husbandman,  would  be 
made  to  bring  forth  in  a  day.  A  nation,  instead  of  coming  up  by  accumu- 
lating generations,  would  be  born  at  once. 

*  Isa.  xxvi,  18. 


22  OPENING    SEKVICES. 

The  records  of  the  assemblies  just  mentioned  are  written  for  our 
learning  at  this  moment.  Has  our  Holy  Lord  forgotten  to  be  gra- 
cious ?  Are  we  strengthened  in  him  by  restrictions  of  his  sovereign 
will  ?  "Is  my  hand,"  saith  the  Lord,  "shortened  at  all,  that  it  can- 
not redeem  ?  or  have  I  no  power  to  deliver  ?  "  *  Nay,  his  hand  is 
not  shortened.  He  gave  our  fathers  walls  and  tabernacles  to  build, 
and  "not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord," 
the  walls  rose  higher  and  the  tabernacles  became  habitable  amid  the 
misgivings  of  the  builders  and  the  scoffing  of  the  adversary,  and  to-day 
the  happy  souls  of  multitudes  call  those  walls  salvation,  and  make  those 
tabernacles  to  respond  with  praise.  For  every  closet  from  whence  prayer 
ascends,  for  every  family  altar  reared,  for  every  group  of  those  who  fear 
the  Lord  and  speak  often  one  to  another,  for  every  cluster  of  the  young 
who  learn  the  things  of  the  kingdom,  for  every  church  planted  among  the 
heathen  at  home  or  the  heathen  abroad,  for  every  little  child  in  Christ 
whose  sins  are  forgiven,  for  every  young  man  who  has  overcome  the 
wicked  one,  for  every  father  who  has  known  Him  that  is  from  the  begin- 
ning, and  for  every  fellow-pilgrim  who  has  already  obtained  the  prize, 
Glory  be  to  God;  and  let  all  the  voices  of  our  Israel  say,  Yea,  amen,  glory 
be  to  God. 

The  great  God  of  wonders  has  yet  in  store,  even  for  us  in  our  unworthi- 
ness,  blessing  that  there  shall  not  be  room  to  receive  it.  He  who  in 
bringing  many  sons  to  glory  made  the  Captain  of  our  salvation  perfect 
through  suffering,  set  Ijefore  him  a  joy  for  which  he  endured  the  cross 
and  despised  the  shame.  He  made  a  covenant  promise  to  him  and  to  the 
seed  which  he  was  to  see  :  "As  for  me,  this  is  my  covenant  with  them, 
saith  the  Lord ;  My  Spirit  that  is  upon  thee,  and  my  words  which  I 
have  put  in  thy  mouth,  shall  not  depart  out  of  thy  mouth,  nor  out  of  the 
mouth  of  thy  seed,  nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed's  seed,  saith  the  Lord, 
from  henceforth  and  forever."  f 

He  to  whom  this  covenant  promise  was  given  went  on  the  Sabbath  day 
into  the  synagogue  at  Nazareth  and  opened  the  book,  and  found  the 
place  where  it  was  written  that  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  was  upon  him,  be- 
cause he  had  anointed  him  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  poor;  had  sent 
him  to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to  ]ireach  deliverance  to  the  captives, 
and  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are 
bruised,  to  preach  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord.|  He  then  sat  down. 
The  eyes  of  all  them  that  were  in  the  synagogue  were  fastened  upon  him. 
He  opened  his  lips  and  said :  "  This  day  is  this  Scripture  fulfilled  in  your 
ears." 

Now,  that  same  Immanuel  is  here  present  in  this  synagogue  this  day. 
Before  hiin  we  spread  the  covenant  promise,  as  above,  given  unto  him 
and  his  seed  after  him.  That  promise  is  in  no  wise  weakened  by  the  lapse 
of  years.  It  stands  good  within  these  walls.  Let  every  eye,  then,  of  those 
who  are  here  met   together    be   fastened   upon   him.     Lord  Jesus,    our 

*  Isa.  1,  :.'.  t  Isa.  lix,  21.  *  Luke  iv,  18.  19. 


SERMON    OF    REV.    WILLIAM    ARTHUR.  23 

Strength  and  righteousness,  -wilt  thou  not  open  thy  gracious  lips  and  say, 
This  day  is  this  Scripture  fulfilled  in  your  ears  ?  Let  the  Spirit  that  is 
upon  thee  be  shed  upon  us ;  let  the  word  that  is  in  thy  mouth  be  put  by 
that  Spirit  into  our  mouth,  and,  O,  let  it  never  depart  out  of  our  mouth! 
Let  not  the  word  of  thunder,  breaking  down  the  hardened,  and  the  word 
of  balm,  healing  the  broken-hearted — which  verily  thou  didst  put  into 
the  mouth  of  our  fathers,  as  do  testify  this  day  the  works  still  following 
those  who  have  entered  into  rest — let  it  not,  because  of  our  much  unfaith- 
fulness, give  place  in  our  mouths  or  in  the  mouths  of  our  sons  to  the 
smooth  speech  of  the  Sadducee,  which  the  world  in  the  Church,  longing  to 
slumber  and  sleep,  desires  at  our  lips.  Yea,  verily,  let  a  double  portion 
of  the  Spirit  be  given  to  us  for  thy  name's  sake,  and  let  the  true  word  of 
God,  quick  and  powerful  and  sharper  than  a  two-edged  sword,  be,  by  that 
blessed  Spirit,  afresh  distributed  among  us  to  the  glory  of  Him  who  said, 
"  The  words  that  I  speak  unto  you,  they  are  spirit  and  they  are  life."  * 

And  now,  fathers  and  brethren,  what  more  shall  I  say  ?  We  are  here, 
sent  by  a  wide-spread  family  of  C'hurches  which  for  a  century  and  a  half 
the  world  has  been  wont  to  call  Methodist,  and  sent  to  what  end  ?  We  are 
not  sent  to  glorify  Methodi.sm,  but  to  take  counsel  how  it  may  be  worked 
more  and  more  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  the  world.  Any 
time  spent  in  magnifying  our  system  or  one  another  would  rather  tend  to 
hinder  a  blessing  than  to  bring  one  down.  Nor  yet  are  we  sent  to  dis- 
parage other  branches  of  the  Church  of  our  common  Saviour;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  to  salute  them  in  the  Lord,  and,  with  love  unfeigned,  to  wish 
that  their  children  of  the  holy  seed  may  again  and  again  say  in  their 
ears,  "The  place  is  too  straight  for  me."  The  man  who  here  should  set  up 
a  claim  to  any  Christian  privileges  or  excellence  as  exclusively  granted  to 
us,  and  not  equally  open  to  all  who  hold  the  faith,  would  find  himself  a 
bigot  in  the  wrong  place.  So  anyone  who  should  propose  that  we  as- 
sume any  title  which  would  imply  that  the  Methodist  Churches  included 
the  whole  Church  of  Christ  in  any  country  would  find  himself  charged 
with  a  breach  of  catliolicity.  The  whole  we  are  not;  and  that  we  not 
only  admit,  but  affirm ;  and  equally  do  we  affirm  that  we  are  of  the  whole. 
And  then,  being  of  the  whole,  we  gratefully  own  our  manifold  debts  to 
other  branches  of  the  Church,  and  doubt  not  that  hereafter,  as  heretofore, 
the  grace  given  to  them  will  bring  profiting  to  us;  and  the  Lord  grant 
that  grace  given  to  us  may  be  helpful  also  to  them. 

If  any  branch  of  the  Church  denies  our  claims  to  be  of  the  whole,  that 
troubles  us  not ;  it  only  shows  that  they  misconceive  what  is  catholicity ; 
and  they  cannot  know  how  much  we  have  to  do,  or  they  would  not  want 
us  to  spend  time  in  doubtful  disputations.  If,  like  the  laborers  in  the 
vineyard,  they  will  let  us  first  get  the  day's  work  done,  and  afterward,  at 
the  time  of  reckoning,  raise  their  points  and  questions  in  the  presence  of 
the  Lord  of  the  vineyard,  an  answer  will  be  given  that  will  not  excite 
fresh  dispute. 

*  The  text  of  Bishop  Simpson's  sermon  at  the  flrst  Ecumenical  Conference,  in  London, 
1881. 


24  OPENING    SERVICES. 

What  I  conceive  to  be  the  purpose  we  arc  sent  here  for  is  to  seek  means 
of  being  more  holy  and  more  useful,  and  of  making  all  the  Churches  rep- 
resented so.  AVhat  would  accomplish  most  toward  this  end  would  be 
that  we  should  leave  this  Conference  so  refreshed  in  the  life  of  the  soul 
that  each  of  us  would  go  away  a  center  of  spiritual  force,  spreading  new 
power  and  impelling  to  more  fruitful  action.  What  would  most  conduce 
to  this  would  be  that  in  every  successive  sitting  we  should  realize,  with  a 
single  eye,  the  task  set  before  us  as  that  of  exalting  Christ  and  jjlucking 
brands  from  the  fire.  And  what  would  most  conduce  to  this  would  be 
the  lifting  up  of  our  hearts,  here  and  now,  in  strong  persistent  yearning 
of  faith,  praying  and  trusting  that  during  the  rest  of  this  solemnity,  so 
long  as  these  w^ords  of  exhortation  sound,  and  also  when  presently  we 
shall  take  and  break  the  bread,  and  take  and  drink  the  cup  of  Christ  in 
remembrance  of  him  and  in  communion  with  all  that  Church  which  lie 
has  purchased  with  his  blood,  that  we  may  receive  from  him  such  an- 
swer of  siffns  and  wonders  wrought  within  us  as  to  fill  our  hearts  with  the 
awe  of  seraphs  and  the  power  of  apostles.  Faith,  faith,  and  again  faith 
for  a  blessing  1  Such  faith  as  becometh  the  children  of  an  all-redeeming 
God;  for  a  blessing  now,  a  blessing  felt  and  mighty,  full  of  fruit  both 
instant  and  enduring,  a  blessing  given  with  "good  measure,  pressed 
down,  and  shaken  together  and  running  over,"  so  that  all  shall  be  filled 
with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  speak  with  power. 

And  do  not  the  Lord's  jjast  dealings  with  us  and  our  fathers  call  upon 
us  for  faith  that  we  shall  have  granted  to  us  abundance  of  grace  and  the 
gift  of  righteousness  ?  Has  he  left  these  Churches  called  Methodist  with- 
out witness — left  them  barren  and  unfruitful  among  the  tribes  of  Israel  ? 
Has  he  denied  to  them  the  joy  of  bringing  to  the  bii-th  children  of  the 
holy  seed  ?  Ye  of  this  continent,  we  put  it  to  you  on  the  spot ;  can  you 
say  that  neither  in  these  United  States,  in  Canada  on  the  north,  in  Mexico 
on  the  south,  nor  yet  in  the  West  Indian  Isles ;  that  not  among  the  whites, 
not  among  the  blacks,  not  among  the  red  menhavethese  Methodist  Churches 
ever  brought  forth  children  of  the  divinely  born  race  ?  Could  I  telephone 
now  the  question  to  every  home  in  those  various  countries,  and  could  the 
replies  be  telephoned  back,  these  walls  would  shake  with  repeating  peals 
of  musical  thunder,  voices  crying  this  man  and  this  and  that  was  born  there. 

And  could  the  process  be  repeated  to  yonder  old  islands,  far  away, 
but  dear  to  God  and  man,  and  from  them  onward  to  the  countries  far  and 
near,  wherever  Christ  is  named,  a  second  set  of  peals  would  echo  the  first, 
and  then  all  would  unite  to  cry :  ' '  The  children  whom  the  Lord  hath 
given  them,  are  for  signs  and  wonders  in  Israel  from  the  Lord  of  hosts 
that  dwell  in  Zion." 

And  now — hush!  Could  I  a  third  time  speak  to  every  chamber  upon 
earth  where  at  this  moment  a  child  of  God  is  just  setting  foot  in  the  cold 
stream,  while  they  around  are  saying,  "He  is  crossing  now,"  and  could  I 
ask,  "Who  was  to  thee  the  Lord's  evangelist  to  lead  thee  out  of  the  city  of 
destruction? "  goodly  would  be  the  number  who  would  name  some  of  our 
brethren  and  sisters  who,  if  not  apostles  to  others,  were  so  to  them. 


SEEMON    OF    EEV.    WILLIAM    ARTHUR.  25 

Ay,  and  of  the  number  of  saints  who  from  all  lands  are  at  this  solemn 
moment  passing  through  the  gates  into  the  Father's  house  on  high,  say  ye 
that  none  would  name  some  men  here,  men  who  would  instantly  bow  the 
head  and  cry :  ' '  My  child,  for  whom  I  travailed  in  birth  till  Christ  was 
formed  in  him." 

Happy,  happy  men,  truly  fathers  in  Israel !  Your  children  arise  and 
call  you  blessed  ;  and  when  you  are  gone  your  children  will  bear  the  bur- 
den and  heat  of  the  day.  And  those  of  us  whose  quivers  have  not  been 
full  of  these  arrows  of  the  war  of  redemption,  let  us  first  glorify  God  in 
our  more  honored  brethren,  and  next  let  us  humble  ourselves  and  see 
where  has  lain  our  weakness;  and,  above  all,  let  us  not  relinquish  hope, 
for  God  can  make  the  barren  to  rejoice,  can  take  away  their  reproach, 
and  can  cause  their  seed  to  inherit  the  Gentiles. 

And  now  in  this  second  Ecumenical  Conference  we  set  ourselves  anew 
to  the  building  of  the  house  of  our  God.  When  the  second  temple  was  to 
be  built,  and  men's  hearts  were  not  warm  and  firm,  Haggai  cried  to  Zerub- 
babel  to  be  strong,  to  Joshua  the  high-priest  to  be  strong,  to  all  the  peo- 
ple to  be  strong  and  to  work,  for  the  Lord  was  with  them ;  and  so  with 
these  words  I  have  done.  Ye  men  of  the  New  World,  be  strong;  ye  sons 
of  old  England,  be  strong;  ye  children  of  the  Teuton  fatherlands,  be 
strong ;  ye  first-fruit  few  of  the  other  European  nations,  be  strong ;  ye 
children  of  the  African  sun,  be  strong;  ye  that  are  the  earnest  of  Asia, 
the  historic  land  of  Eden,  of  the  ark,  of  the  temple,  of  the  cross,  be 
strong.  "All  ye  people  of  the  land,  saith  the  Lord,  be  strong  and  work; 
for  I  am  with  you,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts." 

And,  finally,  all  ye  whose  hearts  move  you  thereto,  lift  up  a  meek  and 
reverent  voice,  and  in  the  words  of  holy  Scripture,  repeating  after  me 
distinctly,  say:  "Unto  us  a  child  is  born,  unto  us  a  son  is  given:  and 
the  government  shall  be  upon  his  shoulder :  and  his  name  shall  be  called 
Wonderful,  Counselor,  The  mighty  God,  The  everlasting  Father,  The 
Prince  of  Peace.  Of  the  increase  of  his  government  and  peace  there  shall 
be  no  end."* 

"  In  the  name  of  our  God  we  will  set  up  our  banners,  "t 

"  The  Lord  of  hosts  is  with  us ;  the  God  of  Jacob  is  our  refuge."  | 

"  Ye  shall  go  out  with  joy,  and  be  led  forthwith  peace:  the  mountains 
and  the  hills  shall  break  forth  ])efore  you  into  singing,  and  all  the  trees 
of  the  field  shall  clap  their  hands.  Instead  of  the  thorn  shall  come  up 
the  fir-tree,  and  instead  of  the  brier  shall  come  up  the  myrtle-tree :  and  it 
shall  be  to  the  Lord  for  a  name,  for  an  everlasting  sign  that  shall  not  be 
cut  off."  § 

"  And  the  inhabitants  of  one  city  shall  go  to  another,  saying,  Let  us  go 
speedily  to  pray  before  the  Lord,  and  to  seek  the  Lord  of  hosts  :  I  will 
go  also.  Yea,  many  people  and  strong  nations  shall  come  to  seek  the 
Lord  of  hosts  in  Jerusalem,  and  to  pray  before  the  Lord.  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts ;  In  those  days  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  ten  men  shall  take 

*  Isa.  ix,  6,  r.  t  Psa.  xx,  5.  t  Psa.  xlvi,  7.  §  Isa.  Iv,  12,  13. 

5 


26  OPENING    SERVICES. 

hold  out  of  all  languages  of  the  nations,  even  shall  take  hold  of  the  skirt 
of  him  that  is  a  Jew,  saying,  We  will  go  with  you :  for  we  have  heard 
that  God  is  with  you."  * 

"  In  that  day  shall  ye  say,  Praise  the  Lord,  cull  upon  his  name,  declare 
his  doings  among  the  people,  make  mention  that  his  name  is  exalted. 
Sing  imto  the  Lord;  for  he  hath  done  excellent  things:  this  is  known  in  all 
the  earth.  Cry  out  and  shout,  thou  inhabitant  of  Zion :  for  great  is  the 
Holy  One  of  Israel  in  the  midst  of  thee."  t 

"  O  Shepherd  of  Israel,  thou  that  leadest  Joseph  like  a  flock;  thou  that 
dwellest  between  the  cherubim,  shine  forth.  Turn  us  again,  O  God,  and 
cause  thy  face  to  shine.  So  will  not  we  go  back  from  thee :  quicken  us, 
and  we  will  call  upon  thy  name."  | 

"  And  now,  Lord,  behold  their  threatenings :  and  grant  unto  thy  serv- 
ants, that  with  all  boldness  they  may  speak  thy  word,  by  stretching  forth 
thine  hand  to  heal;  and  that  signs  and  wonders  may  be  done  by  the  name 
of  thy  holy  child  Jesus."  § 

"  Now  unto  him  that  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that 
we  ask  or  think,  according  to  the  power  that  worketh  in  us,  unto  him  be 
glory  in  the  church  by  Christ  Jesus  throughout  all  ages,  world  without 
end.     Amen."  || 

After  the  sermon  and  the  singing  of  the  doxologj  the  session 
was  concluded  with  the  administration  of  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper. 

SECOND    SESSION. 

The  afternoon  session  was  opened  at  3  P.  M.,  the  Rev. 
Bishop  J.  C.  Keener,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  in  the  chair.  The  President  read  the  seventy-second 
Psalm,  and  announced  hymn  811,  which  was  sung  by  the  con- 
gregation. The  Rev.  William  Nast,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Churcli,  led  the  congregation  in  prayer. 

In  the  absence  of  many  members  of  the  Conference,  the 
calling  of  the  roll  was  postponed  until  the  following  morning. 
The  Business  Committee  reported  the  nomination  of  Bishop 
J.  F.  Ilurst,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  as  its  permanent  Chairman,  and  of 
the  Rev.  J.  M.  King,  D.D.,  as  permanent  Secretary.  Also 
the  following  nominations  for  the  secretaryships  of  the  Confer- 
ence :  From  the  First  Division,  the  Rev.  J.  M.  King,  D.D.,  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church ;  from  the  Second  Division, 
the  Rev.  E.  B.  Ryckman,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
Canada ;  from  the  Third  Division,  the  Rev.  John  Bond,  of 
the  Wesleyan    Methodist    Church,  Great    Britain ;    from    the 

*  Zech.  vlii,  21-23.     +  Isa.  xii,  4-6.     *  Psa.  Ixxx,  1, 3, 18.     §  Acts  iv,  29, 30.     II  Eph.  ill,  20, 21. 


ADDKESS    OF    BISHOP    J.    F.    HURST.  27 

Fourth  Division,  Thomas  Siiape,  CO.,  of  the  United  Methodist 
Free  Chnrch,  England.  On  motion  of  the  Rev.  E.  II.  De- 
wart,  D.D.,  of  Canada,  these  nominations  were  confirmed. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Business  Committee  read  the  appoint- 
ments of  the  Presidents  of  the  respective  sessions  for  the  en- 
suing three  dajs.  On  motion,  Thursday  evening,  October  15, 
at  Y:30,  was  fixed  as  the  time  for  the  reception  of  fraternal 
delesates  from  other  Churches. 

The  order  of  the  programme  was  then  taken  up.  Bishop  J . 
F.  Hurst,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
gave  the  following  address  of  welcome  : 

Mr.  President,  Fathers,  and  Brethren  of  the  Second  Ecumenical  Method- 
ist Conference :  In  the  name  of  the  citizens  of  Washington  in  general,  and 
of  its  Methodist  citizens  in  particular,  I  bid  you  a  cordial  welcome.  We 
have  had  misgivings  lest  we  should  fail  of  that  full  measure  of  convenience 
and  entertainment  which  becomes  this  august  occasion  and  the  personal 
merit  of  the  five  hundred  leaders  and  heroes  of  the  vast  Methodist  army 
now  o-athered  from  all  the  continents  on  the  world's  map.  But  such  as 
we  have,  the  best  we  have,  is  yours!  We  thank  you  for  coming;  we  are 
honored  by  your  presence.  We  shall  be  blessed  by  your  service  here— nay, 
our  common  Methodism,  extending  from  this  church,  which  here  opens  so 
heartily  its  doors  for  your  entertainment,  to  the  farthest  missionary  chapel 
on  the  farthest  island  of  the  farthest  sea,  will  be  aided  to  a  larger  faith 
and  a  more  heroic  endeavor  by  the  work  which,  through  the  divine  bless- 
ing, shall  be  done  in  the  fortnight  which  lies  before  us. 

Washington  is  a  young  city.  We  have  no  spacious  palaces,  no  an- 
cestral, ivy-crowned  castles  fragrant  with  legend,  no  minster  like  that 
of  Strasburg  or  York,  no  ruins  or  pyramids,  colosseum  or  temple  to  fas- 
cinate by  ancient  memories  and  wealth  of  curious  art.  In  fact,  America 
is  so  young  as  yet  that  it  has  not  been  able  to  produce  even  a  thoroughly 
respectable  grave-yard,  much  less  an  historical  abbey,  which  may  tell  the 
story  and  embalm  the  memory  of  our  illustrious  dead.  We  think  that  we 
have  a  very  good  monument  here,  however.  We  fancy  that  it  is  the  largest 
and  best  in  the  world.  Another  fancy  which  we  have  is  that  it  is  so  large 
and  so  beautiful  because  the  subject  of  it  is  the  best.  For  the  blood 
that  gave  Washington  we  thank  old  England,  but  for  the  opportunity  we 
thank  ourselves !  Our  edifices  are  new  and  have  grown  out  of  the  simple 
necessities  of  the  nation ;  but  given  a  few  centuries  more,  when  electricity 
or  compressed  air  will  be  the  world's  motive  power  on  land  and  sea,  when 
two  days  will  be  ample  for  the  Atlantic  ferriage  and  the  common  railway 
speed  will  be  at  least  one  hundred  miles  an  hour,  there  will  be  a  different 
scene,  far  more  to  satisfy  the  taste  for  art  and  architecture,  in  the  year  of 
grace  three  thousand,  when  the  delegates  to  the  Ecumenical  Methodist  Con- 
ference shall  meet  in  Washington  to  hold  its  one  hundredth  session.  Of 
course,  we  expect  the  American  University  to  exist  long  before  that  time, 


28  OPENING    SEKVICES. 

with  its  ten-million-dollar  endowment,  its  ten  thousand  students,  and  its 
five  hundred  professors.  But  no  century  can  ever  come  when  the  welcome 
will  be  more  cordial,  the  presence  more  highly  appreciated,  or  the  remem- 
brance more  grateful.  The  hour  will  never  strike  when  representatives  of 
the  great  Methodist  family  will  be  received  with  deeper  love  than  we  now 
give  with  open  hands  and  rejoicing  hearts. 

In  the  Old  World  the  nation  has  generally  been  the  product  of  its  cen- 
tral city.  Out  of  Berlin  were  shaped  the  Duchy  of  Brandenburg,  and, 
later,  the  Prussian  Kingdom;  out  of  Vienna  has  grown  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  Empire ;  out  of  Paris,  France.  But  Washington  reverses  this 
historical  order.  It  is  the  product  of  our  Republic.  We  had  no  fixed 
capital  at  first.  Other  places  competed  for  the  honor,  and  it  was  only  by 
a  scanty  majority  of  three  votes  over  other  competing  places,  such  as 
Philadelphia  and  New  York,  that  our  Senate  located  the  capital  here,  on 
the  bank  of  the  Potomac — which  floats  our  jjolitical  effervescences  and 
our  national  prejudices  down  to  the  sea — and  within  view  of  the  home  of 
him  whom  all  nations  love  as  a  teacher  of  liberty  and  the  father  of  this 
Anglo-Saxon  country.  It  is  the  capital,  therefore,  of  a  republic,  made  up 
of  forty-eight  prosperous  commonwealths  and  sixty-two  million  of  happy 
and  united  people,  and  presided  over  by  President  Harrison,  chosen  by 
the  suffrages  of  the  citizens. 

Methodism,  like  the  city,  is  also  young.  It  was  only  as  late  as  1802,  or 
eighty-nine  years  ago,  that  the  appointment  of  "  Georgetown  and  the  city 
of  Washington  "  apjieared  upon  the  records  with  the  meager  membership 
of  one  hundred  and  eleven  persons.  The  total  number  of  Methodist  min- 
isters in  Washington  to-day  is  fifty-two,  while  there  are  fifteen  thousand 
one  hundred  and  forty-one  communicants. 

This,  however,  is  but  a  fragment  of  the  development  of  the  Method- 
ist movement  which  has  been  going  on  in  this  country  ever  since  1766. 
The  first  meeting-place  in  the  New  World  was  a  sail-loft  in  New  York, 
where  in  the  day-time  busy  hands  made  sails  for  the  Atlantic  winds  to 
till,  but  in  the  evening  and  on  Sabbath  Philip  Embury  and  other  busy 
hearts  were  making  sails  for  a  wider  commerce  and  a  richer  argosy.  A 
woman  was  there!  Barbara  Heck  was  a  woman  of  destiny.  Were 
Methodism  addicted  to  that  piece  of  ecclesiastical  folly  called  can- 
onization the  British  brethren  would  long  since  have  placed  Santa  Susanna 
first  on  its  list  of  saints,  while  the  Americans  would  have  begun  their 
catalogue  with  Santa  Barbara.  As  we  think  of  the  cradle  of  American 
Methodism,  that  it  was  only  a  sail-loft,  and  then  think  of,  this  gathering 
from  distant  lands  and  from  our  own  America,  and  contemplate  the  wide 
and  steady  exj)ansion  of  the  Methodist  movement,  one  seems  to  anticipate 
in  that  early  history  that  harp-note  of  England's  ])oet-laureate : 

"Fly,  hajipy,  happy  sails; 

Fly,  happy  with  your  mission  of  the  cross ; 
Knit  land  to  land,  and  blowing  heavenward 

Enrich  the  markets  of  the  golden  vear." 

In  due  time  the  sail-loft  developed  into  a  cliurch — the  old  John  Street 


ADDRESS    OF    BISHOP    J.    F.    HITRST.  29 

Church,  around  which  a  thousand  sacred  memories  must  ever  linger. 
Then  came  the  pivotal  action  in  relation  to  this  country,  at  the  Wesleyan 
Conference  of  1769.  John  Wesley  made  the  statement:  "We  have  a 
pressing  call  from  our  brethren  in  New  York,  who  have  built  a  meeting- 
house, to  come  over  and  hel])  them.  Who  is  willing  to  go  ?"  The  an- 
swer w^as :  "Richard  Boardman  and  Joseph  Pilmoor."  The  question  then 
was:  "What  can  we  do  for  them  in  token  of  our  interest  in  them?" 
The  answer  was:  "Let  us  now  make  a  collection."  And  fifty  pounds 
were  given  by  the  ministers  present  to  pay  the  expenses  for  the  first 
itinerants  from  Britain  to  America.  This  action  seemed  so  radical,  so 
unofficial,  so  high  in  the  ethereal  regions  of  the  impossible,  that  the  wits 
of  that  day  published  a  travesty  uj)on  it,  containing  an  imaginary  account 
of  the  first  episcopal  designations  for  the  American  Continent:  "Rev.  G, 
Whitefield,  Archbishop  of  Boston  ;  Rev.  W.  Romaine,  Bishop  of  New 
York  ;  Rev.  J.  Wesley,  Bishop  of  Pennsylvania;  Rev.  M.  Madan,  Bishop 
of  the  Carolinas  ;  Rev.  W.  Shirley,  Bishop  of  Virginia  ;  and  Rev.  C.  Wes- 
ley, Bishop  of  Nova  Scotia." 

With  such  imaginary  appointments  I  submit :  Whether  American  Meth- 
odism was  not  very  appropriately  officered  by  the  wits  who  gazetted  such 
remarkable  designations  in  Lloyd's  Evening  Post,  May  26,  1769. 

How  often  does  it  haj^pen  that  both  the  wisest  opinion  and  the  keenest 
wit  of  one  century  are  revised  by  the  decisions  of  the  succeeding  one  !  In 
the  eighteenth  century  Wesley  was  welcomed  by  the  couplet : 

' '  Master  Wesley's  come  to  town 

To  try  and  pull  the  churches  down  !" 

Bvat  the  nineteenth  century  has  made  its  ultimate  and  august  decision, 
and  has  written  down  the  enduring  interpretation : 

"  Master  Wesley  went  to  town 
To  try  and  help  the  churches  on." 

From  that  little  beginning  of  two  men  sent  over  in  1769  has  come  the 
American  Methodism  of  this  day — namely,  a  membership  of  five  millions 
who  bear  the  Methodist  name,  and  of  whom  three  hundred  delegates  of 
the  Western  Section  here  assembled  are  the  honored  representatives.  John 
Weslej^  as  if  anticipating  the  scene  w^hich  greets  our  eyes  at  this  moment, 
and  the  boundless  significance  of  it,  wrote  five  weeks  before  liis  death  to 
Ezekiel  Cooper — and  it  was  his  last  communication  to  his  spiritual  chil- 
dren in  America:  "  See  that  you  never  give  place  to  one  thought  of  sep- 
arating fi'om  your  brethren  in  Europe.  Lose  no  opportunity  of  declaring 
to  all  men  that  the  Methodists  are  one  people  in  all  the  world,  and  that  it 
is  our  determination  so  to  continue, 

"Though  mountains  rise  and  oceans  roll 
To  sever  us  in  vain." 

That  was  the  first  invitation,  issued  by  John  Wesley  himself,  to  hold 
an  ecumenical  Methodist  Conference,  and  to  remain  in  session  until  time 
should  be  no  more ! 


30  ■         OPENING    SERVICES, 

Bvit  to  the  Wesleyans  of  the  Old  World  our  American  continent  has 
always  possessed  a  singular  fascination.  No  Jason  ever  sailed  in  more 
eager  search  of  wealth  than  did  John  Wesley,  Charles  Wesley,  Benjamin 
Ingham,  Charles  Delamotte,  and  George  Whitefield,  when  very  young  men, 
sail  in  quest  of  the  Golden  Fleece  of  immortal  souls  on  our  Georgia  coast. 
The  Wesleys  were  with  Oglethorpe  when  he  planted  the  Georgia  colony. 
Charles  Wesley  was  later  in  Boston,  a  quiet  oljserver  of  the  ecclesiastical 
influence  of  Cotton  Mather  and  of  the  general  religious  life  of  New  En- 
gland at  that  time.  Whitefield  went  back  and  forth  across  the  Atlantic, 
more  restless  than  Peter  the  Hermit  when  he  preached  the  first  crusade ; 
and  it  was  from  one  of  our  American  towns — Newburyjjort — that  he  as- 
cended to  his  coronation. 

Therefore,  in  this  rejjresentative  coming  from  all  lauds  to  our  shores 
and  our  capital,  to  spend  a  fortnight  in  interchange  of  thought  with  a 
view  to  a  larger  futm-e,  we  are  following  the  footprints  of  the  founders  of 
the  Wesleyan  reform.  Such  service  as  this,  too,  is  of  such  character  that 
even  our  lofty  American  tariff  places  no  duty  upon  this  imported  labor. 

We  recognize  the  distances  you  have  come,  the  wide  spaces  of  sea  and 
land  you  have  traversed.  Bvit  even  these  weary  miles  are  all  suggestive. 
They  tell  the  story  of  the  marvelous  exjiansion  of  the  Wesleyan  move- 
ment, its  unwillingness  to  take  any  backward  step.  All  the  early  Wes- 
leyan leaders  knew  how  to  describe  an  odyssey,  but  not  one  could  describe 
an  anabasis.  They  could  wander  widely  in  search  of  souls,  but  never  re- 
treat to  the  old  camping-ground.  Victories  beyond  sea  became  a  juvenile 
habit.  Ceylon,  where  every  prospect  pleases,  has  blossomed  beneath 
Methodist  care  ever  since  the  aged,  tireless  Coke  turned  thitherwai'd.  True, 
he  died  on  the  way,  but  the  coral  beds  beneath  a  tropic  sea  became  his  fit 
mausoleum,  while  the  ceaseless  waves  of  the  Indian  Ocean  have  ever  since 
been  chanting  requiems  to  his  memory.  Faith  always  begins  a  new  march 
at  the  last  footprints  of  its  immortal  dead.  The  good  fight  of  God's  men 
goes  ever  on,  crosses  all  seas,  and  fights  far  out  in  front  of  all  picket- 
lines.  To-day  we  have  great  reason  for  gratitude  that  we  can  look  back 
upon  no  doctrinal  secession.  Our  Articles  of  Faith  stand  precisely  to-day 
as  in  the  last  century,  which  makes  us  think  that,  like  Minerva  from  the 
brain  of  Ju})iter,  they  were  born  full-grown  and  heavily  armed.  They 
are  the  common  bond  of  our  Methodist  union  from  the  equator  to  either 
pole.  And  if  so  long  and  strong  has  been  their  hold,  why  may  they  not 
endure  forever  ?  The  class-meeting  has  not  yet  faded  into  a  memory. 
The  itinerant  method  of  ministerial  activity  distinguishes  all  the  branches 
of  Methodism  represented  within  these  walls.  Lay  preaching  was  not 
easy  in  coming.  When  Thomas  Maxfield  was  in  the  crisis  of  sjjiritual  re- 
generation it  required  eight  men  to  hold  him  down  until  he  became  com- 
posed ;  but  when  he  was  once  in  the  pulpit,  and  alive  with  new  power, 
not  all  England  was  strong  enough  to  silence  that  first  of  all  the  lay 
preachers  who  proved  worthy  of  Wesley's  confidence.  The  methods  of 
to-day  are  those  of  the  earliest  Methodists ;  and  we  have  ample  ground 
for  hope  that  the  time  will  never  come  when  the  Methodism  of  the  future 


ADDRESS    OF    BISHOP    J.    F.    HURST.  31 

■will  grow  weary  of  the  sources  of  tlie  strength  which  has  characterized  it 
in  every  year  of  its  history. 

We  recognize  ihvd  we  are  entertaining  the  angels  of  the  churches,  with 
busy  pens  in  hand.  The  first  Methodists,  with  John  Wesley  to  inspire 
and  guide,  saw  the  necessity  of  reconstructing  the  popular  religious  and 
theological  literature  of  the  country.  Exegesis,  Doctrinal  Theology,  and 
History  itself  required  a  new  treatment.  John  Wesley,  in  his  Christian 
Library  and  many  miscellaneous  works,  struck  this  new  path.  His  suc- 
cessors have  been  numerous  and  industrious.  The  delegates  from  abroad 
who  now  adorn  this  great  assembly  by  their  presence  are  known  to  us. 
The  winds  have  told  the  story  of  your  literary  achievement.  Your  books 
have  reached  us,  and  your  names  are  already  honored  and  familiar  in  our 
households.  And  now  with  glad  hearts  we  welcome  the  men  who  have 
thus  enriched  our  literature.* 

We  are  not  without  reminders  of  the  vacant  places  in  the  British  ranks 
since  the  first  session  of  the  Ecumenical  Conference  in  Loudon  in  1881. 
The  late  Dr.  George  Osborn,  of  England,  full  of  years  and  honors,  is  a 
type  of  the  now  sainted  men  who  stood  at  the  front  in  that  memorable 
session.  Of  others  of  like  precious  faith  who  have  ascended  from  service 
to  reward  we  may  mention  Stacey,  Cooke,  James,  Leden,  Kilner,  Kendall, 
McAulay,  Hellier,  M.  C.  Osborn,  Bate,  Griffith,  and  Myers.  Of  laymen 
who  have  ascended  to  the  ranks  of  the  Church  triumphant  are  that  prince- 
ly man,  Sir  William  McArthur,  with  Beauchamp,  Napier,  Lewis,  SutclLffe, 
and  Watson.     It  is  still  true,  "  Our  people  die  well!"' 

Brethren  from  the  South,  we  greet  you  with  loving  hearts.  In  your 
Virginia  our  common  Francis  Asbury  established  the  first  Sunday-school 
on  the  American  continent ;  in  your  Georgia  the  Wesleys  learned  how  to 
labor  for  the  poor  ;  in  your  Charleston  John  Wesley  published  his  first 
volume  of  at  once  his  two  hundred  separate  publications,  and  of  his 
hymns — the  beginning  of  that  great  minstrelsy  which  the  world  will  never 
grow  tired  of  singing  until  the  gates  of  pearl  are  reached  and  the  discords 
of  earth  are  lost  in  the  song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb. 

Brethren  from  the  Middle  and  Northern  States,  from  the  Central  West, 
and  from  the  far-off  Pacific  coast,  we  congratulate  you  because  of  the  great 
commonwealths  which  you  represent,  because  of  the  incalculable  service 
you  have  rendered  to  the  world,  and  because  of  the  faith  and  heroism 
which  have  distinguished  your  work  from  the  beginning  to  the  present. 

Brethren  from  Canada,  we  welcome  you  with  the  spirit  of  true  Christian 
reciprocity.  We  rejoice  in  the  union  of  the  Methodisms  which  you  have 
effected,  and  your  heroic  efforts  to  build  up  your  great  educational  system. 

Brethren  from  the  West  Indies,  we  bid  you  welcome.  It  was  your  home 
which,  just  four  centuries  ago,  gladdened  the  eye  of  Columbus  and 
added  another  continent  to  the  globe.  It  was  among  your  islands  that 
Coke  learned  his  best  lessons  in  evangelistic  work,  and  planted  the  mis- 
sions which  you  cultivate  to-day. 

*  For  a  list  of  the  works  written  by  Delegates  of  the  Eastern  Section,  see  Appendix.    It  is 
as  complete  as,  witb  the  kindly  aid  of  others,  I  have  thus  far  been  able  to  make  it.— J.  F.  H. 


32  OPENING    SEKVICE8. 

We  bid  Ireland  welcome  here ;  what  would  American  Methodism  to-day- 
be  without  the  faith  of  Philip  Embury  and  the  exegesis  of  Adam  Clarke? 

We  bid  Wales  welcome  here,  the  home  of  Lady  Huntingdon. 

We  welcome  Scotland.  The  Methodist  preachers  of  Scotland  are  heroes 
true.  They  are  following  just  as  bravely,  and  fighting  just  as  magnifi- 
cently for  God,  as  did  John  Knox  when  Mary's  muskets  were  leveled  at 
his  head  as  he  preached  the  Gospel. 

England,  our  common  home,  we  welcome.  From  her  we  have  derived 
the  Wesleyan  name  and  the  Wesleyan  example ;  her  Epworth  is  our  Ep- 
worth;  her  preachers  are  our  preachers;  her  literary  achievements  are 
our  inheritance ;  her  Milton,  her  Shakespeare,  her  Hampden,  her  Crom- 
well, her  Wesley  are  our  teachers.  And  when  we  think  of  the  world's 
great  rulers,  of  the  distant  past  and  of  to-day,  who  sway  with  easy  scepter 
and  even  scales  of  justice,  none  stands  higher  in  our  esteem  and  love  than 
Victoria,  Queen  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  and  Empress  of  India,  and 
mother  of  all  her  happy  people. 

Germany,  das  alte  Vaterland,  wir  heissen  Deutschland  hier  willkommen  I 

Wir  konnen  nie  vergessen  dass  Johann  Wesley  viel  von  Deutschland  ge- 

lernt  hat.     Er  hat  von  Zinzendorf  viel  fiir  sein  grosses  Werk  empfangen. 

In  Aldersgatestrasse  Kapelle  als  jemand  Luther's  Vorwort  zum  Romerbrief 

vorlas  wurde  das  Herz  von  Wesley  sonderbar  gewarmt.    Peter  Boehler  hat 

Wesley  zum  Herrn  gefiihrt.     Wir  in  Amerika  lieben  und  singen  Luther's 

herrliches  Lied: 

"Erne  feste  Burg  ist  unser  Gott." 

France,  la  belle  France,  sois  bienvenue  !  Nous  n'oublions  pas  que 
Rochambeau  et  Lafayette  6taient  les  compagnons  des  nos  pferes  dans 
notre  guerre  de  I'ind^pendance.  France,  la  terre  des  Huguenots!  Charles 
Cook  etait  le  premier  Methodist  en  France.  Merle  d'Avibigne,  Tliistorien 
de  I'Eglise,  a  dit  que  Cook  faisait  en  France  le  meme  ouvrage  que  Jean 
Wesley  faisait  en  Angleterre.  Aussi  ses  deux  fils  fiddles  ont  marche  dans 
le  mgme  chemin  comme  leur  pfere  immortel.     Encore  sois  bienvenue  ? 

Africa,  we  bid  you  M^elcome  !  Your  vast  territory  is  now  approach- 
ing the  light,  and  now  your  Congo  Valley  welcomes  the  missionary,  as  we 
do  you  to-day.  May  the  time  soon  come  when  the  great  continent  you 
represent  shall  learn  the  Gospel,  all  the  way  from  Alexandria  down  to 
Cape  Town ! 

Japan,  China,  and  from  those  separate  colonial  governments  of  the 
South  Seas,  over  each  of  which  floats  the  British  flag,  New  South  Wales, 
Victoria,  Queensland,  South  Australia,  North  Australia,  New  Zealand, 
and  Tasmania,  we  know  the  work  that  you  have  been  doing,  and  the 
faith  which  has  inspired  it.  All  the  sweeter  shall  be  our  communion 
here  because  of  the  great  spaces  over  which  you  have  traveled  on  land 
and  sea  to  reach  this  place.  We  bid  you  welcome  after  your  tossings  on 
tide  and  wave,  and  no  presence  shall  we  remembi-r  with  greater  pleasure 
than  that  of  you,  l)rethren,  who  have  come  from  the  most  distant  lands. 
In  the  temple  of  Diana  in  Ephesus  there  were  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven  pillars,  and  each  was  the  gift  of  a  king.     In  this  ecumenical  tem- 


ADDRESS    OF    JAMES    H.    CARLISLE.  33 

pie  there  are  five  hundred  pillars,  and  each  one  is  to  our  Methodism 
here  and  throughout  tlie  world  the  gift  of  Him  who  is  King  of  kings 
and  Lord  of  lords.  May  our  meeting  here  hasten  on  the  day  of  the  uni- 
versal reign  of  the  Prince  of  Peace,  foreseen  and  foresung  by  England's 
sweetest  singer  : 

"I  looked  into  the  future,  far  as  human  eye  could  see; 

Saw  the  vision  of  the  world  and  the  glory  that  should  be 

When  the  war-drums  throb  no  longer  and  the  battle  flags  are  furled 

In  the  Parliament  of  man,  the  federation  of  the  world." 

Again,  I  say,  thrice  welcome  all  to  our  homes,  to  our  pulpits,  at  our 
altars,  and  to  our  hearts ! 

Bishop  Hurst  here  grasped  the  hand  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stephen- 
son, President  of  the  British  Wesleyan  Conference,  as  a  token 
of  the  union  of  Eastern  and  Western  Methodism. 

James  H.  Carlisle,  LL.D.,  of  the  Metliodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  gave  the  second  address  of  welcome,  as  fol- 
lows : 

Mr.  President  and  Fellow-brethren :  Less  than  a  century  and  a  half  ago  a 
letter  was  written  to  John  Wesley,  in  England,  asking  help  to  build  a 
house  in  New  York  city.  The  letter  described  this  as  ' '  the  first  preach- 
ing-house on  the  original  Methodist  plan  in  all  America,  excepting  Mr. 
Whitefield's  Orphan-house  in  Georgia."  Some  one  was  needed  also  to 
preach  in  the  house  when  finished.  The  writer  adds:  "  If  the  preachers 
sent  cannot  procure  the  passage-money,  we  will  sell  our  coats  and  shirts  to 
procure  it  for  them."  This  was  in  1769,  the  birth  year  of  Wellington  and 
Napoleon.  Strange  pages  of  history,  in  Church  and  State,  in  the  Old 
World  and  the  New,  have  been  written  since  then !  Hopes  and  fears  were 
felt  and  expressed  as  to  the  results  of  this  feeble  beginning.  The  predic- 
tion was  made  several  years  later,  "A  corn-crib  will  hold  all  the  Method- 
ists in  this  coitntry."  A  Boston  minister  wrote  about  the  movement  as  a 
"  form  of  religion  which,  I  think,  will  not  soon  die." 

This  letter  was  read  at  the  twenty-sixth  Wesleyan  Conference,  and  the 
question  was  asked :  "  Who  is  willing  to  go  to  America? "  That  question, 
looking  to  a  new  opening  in  missionary  fields,  should  never  go  unan- 
swered at  a  Methodist  Conference.  Two  preachers  responded,  *  Here  we 
are;  send  us."  Fifty  pounds  were  given  them  to  hand  over  to  the  New 
York  brethren.  Lately,  at  your  one  hundred  and  eighteenth  Conference, 
the  question  was  asked:  "  Who  are  willing  to  visit  our  American  breth- 
ren and  see  how  they  do?  "  To  this  question  you  did  not  eagerly  answer, 
"  Here  we  are;  send  us."  But  as  loyal  AVesleyans  you  put  yourselves  in 
the  hands  of  the  appointing  power,  and  felt  it  no  affliction  when  your 
names  were  read  out  as  delegates  to  America.  Brethren,  you  have  come 
to  look  after  some  investments  of  money  and  men  that  your  fathers  made 
a  few  geuerafions  ago.  Our  Bishop  McTyeire  told  you  that  your  fifty 
pounds  at  compound  interest  would  amount  to  a  large  sum,  which  we 


34  OPENING    SERVICES, 

were  not  prepared  to  pay,  though  we  acknowledged  the  debt.  You  have 
come  over  in  full  force.  We  cordially  invite  you  to  divide  out  among 
your  debtors  here,  and  stay  with  us  boarding  around  until  you  have  con- 
sumed the  debt.  .  .  .  Your  short  stay  in  New  York  gave  you  some  op- 
portunity to  see  the  Methodist  preaching-places  that  have  been  added  to 
the  one  you  helped  to  build.  In  extending  your  search  you  are  not 
straitened  in  our  borders  or  in  our  sympathy  and  love.  Francis  Asbury, 
after  crossing  the  mountain  i-ange  that  runs  near  our  eastern  coast,  play- 
fully spoke  of  his  diocese  as  reaching  from  Boston  to  Savannah  in  length, 
and  several  hundred  miles  wide.  The  good  l^ishop's  knowledge  of  geog- 
raphy was  at  fault.  You.  may  start  from  this  spot  and,  sitting  in  a  com- 
fortable steam-coach  all  the  way,  you  may  go  westward  a  distance,  per- 
haps, equal  to  that  from  London  to  Jerusalem,  and  you  will  not  find  a 
cit\%  town,  or  village  without  a  church  of  your  faith.  One  hundred  thou- 
sand such  pulpits  are  open  to  you,  and  you  may  have  access  to  as  many 
more  of  other  Churches,  so  fraternal  is  the  usual  tone  between  sister  de- 
nominations here.  In  a  neighboring  city  you  may  find  a  library  of  three 
hundred  volumes  or  more  all  written  against  Methodism.  Some  of  them 
were  published  many  years  ago,  proving  clearly  that  Methodism  could 
not  live — was,  indeed,  then  dying,  if  not  dead.  You  may  spend  several 
weeks  reading  these  books,  or  you  may  j^refer  to  wander  over  the  conti- 
nent reading  facts.  Your  Brother  Punshou  said  that  when  Wesley  died 
he  "  left  behind  him  an  old  horse  and  chaise,  a  faded  suit  of  clothes,  a 
badly  abused  reputation,  and — the  Methodist  Church."  When  Wesley 
died  there  were  not,  perhaps,  as  many  Methodist  preachers  in  the  world 
as  there  are  now  assembled  in  this  room.  To-day  his  followers  constitute 
the  second  largest  English-speaking  body  of  professing  Christians  in  the 
world.  In  this  New  World  they  are  the  largest  body  of  Protestants,  and 
they  are  still  growing  more  rapidly  than  the  marvelous  growth  of  our 
country's  population.  And  yet  there  'are  men  living  to-day  who  have 
seen  those  who  saw  Wesley.  Millions  of  Christian  men  and  women  to- 
day bear  contentedly  a  name  given  in  the  last  century  to  a  half  dozen 
fellow-students  l)y  some  fun-loving  college  boys  as  a  campus  joke.  If 
history  has  a  parallel  to  this  it  will  be  in  order  for  friend  or  foe  to  bring 
it  forward  for  comparison  or  contrast.  In  the  presence  of  this  stupen- 
dous fact  low  denominational  pride  or  coarse  vanity  should  be  impossible. 
We  may  as  well  he  foolishly  proud  of  the  Mammoth  Cave  or  Niagara,  as  if 
our  own  hands  had  fashioned  them. 

The  writer  of  the  New  York  letter  said:  "I  doubt  not  that  by  the 
goodness  of  God  such  a  flame  will  soon  be  kindled  that  will  never  stop 
until  it  reaches  the  great  South  Sea."  He  may  have  meant  the  great  Pa- 
cific Ocean  or  the  great  inland  sea  that  washes  the  southern  shore  of 
North  America.  In  either  sense  the  daring  prediction  has  become  true. 
One  of  the  two  original  preachers  sent  out  went  to  the  Southern  coast. 
On  a  pane  of  glass  he  wrote  his  name  and  a  Hebrew  text  with  a  diamond. 
His  name  you  can  read  to-day  on  the  frail  glass.  Far  more*  enduring  has 
been  the  impression  made  on  human  hearts  and  lives  by  the  Gospel  which 


ADDRESS    OF    JAMES    H,    CARLISLE.  35 

lie  and  others  preached  iu  that  region.  The  brethren  living  on  that  shore 
now  salute  you,  and  add  their  welcome  to  the  kindly  greetings  of  our 
larger  sister.  If  Whitefield's  Orphan-house  was  the  first  Methodist 
house  of  worship  in  America,  perhaps  a  few  other  historic  items  may  help 
you  to  individualize  us.  All  the  places  iu  the  New  World  pressed  by  the 
feet  of  John  Wesley — sometimes  with  shoes  on  them,  sometimes  literally 
without — are  on  the  southern  shore.  Wesley's  two  years  spent  there 
when,  to  use  his  own  words,  he  was  a  "  Georgia  missiouer  "  were  rich  iu 
mistakes  which  were  very  valuable  to  him.  Yet  there  we  may  find  the 
origin,  direct  or  indirect,  of  most  of  the  designs  which  prove  far  beyond 
his  plans,  such  as  bands,  class-meetings,  love-feasts,  open-air  meetings, 
and  extemporaneous  preaching.  His  first  published  journal  covered  his 
American  mission  life.  Here  he  published  a  small  volume  of  songs  for 
worship ;  one  of  the  earliest  in  our  language  and  the  first  of  that  marvel- 
ous stream  of  books  which  followed  for  a  half  century.  Since  his  day  the 
first  female  college  started  there,  and  the  first  large  donation  of  a  Method- 
ist to  education  was  the  gift  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  by  the  Rev. 
Benjamin  Wafford  to  found  a  college.  Some  very  important  missionary 
fields  closed  to  Wesley  were  afterward  opened.  Your  brethren  dwelling 
there  were  providentially  placed  in  trying  relations  to  them.  How  they 
met  these  obligations  has  passed  into  history. 

Come  and  see  us  in  our  homes.  Come  and  preach  in  our  pulpits.  Come 
and  look  out  upon  our  white  cotton  fields — the  symbol  of  the  great  har- 
vests offered  to  American  Christians.  This  is  the  last  continent  that  our 
heavenly  Father  has  prepared  for  his  children.  He  kept  it  hidden  for 
centuries.  In  the  fullness  of  time  it  was  thrown  open.  "  God  has  a  place 
for  every  man,"'  we  are  told ;  then  he  has  a  plan  for  every  nation,  Church, 
and  continent.  Have  American  Christians  embodied  the  divine  ideal  of 
this  new  continent  ?  Have  we  wisely  used  this  great  opportunity,  the 
last  of  the  kind  which  our  race  is  ever  to  know  ?  A  question  like  this, 
carried  into  details,  as  may  be  done  during  this  Conference,  will  lead  to 
seriousness  if  not  to  sadness.  We  have  not  met  to  give  the  on-looking 
world  a  pretext  to  say:  "  See  how  these  Methodist  Christians  praise  each 
other  and  themselves."  We  have  not  met  to  indulge  in  self-complacency 
as  we  look  out  over  some  great  Methodist  Babylon  that  we  have  built. 
At  those  rare  moments  in  which  it  is  permitted  wise  men  to  speak  as  fools 
we  may  have  something  to  boast  of  before  men.  But  the  wiser  and  safer 
move  is  humility.  We  cannot  with  a  humility  falsely  so  called  decry 
ourselves  as  a  feel^le,  uninflueutial  body  of  Christians.  The  good  hand  of 
our  God  being  with  us,  as  we  trust,  we — taking  in  all  the  Churches  rep- 
resented here  to-day — have  members,  wealth,  influence,  and  therefore  the 
responsibility  that  must  follow  these.  If  we  ever  become  a  weak  Church, 
it  will  be  because  we  are  a  fallen  or  a  falling  Church.  If  in  the  monarchies 
of  the  Old  World  or  the  republics  of  the  New  vice,  irreligiou,  infidelity, 
or  a  feeble,  inconsistent  type  of  piety  becomes  general,  on  those  who 
bear  the  name  of  Welsey  must  rest  a  full  share  of  the  responsibility  and 
guilt. 


36  OPENING    SERVICES. 

John  Wesley  and  George  Whitefield  had  their  differences.  The  Wesley- 
brothers  could  not  always  agree  in  life,  and  their  remains  are  not  resting 
side  by  side  in  death.  Their  followers  have  used  to  the  utmost  that  inde- 
pendence of  thought  which  was  a  great  Wesleyan  trait.  Accordingly, 
the  great  Methodist  family  is  broken  up  into  many  groups.  At  times  it 
may  be  that  our  words  have  been  stout  and  fierce  against  each  other.  In 
our  haste  we  have  been  unable  each  to  put  himself  in  his  brother's  place. 
In  our  zeal  it  may  even  be  that  we  have  slandered  our  own  mother's  sons. 
Our  fathers  at  family  worship  used  to  render  thanks  that  no  visible  mark 
of  the  divine  displeasure  rested  on  any  of  the  household. 

Now,  at  this  first  great  family  gathering  in  the  New  World  let  us  be- 
thankful  if  no  member  of  the  family,  large  or  small,  old  or  young,  is  with- 
out tokens  of  His  blessings  who  bears  with  us  all  more  patiently  than  wo 
can  bear  with  each  other.  After  a  meeting  like  this  let  us  think  and 
speak  more  of  our  concords  than  of  our  discords.  Let  Ephraim  and  Judah 
quit  their  envyings  and  vexings  and  throw  themselves  with  combined 
force  on  the  border  of  the  Philistines. 

Eighty  years  ago  our  fathers  wrote  to  your  fathers,  ' '  We  know  of  no  sep- 
aration between  us  save  the  Atlantic."  That  was  a  separation  then.  Fran- 
cis Asbury  was  eight  weeks  on  the  sea  when  he  came  over.  One  hundred 
years  ago  John  Wesley  was  dead  for  eight  weeks  before  Asbury  knew  it.  A 
few  years  later  Asbury  was  in  Charleston  and  made  a  sad  entry  in  his 
journal  when  the  mournful  news  first  reached  the  city  that  George  Wash- 
ington had  died  two  weeks  before  at  Mount  Vernon.  Ten  years  ago,  dur- 
ing the  first  Ecumenical  Conference,  a  successor  of  Washington  died  near 
this  city.  Twenty-four  hours  did  not  pass  before  the  Conference  hall  was 
draped  in  black,  a  touching  instance  of  the  human  sympathy  that  makes- 
nations  and  Churches  kin. 

The  Atlantic  is  no  longer  a  separation ;  let  there  be  none  other.  In 
your  civil  government  you  may  have  sovereigns  where  we  have  presidents. 
In  your  church  governments  you  may  have  presidents  where  we  prefer 
bishops.  All  these  differences  are  trifling — of  the  earth,  earthy — if  our 
hearts,  our  hopes,  our  aims  are  one,  whether  you  come  from  that  great 
little  island  which  in  Church  and  State  we  still  fondly  call  our  mother- 
country,  or  from  the  Continent,  still  our  mother-country  one  remove 
farther  back  in  the  family  history,  or  from  the  island  continent  lying  under 
the  Southern  Cross,  we  have  much,  very  much,  in  common,  far  more  to 
unite  than  to  divide  us.  A  family  meeting  like  this  should  be  an  era  in 
the  history  of  the  hundreds  present  and  the  millions  whom  they  represent. 
Let  Charles  Wesley  strike  the  key-note  of  this  Ecumenical  Conference  and 
of  our  future  lives : 

' '  Touched  by  the  loadstone  of  our  love 

Let  all  our  hearts  agree, 
And  ever  toward  each  other  move, 

And  evermore  toward  Thee." 


ADDRESS  OF  BEY.  GEORGE  DOUGLAS.  37 

The  Rev.  George  Douglas,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  tlie  Methodist 
'Chnrcli,  Canada,  gave  the  following  address  of  welcome : 

Mr.  President  and  Christian  Friends :  I  am  reminded  of  the  limitations 
of  the  hour,  and  I  may  frankly  admit  to  you  that  I  am  unwilling  to  oc- 
cupy much  of  your  time,  as  I  am  sure  this  audience  is  anxious  to  hear  the 
representatives  of  other  lands. 

It  is  twenty  years  since  I  last  stood  on  a  Washington  platform.  The 
occasion  was  eminently  historic.  A  great  Christian  convention  had  gath- 
ered in  this  city,  consisting  of  a  thousand  representative  men  from  every 
State  of  this  repuljlic  and  the  Dominion  of  Canada.  To  this  convention 
the  citizens  had  tendered  a  brilliant  reception.  The  platform  was  hon- 
ored by  the  presence  of  General  Grant  with  some  of  the  ministers  of  his 
government,  and  men  of  distinction  from  the  North  and  South.  The 
President,  whose  habitual  reticence  entitled  him  to  be  called  the  William 
the  Silent — a  characteristic,  by  the  way,  rare  on  this  continent — signalized 
the  occasion  by  a  brief  but  warm  and  enthusiastic  address  of  welcome. 
Coming  as  we  did  from  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  and  doubtless  because 
an  alien,  we  were  invited  to  respond  to  his  friendly  words.  I  remember, 
.sir,  the  deep  emotions  of  the  hour,  because  of  the  strained  diplomatic  re- 
lations then  existing  between  England  and  America,  and  also  from  the 
fact  that  only  the  night  before  the  Senate  of  this  republic  had  ratified 
the  Washington  Treaty,  ordaining  that  the  principle  of  arbitration  must 
henceforth  be  the  tnethod  of  settlement  of  all  international  controversies. 
I  remember  on  that  occasion  venturing  to  tell  that  great  soldier,  that 
illustrious  head  of  the  people,  that  the  ages  would  bless  the  memory  of 
the  man  representing  the  injured  nation,  the  warrior,  the  famed  warrior, 
who  had  lent  his  influence  to  inaugurate  an  era  where  national  antag- 
onism should  be  settled,  not  by  the  blood-red  testament  of  war,  but  by 
the  friendly  council  of  peace.  Since,  by  this  act,  he  bound  our  imperial, 
unconquerable  race  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  who  speak  the  same 
ascendant  language  of  the  future,  who  hold  in  their  thinking  the  genius 
of  liberty,  and  who  are  aggregating  moral  forces  all  around  the  world,  he 
bound  them  in  the  bonds  of  a  concord  which,  in  the  words  of  Webster, 
"make  us  one  and  inseparable,  now  and  forever,"  entwining  the  red 
cross  flag  of  old  England  with  the  star-spangled  banner  of  this  republic 
■on  every  sea,  in  every  land,  to  the  advantage  of  universal  man. 

And  now  again,  sir,  we  stand  on  a  Washington  platform  to  join  with 
you  and  our  friends  in  welcoming  our  brethren  beloved,  who  have  come 
from  afar,  who  have  come  over  what  the  Greeks  delighted  to  call  the 
"Kale  thalasea " — the  beautiful  sea — which  I  doubt  not  many  of  you  have 
found  to  be  beautiful  indeed.  I  bow  with  reverence  when  I  think  of  the 
presence  in  which  I  stand — men  from  the  isle  which  my  friend  Carlisle 
has  said  we  delight  to  call  the  "Motherland,"  home  of  an  open  Bible, 
cradle  of  our  beloved  Methodism ;  men  from  dear  old  evergreen  and  ever- 
troubled  Ireland,  whose  sanctified  sons  have  given  their  eloquence  like 
.a  guard  aad  enthusiasm  to  the  churches  of  this  land;    men  from  the 


38  OPENING    SERVICES. 

vales  and  fiords  of  Scandinavia,  who  sing  of  a  nobler  Valhalla  than  the 
Norsemen  ever  dreamed;  men  from  the  land  of  Luther,  Melanchthon 
and  Spener;  men  from  the  vine-clad  hills  of  sunny  France,  where 
Coligny  with  tlie  Huguenot  confessors  witnessed  with  their  blood,  and 
from  the  homes  of  Savonarola,  Boccaccio,  and  Petrarch;  men  who  rep- 
resent the  Methodism  of  the  Dark  Continent,  which,  like  Stanley's 
cloud-king  mountains,  is  sending  its  living  waters  across  the  aridities  of 
that  laud,  which  will  yet  blossom  into  beauty  amid  songs  of  thanksgiv- 
ing and  the  voice  of  melody ;  men  whose  eyes  have  seen  the  Taj  Mahal, 
symbol  of  the  splendors  of  India  and  the  coming  glory  of  her  redemp- 
tion ;  valiant  men  who  have  ujilifted  the  banner,  bloodstained,  amid  the 
teeming  myriads  of  China  and  Japan;  men  who  are  laying  the  moral 
foundations  of  that  great  empire,  the  commonwealth  of  Australia,  which 
is  rising  beneath  the  Southern  Cross ;  men  from  the  southern  isles,  whose 
emerald  gems,  set  in  cameos  of  coral  whiteness,  are  redolent  forever  with  the 
names  of  Cargill,  Hunt,  and  Lyth;  men  from  the  pampas  of  South  Amer- 
ica, on  to  the  misty  shores  of  Newfoundland,  all  around  the  world  from 
farthest  India  to  the  blue  crags  that  beetle  o'er  the  western  sea ;  we  clasp 
hands  as  holding  the  same  faith,  singing  the  same  hymns,  thrilling  with 
the  same  jubilant  emotions  as  sin-forgiven  men ;  we  clasp  hands  with 
those  who  represent  world-wide  Methodism  as  one  and  inseparable,  now 
and  forever.  We  welcome  you  to  the  inspiration  and  responsibility  of 
this  council. 

On  this  American  continent  we  are  confronted  with  the  most  stupen- 
dous moral  jiroblems  that  ever  appealed  for  solution  to  the  Christianity 
of  any  age — problems,  says  Gladstone,  arising  from  the  complexities  and 
perplexities  of  conserving  the  morale,  the  integrity  of  modern  Christian 
civilization.  From  the  subarctic  lands  of  Iceland  to  the  everglades  of  the 
Ionian  Isles  and  shores  of  the  HellesjDont ;  from  the  Spanish  peninsula  to 
the  crested  fastnesses  of  the  Caucasus  leading  the  way  to  Siberia,  there  is 
not  a  nation,  not  a  tribe  or  people  but  is  sending  its  mighty  contingent, 
wasted  by  despotism,  brutalized  by  poverty  and  ignorance,  corrupted  by 
vice,  into  the  eastern  portions  of  our  continent ;  while  the  Celestials,  non- 
assimilative,  are  thundering  at  our  western  portals  and  forcing  admission 
into  our  laud.  These  millions  from  Europe  are  largely  becoming  the 
population  of  the  land.  In  every  great  city  of  the  Union,  in  every  minor 
city  of  our  Dominion,  we  are  confronted  by  myriads  of  men  who  speak 
the  polyglot  languages  of  Europe — men  atheistic,  men  socialistic,  men 
Romanistic,  men  Nihilistic,  men  at  war  with  the  Christian  Sabbath  and 
the  Christian  institutions,  men  who  have  rounded  their  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  and  drifted  down  to  the  Mozambique  of  an  utter  ruin,  to  whom 
come  no  moral  zephyrs  from  an  Araby  of  the  blest.  "We  welcome  you 
who  come  from  an  older  civilization,  the  home  of  the  race,  where  it  has 
built  up  that  resplendent  literature  that  commands  the  intelligence  of 
the  world,  where  it  has  shaken  off  the  feudalism  of  the  past  and  accel- 
erated the  radical  equality  of  men,  where  Protestant  Christianity  was 
formulated  and  launched  on  its  evangelistic  career — we  welcome  you  to 


ADDRESS  OF  REV.  GEORGE  DOUGLAS.  39 

aid  us  in  the  solution  of  those  mighty  jjroblems  by  the  higher  and  better 
adjustment  of  Methodism  to  the  issues  of  the  time,  that  Ave  may  stand  as 
potent  factors  with  the  militant  host  of  God's  elect  in  rescuing  our  cities 
from  the  dominion  of  evil  and  planting  them  as  gems  on  the  coronet  of 
our  Redeemer,  on  whose  head  there  rests  many  crowns.  "We  w^elcome 
you  to  join  us  in  the  organization  of  latent  and  undeveloped  force  of 
ecumenical  Methodism  as  a  pan-reformatory  power.  I  would  that  in 
the  fires  of  this  council  there  might  be  forged  a  moral  projectile  that 
shall  smite  the  opium-curse  of  Asia,  that  shall  strike  down  the  drink- 
traflnc  of  Europe  and  the  Continent,  that  shall  slay  the  hydra-headed 
monster  of  vice,  whether  in  kingly  circles  or  in  beggars'  hovels,  and  go  on 
and  on  until  Jesus  shall  reign  "where'er  the  sun  doth  his  successive  jour- 
ney run."  I  trust,  sir,  that  this  Conference  will  not  adjourn  without 
adopting  a  resolution  of  sympathy  in  support  of  those  British  Chris- 
tians who  are  endeavoring  to  repeal  the  legislative  injustice  and  remove 
the  opium-curse,  a  calamity  and  vice  which  transcends  all  possible  con- 
ceptions. Out  of  this  Conference  I  trust  there  will  come  a  power  that 
shall  reach  every  one  of  nearly  two  hundred  Conferences  in  America,  and 
those  in  other  lands ;  that  every  church  and  every  continent  and  every 
pastor  shall  lift  their  voices  to  heaven  in  sympathy  for  the  abolition  of  that 
appalling  curse  to  Asia. 

Mr.  Chairman,  coming  as  I  do  from  the  land  of  the  Borealis,  from  the 
valley  of  the  lakes  and  the  lower  St.  Lawrence,  we  welcome  our  brethren 
to  the  vast  areas  of  the  Dominion,  areas  forty  times  that  of  the  British 
Isles,  seventeen  times  that  of  the  empire  of  Prussia,  and  twelve  times  that 
of  the  republic  of  France — a  land  that  has  rivers  still  unknown  to  song 
and  valleys  untrodden  by  the  foot  of  civilization,  which  will  yet  tremble 
to  the  free-born  tread  of  millions  manifold,  vast  as  the  population  of 
Europe.  We  welcome  you  to  a  land  where  there  is  but  one  Methodism — 
a  united  Methodism,  the  Methodist  Church  in  Canada,  which  stands  to- 
day as  a  humble  light  to  encourage  Methodism  all  over  the  world  to 
combine  in  an  organized  unit  that  shall  husband  its  monetary  and  spirit- 
ual forces  for  the  advantage  of  universal  man.  We  welcome  you  to  our 
hearts,  we  welcome  you  to  our  homes,  we  welcome  you  to  those  enthusi- 
astic Methodist  hearts  that  cling  to  the  old  land,  and  will  hail  you  to  the 
pulpits  of  the  Dominion. 

Mr.  President,  I  seem  to  stand  between  the  past  and  the  present,  be- 
tween the  living  and  the  dead.  I  have  clasped  hands  with  Jabez  Bunting, 
at  once  the  Colossus  and  Richelieu,  who  put  the  impress  of  his  construct- 
ive and  legislative  genius  on  British  Methodism.  I  have  fellowshiped 
with  Dr.  Lovick  Pierce,  son  of  the  sunny  South,  who  in  his  ninety-third 
year  told  me  God  held  him  in  life  that  he  might  bear  witness  to  a  sancti- 
fication  entire.  I  have  looked  on  the  auroral  face  of  Dr.  James  Dixon, 
whose  philosophic  grandeur  and  imaginative  w^ealth  made  him  peerless  in 
the  pulpits  of  England.  I  have  traveled  with  Bishop  Thomson,  an  Eras- 
mus in  learning,  a  Chrysostom  in  eloquence.  I  have  listened  to  the  sil- 
very sweetness  of  Dr.  Hannah,  who  educated  more  ministers  than  any  one 


40  OPENING    SERVICES. 

of  his  age,  and  have  seen  the  stately  Dr.  McClintock,  primus  as  a  theolog- 
ical educator  in  the  American  Church.  I  have  been  cheered  in  youth  by 
the  words  of  Dr.  Harvard,  who  committed  all  that  was  mortal  of  Dr. 
Cook  to  the  deep,  his  winding-sheet  the  waters  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  his 
requiem  the  breeze  which  comes  from  Ceylon's  Isles.  On  my  head  rested 
the  ordaining  hand  of  the  sagacious  Thomas  Jackson ;  while  the  portals 
of  the  ministry  were  ojiened  to  me  by  Dr.  Matthew  Mickey,  who  sleeps 
nigh  to  the  laud  of  Evangeline  in  Nova  Scotia.  I  have  kindled  xmder 
the  unique  and  lofty  eloquence  of  Dr.  Beaumont,  as  he  rolled  like  the 
thunder,  whispered  like  the  breezes,  and  on  the  wings  of  thought  sublime 
sprung  elastic  to  the  very  spheres.  I  have  tabernacled  with  Joseph  Dare, 
the  Apollo  of  Australia,  and  count  it  the  honor  of  my  life  to  have  shared 
the  friendship  of  Bishop  Simpson,  whose  logic  was  fire,  whose  argument 
was  irresistible,  whose  emotional  power  was  like  unto  the  noise  of  the 
wind  in  the  mulberry-trees,  swaying  the  multitudes  and  lifting  them  to  a 
sublimity  and  rapture  transcendental.  Simpson!  It  may  be  doubted 
whether  the  generations  will  witness  an  approach  to  his  pulpit  power. 
Time  would  fail  me  to  speak  of  Bishop  Paine,  the  gentle ;  of  Janes,  the 
apostolic ;  of  Kavanagh,  the  fearless ;  of  Gilbert  Haven,  the  aggressive ;  of 
Doggett,  the  pride  of  Virginia;  of  Applebee,  the  saintly;  of  Matten- 
bury,  the  pathetic;  of  Caughey,  the  flaming  evangelist;  of  Peter  Cart- 
wright,  the  Boanerges ;  and  Father  Taylor,  immortalized  by  the  genius  of 
Dickens.  I  knew  them  all.  Shades  of  the  departed,  throned  on  high, 
they  stand  in  the  empyrean  and  wear  the  amaranth  of  ' '  well  done " 
forever ! 

Mr.  President,  I  pause  for  a  moment  as  I  travel  on  and  reverently  ap- 
proach the  shrines  which  hold  the  names,  ever  dear,  of  George  Osborn, 
Matthew  Simpson,  John  McTyeire,  with  others  who  graced  and  adorned 
the  platform  of  the  last  Ecumenical  Council.  I  advance  to  the  shrines, 
and  with  you  place  my  wreath  of  remembrance,  wet  with  tears.  From 
the  aifluent  and  tender  memories  of  the  past  we  will  resolutely  turn  our 
faces  to  the  opening  portals  of  the  twentieth  century,  and  with  high  re- 
solves and  holy  purpose  determine  to  stand  by  the  eclectic  theology  of 
Methodism  against  all  destructive  criticism,  whether  Germanic,  Anglican, 
or  American.  We  stand  by  its  polity,  we  stand  by  its  experimental  life, 
and  seek  to  lift  it  to  a  higher  plane  and  more  realistic  power.  As  a  Con- 
ference we  pledge  each  other  to  attest  the  immanence  of  God  in  man  as 
an  unshaken  and  eternal  verity. 

I  have  stood  on  the  New  England  coast  and  looked  out  at  the  granite 
rock  as  it  lifted  its  head  above  the  troubled  waters.  I  have  seen  the 
mighty  billows,  driven  by  the  south-west  wind,  lift  themselves  and  over- 
whelm the  rock,  and  for  a  moment  it  seemed  to  be  gone ;  but  it  was  only 
for  a  moment ;  that  rock  tossed  back  the  billows,  and,  as  they  fell  in  spray, 
coruscated  into  a  rainljow  brilliance,  making  it  more  beautiful  than  ever. 
That  rock  resembles  the  experimental  life  of  Methodism ;  those  waters 
the  ever-shifting  speculations  of  men.  Driven  by  the  winds  of  prejudice 
and  unbelief,  they  sometimes  seem  to  sweep  over  the  Church,  and  we  say 


ADDRESS    OF    KEV.    T.    B.    STEPHENSON.  41 

it  is  gone,  but  only  for  a  moment.  Our  Methodism  tosses  them  back 
and  stands  more  beautiful  than  ever.. 

Mr.  President,  I  feel  at  this  moment  something  like  the  ideal  statesman 
of  this  continent,  Henry  Clay.  He  had  climbed  with  some  friends  the  heights 
of  the  AUeghanies ;  he  had  gone  out  on  a  jutting  crag.  Looking  toward  the 
valley  of  the  Ohio  and  the  prairie  lands  as  yet  all  silent  and  desolate, 
standing  there  in  statuesque  grandeur,  he  was  seen  to  incline  his  head  as  if 
listening  to  far  away  sounds.  "What  hearest  thou.  Senator  from  Ken- 
tucky? "  asked  his  familiar  friend.  "  Hear?"  responded  the  great  states- 
man. "  I  hear  the  thundering  tread  of  the  coming  millions  that  will  as- 
cend these  mountains,  descend  into  these  valleys,  and  hold  these  prairies 
away  and  away  to  the  setting  sun." 

And  here,  Mr.  Chairman,  in  the  presence  of  these  representatives,  I  seem 
to  hear  the  thunder  tread  of  the  coming  millions  of  Methodism,  who  will 
ascend  the  mountains  of  myrrh  and  frankincense,  where  the  day-breaks 
and  the  shadows  flee  away.  "Post  tenebras  lux,"  cried  the  hero  of 
Geneva.  After  darkness,  light ;  after  the  labor,  the  conflict,  the  shadow, 
the  night  of  earth,  we  shall  clasp  hands  in  the  light  of  heaven,  the  bea- 
itfic  vision  of  God. 

The  Kev.  T.  B.  Stephenson,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Wesleyan 
Methodist  Church,  made  the  following  response  to  these  ad- 
dresses of  welcome : 

Mr.  President :  I  do  not  remember  to  have  ever  been  in  such  a  difficulty 
in  my  life.  In  the  first  place,  I  have  preached  for  an  hour  and  a  half  al- 
ready to-day.  Some  men,  I  believe,  find  it  easier  to  preach  other  people's 
sermons  than  their  own.  My  experience  is  not  of  that  kind.  I  confess 
that  I  should  have  been  glad  if  after  the  exertion  of  this  morning  it  had 
fallen  to  my  lot  to  say  some  few  words  to  the  Conference  at  a  later  period. 
But  I  have  a  far  greater  difficulty  to  contend  with  than  that.  I  had  pre- 
pared a  really  nice  little  speech,  as  I  thought,  which  I  had  intended  to 
get  off  in  good  style,  so  that  I  might  sit  down  with  a  certain  measure  of 
that  peculiar  satisfaction  which  rarely  comes  to  me,  but  very  often  comes 
to  my  more  eloquent  brethren.  I  have  unfortunately,  however,  been  com- 
pletely overwhelmed  by  the  proceedings  of  this  afternoon.  I  do  not  know 
how  many  languages  I  am  expected  to  talk  in.  In  addition  to  that,  I  had 
brought  over  with  me  a  nice  little  set  of  Methodist  antiquities,  in  which  I 
thought  the  people  of  the  Old  World  really  had  some  sort  of  privilege  of 
possession.  We  do  not  profess  to  have  in  that  old  land  many  of  the  won- 
derful things  which  you  have  in  the  new,  but  we  have  a  few  old  things 
that  you  really  cannot  match.  Of  those,  most  of  such  as  are  worth  any  thing 
have  come  to  America  already,  and  the  others  probably  will  soon  come.  So, 
when  we  search  our  old  books  and  find  nice  little  historical  references 
which  we  are  going  to  bring  out  quite  pat  in  our  speeches,  we  find  that 
our  American  friends  have  been  before  us. 

There  was  that  nice  little  letter  of  John  Wesley's  to  Ezekiel  Cooper.  I 
have  it  written  down  here,  and  I  was  going  to  read  it  to  you,  imagining,  in 
6 


42  OPENING    SERVICES. 

my  ignorance,  that  it  would  be  quite  novel.  But,  alas!  my  friend  has  given 
it  to  you  in  that  speech  to  vv^hich  we  have  listened  with  so  much  delight ; 
and  it  has  also  been  mentioned  by  my  friend  the  bishop,  who  gave  us  that 
most  brilliant,  beautiful,  and  affectionate  speech.  These  brethren  have 
put  their  fingers  in  my  little  concoction  and  have  extracted  every  plum  except 
one,  and  I  believe  they  would  have  had  that  if  it  had  been  possible  for 
them  to  get  it.  That  is  really  the  one  little  possession  that  is  left  to  the  poor 
President  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Conference. 

So  what  am  I  to  do?  The  only  thing  is  to  throw  away  my  speech  and 
utter  a  few  words,  guided  by  the  hieroglyphics  which  I  have  been  scratch- 
ing on  this  sheet  of  paper. 

However,  Mr.  President,  I  can  very  heartily  say  that  it  is  to  me  a  very 
great  delight  to  be  present  in  this  assembly,  and  that  I  count  it  to  be  per- 
haps the  chief  distinction  of  my  life  that  I  am  permitted  to  be  here  not 
only  as  a  member  of  this  Conference,  but  as  holding  the  presidency  which  has 
been  conferred  upon  me  by  my  brethi-en.  I  make  a  passing  reference  to  this 
fact  because  it  is  right  that  our  American  friends  should  know  that  the  Brit- 
ish Conference  in  sending  its  chief  officer  here  has  endeavored  to  show  in 
the  most  emphatic  way  its  warm  affection  for  all  branches  of  Methodism 
represented  by  those  2")resent  in  this  great  Conference,  its  prayerful  solici- 
tude for  the  issues  which  will  come  out  of  the  Conference,  and  its  interest 
in  our  Methodist  work  throughout  the  world. 

A  president  of  the  Methodist  Conference  is  in  some  respects  unlike  your 
bishops.  They  are  elected  for  life,  the  president  is  not.  He  has  a  short 
life  officially,  and  not  always  a  merry  one,  and  he  has  during  the  time  of  his 
period  of  office  to  attend  to  a  great  many  matters ;  so  it  has  happened  that  no 
president  of  a  British  Conference  has  ever  been  sent  abroad  on  any  mission 
outside  of  the  United  Kingdom  until  this  time.  I  beg  you  to  believe  that 
through  my  unworthy  lips  the  mother-Conference  of  Methodism  does  most 
heartily,  respectfully,  and  affectionately  greet  you  to-day  and  bid  you  good 
luck  in  the  name  of  the  Lord. 

Kind  words  of  welcome  have  been  spoken  to  us  here  to-day,  but  we  did 
not  need  all  this  eloquence  to  assure  us  that  we  should  be  welcome,  although 
we  have  been  very  glad  to  hear  it.  In  fact,  we  should  not  have  come  if 
we  had  not  believed  that  we  would  be  warmly  welcomed.  "We  were  as- 
sured that  Englishmen  from  the  little  island  would  have  such  a  welcome 
as  would  not  disappoint  them  or  be  unworthy  of  you.  We  rejoice  in  your 
affection.  We  are  proud  of  your  fellowship.  "We  believe  that  we  can 
learn  much  from  you,  and  we  think  that  possibly  you  may  learn  something 
from  us.  Therefore  we  are  delighted  with  these  occasions  of  fellowship 
for  the  interchange  of  thought  and  opinions  and  feelings,  and  we  believe 
that  they  should  be  multiplied  as  the  years  go  by. 

"We  are  very  glad  to  come  to  "Washington.  It  is  not  as  big  a  place  as  Lon- 
don, but  I  do  not  know  that  a  place  is  any  the  worse  for  not  being  as  big  as 
some  other  place.  I  know  places  that  would  be  better  if  they  were  smaller. 

The  very  name  of  "Washington  has  a  charm  for  us.  If  ever  there  was  a 
time  when  it  was  difficult  for  Englishmen  to  think  kindly  and  reverently 


ADDKESS    OF    REV.    T.    B.    STEPHENSON.  43 

of  George  Washington  that  time  has  long  since  gone.  We  know  that 
great  men  are  often  raised  up  in  the  order  of  Providence  to  accomplish 
purposes  which  for  the  moment  may  bring  some  distress,  some  alienation 
of  feeling  between  man  and  man,  or  between  people  and  people ;  but  we 
know  also  that  God  is  above  all  such  matters,  and  out  of  them  brings  the 
full  accomplishment  of  his  own  gracious  purjjoses  for  the  benefit  of  man- 
kind. In  truth,  the  great  men  of  the  world  do  not  belong  to  any  one 
people.  George  Washington  does  not  belong  to  you  alone.  His  spirit, 
his  noble  modesty,  his  simple  conscientiousness,  and  the  magnificent  devo- 
tion with  which  he  first  gave  himself  to  his  country,  and  then  stepping 
aside  lest  too  much  prominence  given  even  to  him  might  imperil  the  secur- 
ity in  future  years  of  the  institutions  of  which  he  had  been  the  chief  foun- 
der, has  given  to  the  world  an  example  from  which  all  men  ought  to  be 
able  to  learn  something.  I  hold  that  the  memory  and  influence  of  every 
such  man  goes  to  increase  the  wealth  of  mankind  and  to  purify  the  atmos- 
phere in  which  men's  minds  have  to  live. 

I  am  very  thankful  that  we  have  here  assembled  a  second  Ecumenical 
Conference,  because  that  Conference  which  was  held  ten  years  ago,  when 
we  in  England  had  the  great  honor  and  pleasure  of  entertaining  our  breth- 
ren from  the  Western  world,  has  done  far  more  than  those  who  planned  it 
ever  dreamed  it  could  do ;  far  more  than  those  who  took  part  in  it  thought 
it  was  possible  that  it  could  do ;  very  much  more  than  its  critics  were  will- 
ing to  confess  that  it  could  do.  It  has  not  only  accomplished  certain  di- 
rect results,  such  as  Dr.  Douglas  has  referred  to,  but  it  has  altogether 
altered  the  relation  of  the  various  bodies  which  constitute  our  Eastern 
Methodism  to  each  other.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  there  is  a  warmth 
of  kindly  feeling  and  a  readiness  and  heartiness  of  co-operation,  a  frank 
and  hearty  recognition  of  each  other's  rights  and  privileges  in  the  heritage 
of  Methodism,  such  as  did  not  exist  before.  It  is  to  our  discredit,  perhaps, 
that  they  did  exist,  l)ut,  however  that  may  be,  we  are  thankful  that  the 
change  has  come,  and  whatever  it  may  lead  to  in  the  future,  of  this  I  am 
sure,  that  this  second  Ecumenical  Conference  will  tend  to  promote  a  better 
mutual  feeling.  At  our  last  meeting  we  buried  a  good  many  misunder- 
standings, and,  please  God,  we  shall  have  some  more  funerals  this  time.  I 
hope  we  shall  go  on  from  point  to  point,  and  that  we  shall  be  able  to  see 
in  that  Eastern  world  from  which  we  come  one  great  confederated 
Methodism. 

People  are  quite  ready  to  criticise  this  Conference.  They  ask,  What  is 
it  for  ?  What  is  the  good  of  leaving  your  work  and  this  great  multitude 
of  you  meeting  for  awhile  and  talking  about  matters  ?  What  practical 
end  is  subserved  ?  Some  of  these  people  would,  I  suppose,  like  us  to  tear 
up  our  ecclesiastical  constitutions  and  re-create  them  in  the  space  of  a 
fortnight ;  some  of  them  would  be  perfectly  satisfied  if  we  could  get  up  a 
great  fund.  Of  course,  it  would  be  something  like  a  hundred  millions  of 
dollars.  We  could  not  think  of  any  thing  less  than  that.  But  if  we 
should  do  something  of  this  kind  they  would  think  we  were  accomplish- 
ing something. 


4:4  OPENING    SERVICES. 

How  miserably  such  men  misjudge  the  great  forces  by  which  the  world 
is  moved.  Ideas  and  sentiments  are  the  things  which  most  mightily  move 
men.  A  great  idea  is  like  the  seed  of  God.  It  has  the  germ  of  life  in  it. 
It  will  grow.  It  will  grow  even  if  the  conditions  under  which  it  is 
planted  are  unfavorable  to  it.  "  There  shall  be  a  handful  of  corn  in  the 
earth  on  the  top  of  the  mountains."  Who  would  have  expected  that  it 
would  grow  there  ?  If  it  had  been  down  in  the  valley,  where  the  soil  is 
deep,  where  the  streams  run  laughing  on,  and  where  the  rough  winds  are 
broken  so  that  it  is  sheltered  and  protected,  it  might  be  expected  to  grow ; 
but  "  on  the  top  of  the  mountain,"  where  the  soil  is  thin,  where  the  rain 
runs  off  so  soon  as  it  falls,  and  where  the  pitiless  sun  beats  upon  it,  can  it 
grow  there  ?  Yes,  if  it  is  the  seed — God's  seed — for  the  divine  energy  is 
in  it. 

Now,  when  you  have  a  great  idea,  and  especially  one  of  those  great 
ideas  which  is  included  within  the  circle  of  redemptive  truths,  it  is  living 
seed,  and  God  himself  only  can  tell  what  it  will  do.  So  it  is  with  regard 
to  sentiment.  People  talk  about  sentiment  and  ask  what  is  the  use  of  cher- 
ishing it.  Why,  is  it  not  true  that  the  noblest  things  in  the  world  are  not  the 
result  of  sentiment?  It  is  sentiment  that  makes  the  soldier  rush  upon 
the  cannon.  It  is  sentiment  that  makes  the  fireman  spring  through  the 
window  to  save  a  little  child.  It  is  sentiment  that  makes  the  engineer 
stick  to  his  engine  in  order  that  he  may  save  a  whole  train  from  destruc- 
tion. The  grandest  things  the  world  has  ever  seen  have  been  done  not  by 
the  men  who  sit  down  and  work  out  the  problem  arithmetically,  but  by 
men  who  have  got  hearts  in  them  and  are  not  afraid  to  let  them  beat.  If 
you  will  yield  to  divine  sentiment^ — that  sentiment  of  brotherly  love  which 
opens  heart  to  heart — if  you  will  let  that  sentiment  work,  you  will  accom- 
plish more  than  you  can  do  by  all  your  careful  calculations,  and  by  all 
your  constitution-mougering.  Great  results  will  come  from  this  Confer- 
ence, believe  me,  if  we  are  true  to  ourselves  and  take  advantage  of  our 
opportunity. 

We  have  much  to  learn  from  you.  We  Englishmen  are  very  anxious  to 
learn.  And  in  the  word  Englishmen  I  include  my  dear  friends  from  far- 
away lands  in  whose  behalf  I  am  permitted  to  speak.  You  know  that 
the  British  Empire  is  not  included  wholly  in  our  beautiful  island,  the 
most  beautiful  place  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  We  have  a  great  stretch 
of  territory  outside.  I  am  not  sure  but  that  if  we  were  to  go  into  a  cal- 
culation we  might  make  out  that  the  British  Empire  is  about  fifteen  times 
as  large  as  the  United  States;  but  that  does  not  matter  in  the  least. 
There  is  a  great  deal  of  England  that  is  quite  outside  of  our  four  seas 
yonder. 

I  speak  for  my  brothers  of  the  southern  lands  as  well  as  of  the  northern 
laud  when  I  say  that  we  have  a  great  deal  to  learn  from  you.  Neverthe- 
less, on  one  point,  perhaps,  what  I  have  to  say  is  more  particularly  appli- 
cable to  England  than  it  is  to  other  lands.  We  are  anxious  to  see  what 
Methodism  can  do  when  it  has  a  fair  field  and  no  favor.  In  the  old  land 
we  have  to  a  great  extent  succeeded  in  breaking  the  fetters  which  once 


ADDKESS    OF    REV.    T.    B.    STEPHENSON.  45 

were  clinging  to  our  wrists,  but  some  links  are  still  clanking  a  little.  They 
do  not  so  completely  tie  us  up  as  fo  make  us  helpless.  We  can  work 
with  our  hands,  and  if  necessary  we  can  even  use  our  lists ;  but  somehow 
or  other  when  we  land  here  v^e  feel  as  if  we  had  dropped  off  the  shackles ; 
we  feel  as  if  we  had  stepped  out  of  a  shadow.  We  find  ourselves  in  a 
country  in  which  there  are  no  difficult  conditions  of  ecclesiastical  suprein- 
acy,  and  where  a  man  is  not  at  any  serious  disadvantage  because  he  be- 
longs to  this  Church  or  that. 

I  suppose  there  are  people  in  America  who  like  to  belong  to  whatever 
Church  will  give  them  the  largest  amount  of  fashion  and  demand  from 
them  the  least  amount  of  religion.  I  suppose  there  are  people  who  are 
too  rich  to  belong  to  any  but  the  most  fashionable  organization,  whatever 
that  may  be,  and  people  who  are  too  highly  ' ' culchawed'"  to  belong  to 
any  thing  but  the  most  fashionable  or  what  professes  to  be  the  most 
highly  cultivated  Church.  But  such  people  are  either  the  snobs  of  finance 
or  the  snobs  of  culture,  and  they  must  "  go  to  their  own  place."  But  you 
have  not  the  social  difficulties  which  we  feel,  for  I  suppose  that  if  a 
man  were  worthy  of  the  place  he  would  not  damage  his  candidature  for 
the  presidency  of  the  United  States  no  matter  what  his  religious  views 
and  associations  might  be. 

You  have  had  a  great  opportunity.  We  have  never  had,  and  we  shall 
never  have  it.  If  the  Church  of  England  were  disestablished  to-moiTow 
we  could  not  root  up  the  old  prejudices,  feelings,  social  habits,  and  tra- 
ditions. We  never  shall  have  the  chance  that  you  have  had.  But  in  the 
settlement  of  some  questions  which  will  have  to  come  after  awhile  we 
will  be  better  able  to  act  from  what  we  may  learn  here.  At  all  events, 
we  are  glad  to  have  an  opportunity  of  seeing  what  Methodism  can  do  in 
a  great  land  where  it  has  a  fair  field  and  no  favor. 

I  think,  too,  that  we  in  the  old  land  will  be  very  thankful  indeed  to 
learn  from  you  one  lesson  which  you  seem  to  have  most  successfully 
practiced,  and  that  is  how  to  follow  up  the  new  populations.  It  is  a  won- 
derful thing  to  note  the  action  of  this  American  Methodism — I  have  been 
reading  its  history  over  again  lately.  I  read  the  story,  of  course,  as  every 
well-instructed  Methodist  preacher  has  done,  many  years  ago,  but  I  have 
read  it  again  recently  with  great  delight,  and  I  have  felt  my  heart  beat 
faster  as  I  have  again  pondered  the  story  of  its  heroic  work. 

One  of  the  things  most  wonderful  to  us  is  the  way  in  which  you  have 
kept  abreast  of  the  advancing  wave  of  emigration.  That  emigration  has 
rolled  westward,  and  ever  westward,  but  there  has  always  been  a  Meth- 
odist preacher  on  the  front  of  the  wave.  Thei-e  has  always  been  a  Meth- 
odist preacher  ready  to  welcome  the  new-comer  in  a  church.  That 
question  you  have  solved  most  successfully. 

Perhaps  you  may  also  learn  something  from  us.  You  have  an  immense 
question  confronting  you,  which  has  perhaps  even  more  difficulty  for  you 
than  it  has  for  us,  because  your  population  is,  I  suppose,  growing  faster 
than  ours,  and  is  of  a  more  miscellaneous  character.  Your  cities  are  more 
numerous  than  ours,  and  the  largest  of  them  will  very  soon  more  than 


46  OPENING    SERVICES. 

outnumber  the  largest  of  our  cities.  In  the  old  land  the  question  as  to  the 
cities  is  becoming  the  question  of  the  future.  If  we  can  capture  the  cities, 
as  we  are  trying  to  do — as  Crawford  Johnson  is  doing  in  Belfast,  and  as 
Collier  is  doing  in  Manchester,  and  my  friend  Wiseman  in  Birmingham, 
and  Thompson  and  Waverley  and  Hopkins  and  Hughes  are  doing  in  London 
— if  we  can  seize  the  centers  of  population  and  make  Methodism  a  mighty 
power  there,  then  we  may  save  the  character  and  well-being  of  those 
great  masses  of  population  which  are  driven  together  in  the  cities  by  an 
irresistible  force.  I  hope  that  one  result  of  our  fellowship  here  will  be 
that  we  may  in  some  small  degree  contribute,  as  we  should  feel  so  glad  to 
do,  toward  the  solution  of  that  difficult  problem  which  is  before  you. 

But  I  find  that,  ha\ang  no  speech,  I  am  in  great  danger  of  taking  too 
much  of  your  time.  I  do  want  to  say  just  one  word  or  two  more,  be- 
cause I  do  feel  that  after  all  this  Conference  ought  to  be  a  great  spiritual 
power.  Nothing  has  struck  me  more  in  reading  the  history  of  American 
Methodism  over  again  than  the  fact  that  your  Conferences — your  early 
Conferences,  and  no  doubt  those  of  a  later  day — were  the  occasion  of  the 
most  wonderful  spiritual  manifestations.  They  did  not  expect  to  come 
together  merely  to  organize  some  financial  movement.  They  came  in  the 
expectation  that  whilst  the  business  of  the  Conference  was  going  on  their 
own  souls  would  be  quickened,  and  that  multitudes  of  peojile  in  the 
neighborhood  would  be  blessed  by  a  great  revival  of  religious  feeling. 
We  read  again  and  again  the  record  of  how  many  hundreds  of  people  gave 
their  hearts  to  God  upon  such  occasions. 

What  we  want  in  Methodism  to-day  is  mighty  spiritual  quickening. 
We  have  many  things  to  do  in  completing  our  constitution,  much  to  do 
in  the  adjustment  of  our  methods;  but  I  am  quite  sure  that  our  great  want 
is  that  all  our  churches  should  be  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  How  are 
we  to  secvire  that  ?  It  is  to  be  done  by  all  who  are  here  being  first  filled 
with  the  Holy  Ghost.  If  during  this  fortnight  in  which  we  are  together 
we  will  bow  all  our  hearts  before  Christ  and  ask  him  to  come  in  and  take 
full  possession  of  each  of  us,  we  shall  go  back  to  our  several  spheres  of 
labor  with  a  religious  fervor  that  will  set  fire  to  many  others,  and  the  con- 
flagration will  spi'ead  throughout  the  Methodist  world.  We  have  a  great 
many  faults  in  the  Old  World,  but  I  do  thank  God  to  be  able  to  tell  you 
that  our  people  and  our  ministers  at  home  are  all  eager  for  a  great  baptism 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  power.  What  we  want  is  that  each  one  should 
give  himself  fully  to  God.  John  Wesley  used  to  insist  that  it  was  by  the 
experience  and  preaching  of  perfect  love  that  the  greatest  revivals  were 
secured  and  the  mightiest  spiritual  triumphs  achieved.  I  was  talking  to 
Dr.  Osborn  a  couple  of  years  ago.  You  know  that  he  was  the  last  link 
between  the  present  generation  and  early  Methodism.  He  knew  Dr.  Coke 
personally.  Dr.  Coke  used  to  go  and  stay  at  his  father's  house  in  Roches- 
ter, and  he  could  toll  us  many  tales  of  the  early  Methodist  preachers.  He 
knew  almost  all  the  men  who  had  been  associated  with  Wesley  in  his  later 
days.  I  said  to  him  one  day:  "  It  has  often  been  said  that  Mr.  Wesley, 
although  he  wrote  a  great  deal  about  perfect  love,  never  professed  to  pos- 


ADDRESS    OF    KEY.    T.    B.    STEPHENSON.  47 

sess  it.  What  is  the  fact  of  that  ?"  He  replied :  "  I  was  once  talking  to 
some  old  preachers,  and  they  told  me  this  story :  '  Some  of  them  were  talk- 
ing to  John  Wesley,  and  they  ventured — for  they  were  in  considerable  awe 
of  the  old  gentleman  and  did  not  take  liberties  with  him — to  say:  "  Mr. 
Wesley,  will  you  tell  us  what  is  your  own  feeling  about  this,  and  what  are 
your  own  experiences?"  He  paused  for  a  moment,  and  said:  "  This  is 
my  experience : 

'  Jesus,  confirm  my  heart's  desire 

To  work,  and  speak,  and  think  for  thee ; 

Still  let  me  guard  the  holy  fire, 
And  still  stir  up  thy  gift  in  me. 

'  Ready  for  all  thy  perfect  will, 

My  acts  of  faith  and  love  repeat, 
Till  death  thy  endless  mercies  seal. 

And  make  the  sacrifice  complete. ' 

That  is  my  experience,"  said  John  Wesley.'  " 

Somebody  has  said  that  Charles  Wesley's  hymns  are  not  only  the  liturgy 
but  the  creed  and  theology  of  Methodism.  I  believe  that  if  you  would 
take  these  two  verses  and  think  them  over  you  will  find  that  a  more  com- 
pletely balanced  and  more  perfectly  guarded  definition  of  the  highest 
Christian  love  you  could  scarcely  find : 

"  Jesus,  confirm  my  heart's  desire  " — 
I  have  it  already,  but  I  want  thee  to  strengthen  it. 

"  To  work,  and  speak,  and  think  for  thee" — 
Hand  and  lip  and  brain  consecrated  to  that  work. 

"  Still  let  me  guard  the  holy  fire  " — 

For  even  that  holy  fire  which  thou  hast  implanted  within  me  must  be 
guarded  carefully  lest  I  lose  it. 

"  And  still  stir  up  thy  gift  in  me  " — 

For  I  cannot  maintain  the  fire  by  the  mere  effort  of  my  own  will.  I 
must  have  thy  interposition,  thy  constant  "  stirring  "  of  blessed  fire. 

"  Ready  for  all  thy  perfect  will " — 

For  I  lie  with  absolute  submission  at  thy  feet. 

"  My  acts  of  life  and  love  repeat  " — 

For  that  submission  is  not  the  mere  lying  quiet  in  spiritual  rapture, 

but  a  submission  which  continually  carries  me  on  to  work  and  speak  and 

think  for  thee, 

"  Till  death  thy  endless  mercies  seal. 
And  make  the  sacrifice  complete." 

I  apologize  to  the  theologians  here  for  venturing  to  indicate  this  inter- 
pretation, but  it  is  John  Wesley's  own  experience. 


4:8  OPENING    SERVICES. 

And,  brethren  in  Methodism  and  in  Christ,  if  you  had  that,  and  I  had  it^ 
and  we  all  had  it  always,  the  world  could  not  stand  before  our  force,  and 
the  revivals  of  the  old  days  would  be  repeated  a  hundred-fold.  Method- 
ism all  over  the  world  would  awake  with  a  new  power,  and  we  should 
on  every  side  rejoice  as  our  fathers  rejoiced. 

How  rich  heaven  is  getting !  O,  how  many  are  they  who  are  passing 
away  from  us  into  that  holy  land  and  making  more  glorious  the  company 
of  the  many  already  there. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  some  of  those  who  have  passed  away,  but 
I  should  like  to  refer  to  one  who  has  not  been  mentioned.  We  cannot 
forget  that  Dr.  George  is  not  with  us — the  man  who  did  more  than  any 
other  single  man  to  bring  about  the  existence  of  a  national  ecumenical 
council. 

I  should  like  to  speak  of  the  others  who  have  been  already  referred  to, 
but  time  will  not  permit.  They  are  gone,  and  we  are  left  for  a  little 
while,  and  only  a  little  while. 

I  have  in  my  hand  here  the  little  Bible  which  John  "Wesley  carried 
about  with  him  for  forty  years.  Many  and  many  a  time  he  held  that  up 
and  read  his  text  from  it,  sometimes  amid  howling  mobs,  sometimes  in 
humble  and  sometimes  in  fashionable  churches,  in  which  in  the  latter  part 
of  his  life  he  was  invited  to  preach.  There  it  is — John  "Wesley's  little 
Bible.  It  was  printed  in  the  year  1665  by  John  Field,  "printer  to  the 
Parliament, "  for  it  was  in  the  time  of  the  Commonwealth  that  this  little 
book  was  printed.  It  was  one  hundred  and  one  years  old  when  John 
"Wesley  wrote  his  name  in  it.  Here  under  my  eyes  at  this  very  moment 
there  is  a  peculiar  handwriting  visible  :  "John  "Wesley,  1776.  Vive 
Twdie'''' — "  live  to-day. "  It  is  only  to-day  that  we  can  live.  The  past  is 
gone,  however  we  may  try  or  desire  to  correct  it.  The  future  is  not  ours. 
"We  can  only  make  it  ours  in  any  sense  by  making  the  present  such  as  will 
operate  upon  it  and  influence  it.  Live  to-day,  for  "the  night  cometh 
when  no  man  can  work." 

O  for  the  spirit  of  this  man  who  was  tireless  in  his  labors,  who  flew 
from  point  to  point  in  the  prosecution  of  his  work  with  an  irresistible 
enthusiasm  ;  who  never  seemed  content  to  put  two  men's  work  into  one 
day,  because  he  was  so  anxious  to  put  the  third  man's  work  into  the 
same  day ;  and  all  for  the  sake  of  saving  souls  and  for  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  ! 

"We  must  not  think  too  much  about  these  great  constitutional  questions, 
or  about  those  which  relate  to  the  realm  of  scientific  thought  in  its  rela- 
tion to  Christianity,  nor  even  about  those  great  and  pressing  questions 
which  touch  the  relations  of  Methodism  to  social  life.  All  these  are  of 
vast  interest  and  importance,  but  we  must  give  ourselves  to  this  supreme 
question  of  an  aboimding  spiritual  life,  and  then  Methodism  will  be  in  the 
present,  as  it  has  been  in  the  past,  the  mightiest  converting  force  in  the 
world.     God  grant  that  it  may  be ! 


ADDRESS  OF  GEOBGE  GEEEN.  49 

Mr.    George  Green,  of   tlie  Primitive  Methodist  Church, 
responded  as  follows  to  the  addresses  of  welcome : 

My  dear  Friends:  If  the  last  speaker  found  himself  in  the  awkward 
position  he  described  to  us  at  the  beginning  of  his  speech,  I  wonder  what 
sort  of  a  position  I  may  be  reasonably  supposed  to  find  myself  in.  I  would 
like  to  say,  however,  just  a  few  words  on  behalf  of  the  connection  to 
which  I  belong,  and  which  I  represent  in  this  Conference.  I  would  like 
to  say  here  and  now  that  I  shall  not  attempt  at  this  late  hour  to  enter  at 
any  length  into  any  topic.  I  had  prepared  an  address  for  this  occasion, 
but  I  shall  leave  that  speech  where  it  is  and  make  a  few  remarks  sjjecially 
bearing  upon  the  position  of  our  own  connection — a  position,  perhaps, 
that  is  bj^  no  means  so  well  understood  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  as 
some  of  us  would  like  it  to  be.  I  shall  not  keep  you  any  length  of  time, 
because  I  remember  that  there  is  my  brother  here  representing  the  other 
free  Church  of  England  who  has  to  address  you  after  me,  and  as  he  is  a 
minister — and  a  properly  accredited  and  able  minister — I  have  no  doubt 
of  the  two  it  would  be  better  to  leave  him  all  the  time  possible.  I  have  a 
reason  for  saying  that  I  will  not  take  up  your  time,  because  I  am  quite 
sure  that  you  have  been  already  so  overwhelmed  by  the  eloquence  which 
has  been  exhibited  by  the  brethren  who  have  preceded  me  that  any  thing 
I  should  say  would  only  weaken  the  effect  of  this  afternoon's  proceed- 
ings, and  the  whole  time  of  the  session  has  long  since  been  exhausted. 

A  short  time  ago  Ave  had  a  great  Conference  in  Birmingham,  and  we 
had  our  great  English  orator  there  to  address  twenty  thousand  of  us  in 
Bingley  Hall.  For  two  hours  Mr.  Gladstone  kejit  that  vast  audience 
spellbound.  Within  the  ranks  of  the  party  to  which  I  belong  there  are 
many  great  orators  besides  Mr.  Gladstone,  and  there  were  several  of  them 
there  at  that  time. 

It  fell  to  Sir  "William  Harcourt,  one  of  the  hardest  hitters  I  know  of 
and  a  man  whom  I  would  almost  as  leave  hear  as  the  Grand  Old  Man 
himself — it  fell  to  him  to  follow  the  Grand  Old  Man,  and  the  remark  he 
made  in  response  was  something  like  this:  "When  the  sun  has  gone 
down  the  stars  can  shine,  but  while  the  sun  is  in  the  heavens  the  stars 
keep  out  of  sight,  and  I  shall  say  nothing  at  all." 

I  shall  follow  on  this  occasion  very  largely  this  example.  I  would  like 
to  say  that  I  represent  a  body  that  has  rather  a  remarkable  history.  The 
origin  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  connection  is  an  origin  that  is  interesting. 
I  am  quite  sure  that  a  few  remarks  about  it  would  be  acceptable  to  the  great 
body  of  this  audience  if  only  we  had  the  time.  I  do  not  think  it  is  gen- 
erally known  that  the  Primitive  Methodist  connection  is  really  an  off- 
spring of  American  Methodism.  I  have  heard  it  stated  here  to-day  by 
the  President  of  the  Wesleyan  Conference,  and  very  properly,  that  it  rep- 
resents the  mother  of  us  all.  We  all  admit  that  the  Wesleyan  connection 
is  our  common  mother;  but  we  ourselves,  the  Primitive  ]Methodists,  are 
not  a  split  from  that  connection  at  all.  We  never  belonged  to  that  con- 
nection ;   but  we  are  lineal  descendants  of  American  Methodism. 


50  OPENING    SERVICES. 

I  dare  say  that  all  of  you  know  that  some  seventy  or  eighty  years  ago 
there  were  great  revivals  on  this  American  continent,  and  that  at  that 
time  there  were  a  great  number  of  camp-meetings  being  held  throughout 
the  country.  These  camp-meetings  were  attended  by  a  demonstration  of 
the  Spirit  and  power,  and  thousands  of  men  in  America  were  soundly  con- 
verted to  God. 

News  of  this  great  movement  came  over  to  our  side,  and  away  yonder 
in  Staffordshire — I  know  the  place  well — there  were  a  few  working- 
men  who  heard  the  tidings  of  the  great  revival  of  religion  through  the 
medium  of  camp-meetings  which  had  broken  out  in  America;  so  they 
arranged  that  on  a  particular  Sabbath  day  they  would  have  camp-meet- 
ings on  the  top  of  one  of  their  hills.  To-day  that  hill  is  classic 
ground,  and  we  Primitive  Methodists  climb  up  to  the  top  of  Mowcop  and 
treat  the  place  altogether  as  classic,  simply  because  on  that  day,  and  on 
that  hill,  by  the  effort  of  the  brethren  at  that  particular  camp-meeting,  the 
Primitive  Methodist  connection  was  born. 

So  I  say  that,  although  Wesleyan  Methodism  is  certainly  the  mother  of 
all  bodies  of  Methodists,  yet  we  ourselves  are  rather  descendants  from 
American  Methodism  than  from  Wesleyan  Methodism. 

Then  I  would  like  to  say  that  our  history  is  comparatively  recent.  We 
have  still  living  some  of  the  men  who  began  this  great  movement.  Only 
a  little  while  ago  I  stood  upon  a  platform  side  by  side  with  our  Grand 
Old  Man.  We  have  in  the  person  of  old  Mr.  Bateman  a  man  who  has 
been  faithful  and  loyal  to  the  Primitive  Methodist  connection  all  through 
its  history,  and  now  at  nearly  ninety-five  years  of  age  he  fills  his  appoint- 
ments and  lifts  his  voice  in  proclaiming  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 

We  have  had  female  ministers  in  our  history.  We  are  certainly  in  ad- 
vance of  all  Methodists  on  that  point.  I  do  not  know  what  these  fashion- 
able bishops  here  would  say  if  a  proposition  were  made  in  this  Confer- 
ence that  they  should  appoint  and  employ  a  number  of  female  ministers. 
I  do  not  know  what  these  brothers  of  the  Wesleyan  connection  would  say 
if  such  a  radical  proposition  as  that  came  before  their  Conference ;  but 
right  away  at  the  beginning  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  connection  we 
employed  female  ministers.  Only  a  few  weeks  ago  we  buried  one  that 
had  been  employed  as  a  regular  minister  for  mauj^  years,  and  we  buried 
that  good  lady  with  as  much  respect  as  we  should  have  given  to  the  pres- 
ident of  the  Conference. 

Now,  brethren,  I  will  not  detain  you  any  further.  We  come  here  rep- 
resenting two  hundred  thousand  members.  We  have  within  our  ranks 
some  eighteen  thousand  ministers,  itinerant  and  local,  for  in  our  body  the 
distinction  between  itinerant  and  local  preachers  is  not  nearly  so  pro- 
nounced as  among  most  of  our  brethren.  They  have  sent  us  here  to  reji- 
resent  them  in  this  Ecumenical  Council.  They  have  sent  us  with  true 
Methodist  lilierality,  with  the  understanding  that  each  one  shall  pay  his 
own  expenses,  and  we  are  here  as  a  part  of  the  great  body  of  English 
Methodism. 

We  accept  the  cordial  welcome  that  has  been  given  us  to-day  in  the 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    R.    ABERCROMBIE.  51 

eloquent  speeches  to  which  we  have  listened.  We  are  of  the  opinion 
that  this  Conference  will  have  as  its  issue  the  binding  of  our  hearts  closer 
together  than  has  been  the  case  before,  and  that  the  little  dividing  lines 
which  hitherto  have  caused  the  various  orders  of  English  Methodism  to 
run  in  separate  channels  will  be  worn  down  a  little,  if  they  are  not  worn 
entirely  away,  by  the  action  of  this  Conference.  And  just  as  we  gave 
our  consent  to  what  was  done  in  Canada,  and  gave  up  our  Canada 
Church,  so  that  it  could  ])e  a  part  of  the  United  Canadian  Methodist 
Church,  so  we  hope  that  some  day  the  time  will  come  when  all  our 
English  differences  will  be  obliterated,  and  when,  with  united  action, 
sweeping  into  line  together  and  marching  in  step  together,  we  may  go  on 
until  the  time  comes  when  Britain  shall  be  won  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Rev.  Ralph  Abercrombie,  M.A.,  of  the  United  Meth- 
odist Free  Church,  made  the  final  response  to  the  addresses  of 
welcome,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President  and  Christian  Brethren :  I  don't  know  exactly  how  it 
was,  but  I  presume  it  was  on  official  grounds  that  I  was  chosen  to  take 
part  in  this  opening  ceremony.  I  remember  well  that  on  the  last  occasion 
of  the  kind  we  had  stately,  eloquent  speeches,  whose  well-rounded  sen- 
tences seemed  singularlj'  appropriate  to  the  inauguration  of  a  Conference 
representing  twenty-eight  different  religious  communities  embracing  all 
the  nationalities  of  the  globe.  It  would  be  of  no  use  for  me  to  put  on 
those  long  flowing  robes  of  eloquence;  they  would  not- lit  me.  Besides, 
though  a  decade  does  not  seem  a  very  long  period  of  time,  yet  there  is  a 
great  gulf  between  1881  and  1891.  Eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-one 
was  the  close  of  a  long  period  of  pulpit  oratory,  of  religious  eloquence,  of 
which  Morley  Puushon  was  one  of  our  best  representatives.  Since  then 
that  species  of  oratory  has  died  a  natural  death,  and  the  age  of  religious 
home-spun,  in  which  the  only  eloquence  is  that  of  outspoken  conviction, 
has  begun. 

In  answer  to  your  most  cordial  greeting  I  can  only  say  that  we  cannot 
exceed,  but  we  will  not  be  exceeded  by  you  in  cordiality.  Be  assured 
that  "  the  reciprocity  is  not  all  on  one  side."  Those  of  us  who  were  pres- 
ent at  the  Pan-Methodist  Conference  of  1881  are  not  likely  to  forget  the 
impression  made  upon  us  by  the  representatives  of  the  Western  Section. 
In  nearly  all  of  them  we  Free  Methodists  instinctively  felt  that  there  was 
the  true  spirit  of  free  Methodism,  and  that  a  freemasonry  of  the  heart  was 
at  once  established  between  us. 

Some  of  these  are  no  longer  with  us.  Some  of  our  greatest  have  passed 
away  since  1881.  There  was  one  who  gave  a  key-note  to  our  words  by  his 
sermon  on  the  words  of  Jesus,  and  whose  eloquence  was  based  on  depth  of 
conviction  and  fullness  of  knowledge — a  practical  embodiment  of  the 
advice  of  Cicero  and  Quintilian,  that  the  orator  should  not  know  less,  but 
more  than  other  men — Bishop  Matthew  Simpson.  Who  was  there  at  the 
Conference  of  1881  that  was  not  impressed  by  the  quiet  Christian  dignity 


52  OPENING    SERVICES. 

of  that  great  bishop,  tempered  with  simplicity,  with  serenity,  with  sanc- 
tity? He  is  no  longer  with  us  in  the  flesh.  There  was  another  of  your 
bishops  whose  skill  and  decisiveness  in  the  chair  I  have  seldom,  if  ever, 
seen  equaled — Bishop  Peck.  "We  also  of  the  Eastern  Section  have  had 
great  losses — Dr.  Osborn,  Marmaduke  Osborn,  Gervase  Smith,  Alexander 
McCaulay,  Sir  W.  McArthur  of  the  mother-Church,  James  Tobias  of  the 
Irish  Methodist  Church,  Dr.  Stacey  and  Dr.  Cooke  of  the  Methodist  New 
Connection,  William  Griffith,  John  Guttridge,  John  Meyers,  W.  Hunter, 
and  Thomas  Watson  of  my  own  community,  have  passed  away  since  last 
we  met  together  in  ecumenical  council.  Let  us  think  of  these  and 
others  who  have  gone  before  us  as  with  us  still.  We  must  not  look  upon 
our  departed  brethren  as  having  vanished  into  a  wilderness,  nor  imagine 
that  the  ties  which  held  us  together  have  been  cut  asunder.  Death  is  sad 
and  awful  when  it  is  so  regarded ;  but  through  Him  who  is  the  Lord  of 
the  living  we  think  of  the  friends  who  have  gone  before  as  bound  together 
in  the  same  great  society  and  brotherhood  with  ourselves,  even  as  the 
child  in  that  beautiful  poem  of  Wordsworth's  spoke  of  the  departed  as 
still  belonging  to  the  family  and  answered  all  objections  with  the  simple 
words:  "  We  are  seven."  May  we  not  entertain  the  belief,  or  at  any  rate 
the  pious  imagination,  that  they  are  with  us  to-day?  However  this  may 
be,  they  are  still  one  with  us. 

"  Thee  in  thy  glorious  realm  they  praise. 

And  bow  before  thy  throne ; 
We  in  the  kingdom  of  thy  grace : 
•  The  kingdoms  are  but  one." 

Our  thoughts  are  naturally  directed  to-day  not  only  to  our  losses,  but 
also  to  our  gains.  In  our  Annual  Conferences  we  generally  reckon  that 
for  a  year's  work  there  ought  to  be  considerable  progress.  How  much 
more  progress  then  there  should  be  after  ten  years'  work,  and  ten  years' 
work  in  the  closing  generation  of  the  nineteenth  century !  During  these 
ten  years  we  have  not  only  made  considerable  advance  in  numbers  both 
in  the  Eastern  and  Western  Sections,  but  we  have  entered  upon  what  may 
be  described  as  a  new  era  in  Methodism.  Ten  years  ago  there  was  a  com- 
paratively young  member  of  the  Ecumenical  Council  who  didn't  say  much; 
who,  if  I  remember  rightly,  only  delivered  a  single  speech ;  though,  no 
doubt,  like  the  proverbial  silent  parrot,  he  thought  a  great  deal.  Those 
thoughts  have  been  developed  during  the  last  ten  years.  We  have  now 
several  Methodist  newspapers,  whereas  ten  years  ago  there  was  only  one 
or  two.  Many  chapels  attended  ten  years  ago  by  gradually  diminishing 
congregations  have  become  flourishing  home  mission  centers.  During 
the  last  ten  years  our  hearts  have  become  more  sensitive  and  our  ears  more 
attentive  to  "  the  still,  sad  music  of  humanity."  An  era  of  philanthropic 
work  has  begun  which,  we  trust,  will  in  the  long  run  have  the  result  of 
gathering  within  the  fold  of  the  Church  the  estranged  masses  of  our 
population.  I  have  little  doubt  that  the  deliberations  of  this  congress 
will  bear  upon  them  traces  of  the  progress  of  the  last  ten  years,  and  I  trust 
that  they  will  be  fruitful  in  suggestions  which  will  be  helpful  to  us  all  in 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    R.    ABERCROMBIE.  53 

the  home  missionary  and  philanthropic  work  of  the  next  decade.  I  my- 
self am  full  of  hope  in  this  respect,  bearing  in  mind  as  I  do  the  world- 
renowned  inventive  genius  of  the  Western  Section. 

I,  as  member  and  representative  of  the  Methodist  Free  Church,  am 
used  to  fraternal  greetings.  In  the  year  1877  a  resolution  was  proposed  by 
my  friend  Mr.  Withington,  seconded  by  myself,  and  carried,  embodying 
the  first  fraternal  greeting  between  the  Methodist  Free  Church  Assembly 
and  the  Wesleyan  IMethodist  Conference.  The  passing  of  that  resolution 
was  an  historical  event.  It  constituted  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  our 
body.  It  was  the  beginning  of  a  new  epoch  in  universal  Methodism. 
It  was  one  of  the  things — it  was  perhaps  the  principal  thing — that  led  to 
the  first  Ecumenical  Conference,  the  first  but  for  which  there  could  not 
possibly  have  been  a  second.  Possibly  I  attribute  too  much  to  it ;  it  was 
at  any  rate  an  influential  event.  The  influence  of  religious  communities 
is  not  always  in  proportion  to  their  size.  The  Baptists  when  they  were  a 
small  body  were  the  first  to  carry  out  and  to  impress  upon  the  modern 
mind  the  principle  of  toleration.  Water  being  free  for  all,  it  was  perhaps 
natural  that  this  should  be  the  case.  The  Quakers,  though  in  our  coun- 
try at  any  rate  they  are  only  a  small  community,  have  throughout  their 
long  history  taught  the  philanthropy  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  and  have 
exerted  an  influence  in  favor  of  a  philanthropic  solution  of  political  and 
social  questions  out  of  all  pj-oportion  to  their  numbers.  In  like  manner 
we  of  the  Methodist  Free  Church,  though  we  are  only  a  small  community, 
fancy  that  we  have  done  something  to  liberalize  Methodism — fancy  also 
that  we  have  had  something  to  do  with  the  creation  of  the  Ecumenical 
Conference,  and  that  the  greeting  which  you  of  the  Western  Section  have 
given  to  the  Eastern  Section  to-day  is  to  some  extent  at  any  rate  the  out- 
growth of  the  greeting  which  we  sent  to  the  Weslej^an  Conference  in  1877. 

Do  not  suppose,  dear  friends,  that  we  are  animated  by  the  proverbial 
vanity  of  the  man  who,  because  his  inches  were  few,  was  ambitious  to 
show  that  he  was  every  inch  a  man.  We  are  not  anxious  for  the  honor 
of  having  been  first  in  the  field  as  regards  fraternal  greetings,  except  for 
the  purpose  of  showing  that  Methodist  freedom  and  Methodist  brother- 
hood and  the  spirit  of  union  are  by  no  means  incompatible  with  each 
other. 

Nor  Is  our  love  for  our  community  simply  an  obscure  instance  of  the 
law  of  philoprogeuitiveness.  We  have  no  superstition  in  favor  of  small- 
ness  and  compactness  in  a  religious  community.  On  the  contrary,  we 
gladly  greet  the  Methodism  of  the  West  and  its  millions  of  adherents 
with  something  of  the  feeling  of  the  poor  woman  who,  when  for  the  first 
time  in  her  life  she  was  taken  to  the  sea-side,  said  she  was  glad  at  last  to 
see  something  there  was  enough  of. 

America  is  built  on  a  large  and  liberal  scale.  Your  mountains,  rivers, 
and  cataracts  far  exceed  those  of  Europe.  Your  lakes  are  inland  seas. 
We  rejoice  that  the  Methodism  of  this  country  is  proportionate  to  its 
greatness.  We  rejoice  in  this  because  of  its  history,  because  of  the  many 
individual  souls  that  have  been  brought  to  Christ,  and  because  of  its  ulti- 


54  OPENING    SERVICES. 

mate  social  influence.  The  history  of  the  world  is  full  of  arguments  for 
individuality  and  individual  influence.  God  selected  Abraham  to  found 
the  Jewish  nation.  Christ  selected  his  apostles  to  revolutionize  the  Ro- 
man Empire  and  to  found  Christendom.  It  was  a  single  man — Wiclif — 
who  was  the  harbinger  of  the  English  Reformation.  But  it  would  be 
scarcely  possible  to  find  a  more  illustrious  example  of  the  truth  that  God 
uses  one  or  a  few  individuals  to  start  great  movements  than  the  little 
company  gathered  together  in  New  York  by  Barbara  Heck  about  a  hun- 
dred and  twenty -five  years  ago.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  it  is  to  a  woman 
that  the  world  owes  American  Methodism  as  a  vital  and  vitalizing;  orsrani- 
zation.  The  3Iethodists  had  already  been  in  New  York  for  several  years, 
but  they  had  been  inactive.  It  was  Barbara  Heck  who  appealed  to  Philip 
Embury  "  to  be  no  longer  silent,  but  to  preach  the  word  forthwith."  He 
consented,  and  .she  went  out  and  collected  four  persons,  who  with  herself 
constituted  his  audience.  After  singing  and  jjraying  he  preached  to 
them  and  enrolled  them  in  a  class.  He  continued  thereafter  to  meet  them 
weekly.*  This  little  class  was  the  germ-cell  of  American  Methodism. 
Excuse  me,  my  friends,  for  referring  to  facts  which  have  been  familiar  to 
you  for  a  much  longer  time  than  they  have  been  to  me ;  it  is  always  re- 
freshing to  think  of  a  saintly  woman  like  Barbara  Heck.  As  your  own 
Emerson  says,  or  in  words  to  that  effect,  "We  make  poetry  of  other 
things;  the  saints  make  jjoetry  of  us." 

I  know  no  romance  equal  to  that  of  American  Methodism ;  but  the  ro- 
mance is  a  blessed  reality.  "Who  can  tell  how  many  individuals  have  been 
brought  to  Christ  through  Methodist  agencies  in  America  during  the  last 
hundred  and  twenty-five  years  ?  During  those  years  Methodism  has  been 
the  greatest  of  evangelizing  agencies.  It  has  simply  proclaimed  the  fact — 
which  remains  a  fact  whatever  may  be  our  theological  theories  about  it — 
that  Christ  is  a  great  Saviour,  and  can  be  realized  as  such  by  all  who  feel 
their  need  of  him,  by  all  who  are  burdened  with  sins  and  doubts  and 
sorrows  and  fears.  Evangelism  has  been  and  will  continue  to  be  the  great 
work  of  Methodism.  Every  Methodist  minister  is  or  ought  to  be  an 
evangelist.  The  evangelism  of  the  future  will  have  to  be,  to  a  very  large 
extent,  a  cultured  evangelism.  The  more  educated  and  talented  a  Meth- 
odist minister  is,  the  better  adapted  he  is  or  ought  to  be  to  be  an  evangel- 
ist. I  rejoice,  then,  in  the  large  area  and  the  many  educational  centers  of 
American  Methodism  because  they  constitute  such  an  immense  evangel- 
istic force.  I  rejoice  also  in  this  great  fact  of  American  Methodism 
because  it  will  be  more  and  more  a  potent  purifying  force  in  social  and 
political  life.  We  as  Methodists  are  not  partisans ;  but  there  are  moral 
questions  affecting  politics  which  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  cleavage  of 
parties.  More  and  more  the  Church  will  have  to  exert  her  influence  that 
the  kingdom  of  God  may  be  truly  set  up  among  us,  that  political  life  may 
become  pure  and  sweet  and  wholesome,  morally  oxygenating  and  refresh- 
ing. I  find  that  Philip  Embury  preached  the  first  sermon  in  the  first 
Methodist  chapel  in  America.  His  text  was:  "Sow  to  yourselves  in 
righteousness,  reap  in  mercy ;  break  up  your  fallow  ground :  for  it  is  time 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    R.    ABERCROMBIE.  55 

to  seek  the  Lord,  till  he  come  and  rain  righteousness  upon  you  " — a  text 
which  would  not  be  a  bad  motto  for  the  Methodism  of  the  future. 

During  this  centenary  year,  and  more  especially  at  this  Conference,  one 
cannot  help  thinking  of  Wesley's  connection  with  America.  I  do  not  re- 
fer now  so  much  to  his  evangelizing  work  among  the  Teuton  emigrants 
who  afterward  founded  Methodism  in  America,  but  I  refer  to  his  mission 
in  Georgia.  He  did  not  convert  the  Indians,  but  he  discerned  that  he  him- 
self needed  a  much  deeper  work.  And  this  congress  will  not  have  been  in 
vain  if  we  also  discern  that  we  need  a  much  deeper  work,  and  if  we  re- 
turn to  our  near  or  our  far  distant  homes  more  fully  consecrated  to  the 
Master's  service.  This  centenary  year  has  been  to  most,  if  not  to  all,  of  us 
a  sacred  year.  During  the  last  year  of  his  life  George  Whitefield  wrote : 
"  This  will  prove  a  sacred  year  for  me  at  the  day  of  judgment.  Hallelu- 
jah ! "  About  the  same  time  he  wrote  to  England :  "Hallelujah !  hallelu- 
jah !  Let  chapel,  tabernacle,  heaven,  and  earth  resound  with  hallelujah ! 
I  can  say  no  more ;  my  heart  is  too  big  to  speak  or  add  more."  "When  we 
think  of  what  God  has  wrought,  and  of  what  is  represented  by  this  Con-- 
ference,  we  cannot  but  join  in  the  hallelujah  of  Whitefield  and  the  early 
Methodists,  as  well  as  in  the  million-tongued  hallelujah  of  the  sweet-souled 
saints  of  every  land  and  age.  Surely,  we  shall  carry  good  influences  with 
us  from  this  Conference  which  will  be  felt  hereafter  in  all  the  communities 
of  which  we  are  the  representatives. 

Many  think  that  the  Church  is  on  the  eve  of  a  great  revival  of  religion. 

"  The  Rev.  J.  C.  Harrison,  preaching  at  Prince's  Street  Church,  Nor- 
wich (Rev.  G.  S.  Barrett's),  on  Simeon's  looking  for  the  '  Consolation  of 
Israel,'  said  that  just  as  a  general  expectancy  prevailed  in  Simeon's  day, 
with  good  reason ;  so,  he  thought,  with  reason  equally  good  there  was  now 
in  the  hearts  of  a  considerable  number  of  the  most  devout  and  spiritually 
minded  Christians  a  kind  of  jiresentiment  that  erelong  there  would  be  a 
signal  display  of  Christ's  power.  It  was  not  new  argument  that  was 
wanted,  or  a  new  presentation  of  the  truth  to  men ;  it  was  the  touch  of 
divine  power  and  life,  just  such  as  many  prayerful  and  devout  people 
were  unitedly  looking  for.  Dr.  Dale  had  said  to  him  that  he  believed 
they  were  near  the  time  when  such  a  display  of  Christ's  power  would  be 
manifested.  He  himself  (the  preacher)  cei-tainly  stood  within  the  range 
of  such  expectancy.  That  it  was  shared  by  others  was  evident,  among 
other  things,  from  the  circular  drawn  up  by  Professor  Armitage  and 
signed  by  Mr.  Berry,  Arnold  Thomas,  and  Robert  Horton,  and  addressed 
to  the  London  Missionary  Society,  urging  the  sending  out  of  a  hundred 
additional  missionaries  before  1895,  and  the  surprising  way  in  which  that 
circular  had  been  received  and  the  proposal  adopted.  Then,  too,  there 
was  a  large  number  of  Christians  ardently  and  prayerfully  longing  for  a 
richer  and  deeper  spiritual  life,  mourning  over  the  comparatively  ineffect- 
ive efforts  to  reach  the  unsaved  and  the  fruitlessness  of  appeals  to  the 
indifferent.  These  were  some  of  the  signs,  he  thought,  that  presaged  the 
coming  of  the  Spirit  in  larger  measure,  that  would  result  in  a  harvest 
greater  than  had  been  gathered  since  the  ascension  of  the  Lord." 


56  OPENINa    SERVICES. 

The  religious  community  that  I  represent  is  but  small  among  the  thou- 
sands of  Israel,  yet  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  will  feel  the  warmth  of  the 
mighty  current  flowing  from  this  country  ;  and  when  on  my  return  the 
friends  connected  with  my  church  at  Shrewsbury  ask  me,  ' '  Watchman, 
what  of  the  night  ? "  may  I  not  say  to  them  in  the  words  of  the  poet : 

' '  The  tide  flows  in  from  the  sea  •, 

There's  water  to  float  a  little  cock-boat. 
Will  carry  such  fishers  as  we." 

Mr.  President,  I  assure  you  it  is  with  no  ordinary  feeling  that  we,  as 
representatives  of  the  Methodist  Free  Church,  reciprocate  the  greeting  of 
the  Western  Section. 

The  Secretary  made  an  announcement  for  the  Business  Com- 
mittee concerning  two  books  which  had  been  prepared  for  the 
autographs  of  members  of  the  Conference  and  visitors,  and 
stated  that  one  of  the  books  would  be  the  property  of  the  East- 
ern Section  and  tlie  other  of  the  Western  Section. 

The  session  of  the  Conference  was  closed  with  the  benedic- 
tion by  the  Kev.  T.  B.  Stephenson,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS.  57 


SECOND  DAY,   Thursday,  October  8,  1891. 


TOPIC : 
ECUMENICAL  METHODISM. 


FIRST  SESSION, 


THE  session  was  opened  at  10  A,  M.,  the  Rev.  T.  B.  Ste- 
phenson, D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church, 
in  the  chair.  The  devotional  exercises  were  conducted  by  the 
Rev.  James  Crabteee,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church,  and 
the  Rev.  William  Wilson,  of  the  same  Church. 

The  roll  was  called  by  the  Secretary.  The  Journal  of  the 
sessions  of  the  first  day  were  read  and  approved. 

On  motion  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.  Buckley,  it  was  resolved 
that  in  the  reading  of  the  Journal  university  degrees  be  not 
repeated  after  the  names  of  the  speakers. 

The  Secretary,  in  behalf  of  the  Business  Committee,  pre- 
sented the  following  recommendations  for  the  consideration 
of  the  Conference : 

1.  That  the  reception  of  a  telegram  of  greeting  from  the  Nashville  Col- 
lege for  Young  Ladies  be  noted  in  the  Journal  and  referred  to  the  Business 
Committee. 

2.  That  the  date  fixed  by  the  Conference  for  the  reception  of  fraternal 
delegates  from  other  Churches  be  changed  from  October  15  to  Monday, 
October  12,  at  7:30  P.  M.,  and  that  the  Rev.  T.  B.  Stephenson,  D.D., 
LL.D.,  be  appointed  to  preside. 

3.  That  Thursday  evening,  October  15,  be  set  aside  for  a  proposed  re- 
ception to  be  tendered  to  the  Conference  by  the  trustees  of  the  American 
University. 

4.  That  the  invitation  extended  to  the  Conference  by  the  pastors  and 
members  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  churches  of  Washington  to 
attend  a  reception  in  the  Metropolitan  African  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  on  Friday,  October  9,  at  8  P.  M.,  be  accepted. 

5.  That  the  hour  of  adjournment  of  the  Conference  for  the  first  session 
of  each  day  be  fixed  at  12 :30  P.  M. 

7 


58  ECUMENICAL    METHODISM. 

These  recommendations  were  adopted  by  the  Conference. 

A  document  from  the  Auckland  United  Evangelical  Church 
Council,  conveying  greetings  to  the  Conference;  and  an  over- 
ture fi'om  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Pi-esbyterian  Church 
of  the  United  States  in  favor  of  international  arbitration,  were 
referred  to  the  Business  Committee. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  J.  F.  IIuest,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  informed  the 
Conference  that  the  presidential  chair  on  the  platform  had  been 
specially  constructed  from  beams  of  the  City  Road  Chapel ; 
that  the  cost  had  been  defrayed  by  a  generous  Wesleyan  Meth- 
odist layman ;  and  that  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ste- 
phenson it  was  to  be  used  by  the  several  Presidents  of  the  Con- 
ference during  its  sessions,  and  afterward  was  to  be  presented 
to  the  American  University. 

Bishop  HuKST  also  laid  upon  the  desk  for  the  use  of  the 
Conference  the  Bible  from  the  Epworth  Church,  used  by  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Wesley,  this  volume  being  now  the  property  of 
the  Rev.  W.  H.  Boole,  D.D.,  of  Staten Island,  N.  Y. 

The  Rev.  D.  J.  Waller,  D.D.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  read  the  following  essay  on  "  The  Present  Status  of 
Methodism  in  the  Eastern  Section  :  " 

The  "  status  of  Methodism  "  is  a  comprehensive  term,  and  it  is  simply- 
impossible  in  a  short  paper  even  to  enumerate  the  multifarious  facts  or  to 
mention  the  various  aspects  which  might  be  fairly  reckoned  within  its 
definition.  It  is  expected,  however,  that  I  should  indicate  in  a  general 
way  the  numerical  position  of  Methodism  in  the  Eastern  Section,  but  mere 
statistics  are  utterly  inadequate  to  set  forth  the  actual  status.  In  all  spir- 
itual movements  there  are  influences  and  forces  at  work  which  cannot  be 
tabulated.  The  delicate  instruments  of  science  may  weigh  the  sunbeams 
and  detect  the  slightest  variations  of  temperature,  but  there  are  no  instru- 
ments which  enable  us  to  measure  and  record  the  diversities  of  the  opera- 
tions of  the  spirit  of  truth  and  life. 

It  is  a  difficult  task,  therefore,  to  determine  the  status  of  a  Church. 
Its  history  may  be  traced,  its  numerical  position  may  be  tabulated,  and 
its  material  achievements  described ;  but  the  influence  and  power  of  any 
Church  really  and  ultimately  depend  upon  hidden  qualities  which  are  of  a 
spiritual  nature  and  which  elude  all  scientific  tests.  It  requires  the  angel 
with  his  golden  reed  to  measure  and  determine  the  true  proportions  of 
the  kingdom  of  God.  Church  history,  moreover,  strikingly  illustrates 
the  fact  that  a  religious  movement  may  occupy  a  large  space  and  by  its 
own  momentum  may  still  move  forward  on  the  lines  of  material  pros- 
perity, when,  as  a  spiritual  agency,  it  is  becoming  a  spent  force. 

We  do  well  to  remember  that  Methodism  is  subject  to  the  operation  of 


ESSAY    OF    KEY.    D.    J.    WALLER.  59 

the  same  laws,  exposed  to  the  same  temptations,  and  beset  by  the  same 
dangers  as  other  Churches  and  religious  communities. 

Any  boasting  of  numerical  increase,  material  i^rosperity,  or  of  social 
and  political  status  cannot  by  any  possibility  further  the  interests  of  Him 
who  said,  "  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world." 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  "meet  and  right,"  when  the  representatives  of 
the  Methodist  Churches  are  gathered  out  of  every  country  under  heaven, 
that  we  should  look  across  the  intervening  years  to  mark  the  progress 
made  and  to  gratefully  acknowledge  the  goodness  of  God  in  the  status 
which  he  has  given  us  in  the  universal  Church  of  Christ.  In  the  psalm 
which  was  called  "  the  great  hallelujah  "  "  the  voice  of  rejoicing  and  sal- 
vation was  heard  in  the  tabernacles  of  the  righteous  "  with  the  refrain 
' '  the  right  hand  of  the  Lord  doeth  valiantly. " 

In  judging  of  the  status  of  Methodism  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  it 
is  important  to  bear  in  mind  the  sphere  in  which  it  has  had  to  move,  the 
ecclesiastical  atmosphere  it  has  had  to  breathe,  and  the  influences  with 
which  it  has  had  to  contend. 

When  in  1784  John  Wesley  sent  Dr.  Coke  to  establish  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States,  he  said:  ''In  America  there  are 
no  bishops,  neither  any  parish  ministers.  So  that  for  hundreds  of  miles 
together  there  is  no  one  either  to  baptize  or  to  administer  the  Lord's 
Supper. " 

In  England,  it  must  be  remembered,  there  were  bishops  and  a  clergy- 
man in  every  parish.  The  dominant  Church  was  established  by  law  and 
commanded  the  great  national  universities,  the  grammar  schools,  and  the 
elementary  schools  of  the  country.  It  is  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  social, 
political,  and  ecclesiastical  forces  with  which  Methodism  has  had  to  con- 
tend. The  victories  of  non-conformity  have  been  achieved  in  the  presence 
of  almost  insuperable  obstacles.  Dr.  Cuyler,  of  Brooklyn,  observed  to 
me:  "  Before  I  knew  England  I  wondered  that  non-conformity  did  not 
make  more  progress ;  but  the  more  I  am  acquainted  with  English  society, 
and  the  more  clearly  I  understand  the  forces  with  which  you  have  to 
contend,  the  greater  becomes  my  surprise,  not  that  your  success  has  not 
been  greater,  but  at  the  position  you  hold  and  the  progress  you  have 
made  in  the  face  of  such  formidable  difficulties." 

In  Scotland  the  ground  was  occupied  by  the  Presbyterian  Churches. 
The  Scotch  are  thoroughly  Presbyterian  in  principle  and  very  strongly  at- 
tached to  that  form  of  church  government.  The  numerical  success  of 
Methodism  has  been  inconsiderable,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  indirect 
effect  of  the  spirit  and  teaching  of  Methodism  has  been  very  great  and 
beneficial. 

In  Ireland  the  work  has  had  to  be  carried  forward  in  the  presence  of 
a  powerful  and  intolerant  Romanism,  a  power  with  which  the  Americans 
will  yet  have  to  reckon. 

The  difference  in  the  conditions  of  society  between  an  old  and  a  new 
country  are  very  great,  often  greater  than  can  possibly  be  imagined  by 
any  one  who  is  unfamiliar  with  Eng-lish  societv.     These  differences  can- 


60  ECUMENICAL    METHODISM. 

not  be  overlooked  when  considering  the  status  of  Methodism  in  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland.  Even  in  the  New  England  States,  for  example, 
where  other  Churches  were  first  planted  and  the  leaven  of  Calvinism  and 
Socinianism  permeated  society,  the  triumphs  of  Methodism  were  not  so 
great  as  those  achieved  when  she  struck  for  the  country  and  marched 
westward  with  the  advancing  tide  of  immigration. 

In  England  the  Established  Church  has  the  highest  status  in  regard  to 
numbers,  wealth,  and  social  position.  Their  official  year-book  shows 
that  during  the  past  thirty  years  its  progress  has  been  extraordinary. 
The  sum  of  nearly  £80,000,000  has  been  expended  in  this  time  in  church 
extension  and  £27,000,000  in  day-schools.  The  Ecclesiastical  Commission 
has  increased  the  benefices  £965,800  per  annum,  representing  the  increase 
which  would  be  derived  from  a  capital  sum  of  £28,996,000.  To  meet  the 
grants  made  by  the  Commissioners  £26,000  is  raised  annually  for  curates. 
Of  the  four  and  three  quarter  millions  of  children  on  the  elementary 
school  registers  two  and  a  quarter  millions  belong  to  the  Church  of 
England.  The  number  of  benefices  is  fourteen  thousand  two  himdred, 
with  over  twenty-three  thousand  clergy.  The  revenues  from  tithes,  glebes, 
and  endowments  is  £7,250,000  per  annum.  The  churches  contain  six 
million  two  hundred  thousand  sittings,  and  the  estimated  number  of 
adherents  is  thirteen  million  five  hundred  thousand. 

The  Methodist  Churches  hold  a  status  next  to  the  Established  Church. 
There  are  14,475  chapels,  4,028  ministers,  39,599  local  preachers,  784,738 
members,  and  probably  not  fewer  than  8,000,000  adherents.  There  is  no 
complete  return  as  to  the  number  of  sittings  provided  in  the  Methodist 
churches.  The  Wesleyan  Methodists  have  accommodation  for  two  million 
one  hundred  and  fifty-six  thousand  two  hundred  and  nine — about  four 
times  the  number  of  church  members  returned.  Estimating  the  other 
Methodist  communities  in  the  same  proportion,  the  number  of  sittings  in 
their  places  of  worship  is  considerably  over  three  millions.  So  far  as 
Euffland  is  concerned  the  "status  of  the  Methodist  Church "  is  second 
only  to  the  Established  Church. 

The  tables  of  statistics  which  I  have  appended  to  this  paper  show  the 
progress  made  in  Great  Britain  since  the  last  Ecumenical  Conference : 

Members.  Increase  in  ten  years. 

Wesleyaas 486,950  21.2  per  cent. 

Primitives 192,652  8.8  "  " 

Methodist  Free  Church 77,854  6.8  "  " 

Bible  Cliristians 30,939  24.3  "  " 

New  Comiection 30,760  10.7  "  " 

Reform 7,836  8.8  |'^  || 

Independent 6,212  35.3 

During  the  decade  the  population  in  England  has  increased  11.7  per 
cent.,  and  in  Scotland  it  has  increased  7.9  per  cent.;  but  in  the  same 
period  the  memljership  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church  in  Britain  has 
increased  21.2  per  cent.,  and  in  the  other  Methodist  Churches  there  has 
been  an  increase  of  10.1  per  cent. 


ESSAY    OF   REV,    D.    J.    WALLER,  61 

The  status  of  a  Church  is  determined  to  a  great  extent  by  the  way  in 
which  it  enters  into  the  educational  work  of  the  nation.  No  Church  can 
live,  grow,  or  prosper  that  does  not  care  wisely  and  lovingly  for  the  chil- 
dren of  the  people.  The  Methodist  Church  has  not  been  unmindful  of 
the  Master's  words,  "  Feed  my  lambs." 

In  England  there  are  nearly  two  millions  of  scholars  in  the  Sunday- 
schools.  It  is  a  fact  worth  noting  that  the  number  of  Sunday  scholars  in 
the  Methodist  Sunday-schools  is  about  the  same  as  those  in  the  day- 
schools  of  the  Church  of  England,  The  Wesleyans  have  taken  a  larger 
share  than  any  other  branch  of  the  Methodist  family  in  providing  day- 
schools.  They  have  eight  hundred  and  forty  schools,  with  nearly  two 
hundred  thousand  scholars.  These  schools  are  among  the  very  best  in 
the  nation,  and  they  have  given  that  denomination  a  position  in  the  edu- 
cational world  and  a  voice  in  determining  the  counsels  of  the  nation 
which  in  the  absence  of  their  schools  they  could  never  have  had.  "The 
value  of  a  school  depends  upon  the  life  that  is  lived  in  it  more  than  it 
depends  upon  the  amount  of  religious  instruction  that  is  given  in  it." 
Believing  this,  the  Wesleyans  have  established  normal  training  colleges, 
and  thus  an  unbroken  stream  of  godly  young  persons,  well  equipped  to 
give  religious  and  secular  instruction,  has  entered  the  public  elementary 
schools  of  the  nation.  Not  fewer  than  thirty-five  hundred  have  passed 
through  the  Wesleyan  colleges,  and  these  generations  of  teachers  have 
done  more  than  is  often  either  perceived  or  acknowledged  in  maintaining 
the  status  of  Methodism.  The  influence  of  the  school  has  reached  where 
the  voice  of  the  preacher  is  never  heard,  and  the  good  seed  has  been  car- 
ried where  the  feet  of  the  pastor  never  tread. 

There  is  a  considerable  number  of  Methodist  middle-class  schools  and 
high-schools  in  which  a  superior  education  is  given.  Of  the  Leys 
School  at  Cambridge,  of  which  Dr.  Moulton  is  the  principal,  it  is  said 
that  it  has  solved  the  problem  as  to  the  possibility  of  reconciling  Meth- 
odist training  with  the  breadth  and  freedom  of  English  public  school 
life.  Kingswood  and  Woodhouse  Grove  Schools,  established  for  the 
"sons  of  the  prophets,"  have  also  contributed  in  a  remarkable  degree 
to  extend  the  influence  of  Methodism.  Many  in  the  front  ranks  of  the 
professional,  literary,  and  political  walks  of  life  are  indebted  to  these 
schools. 

There  is  one  other  educational  work  which  must  be  mentioned,  for 
it  has  extended  Methodist  influence  far  beyond  the  community  with 
which  it  is  specially  identified.  I  refer  to  the  establishment  of  chil- 
dren's homes  and  orphanages.  This  Christ-like  service  is  associated  with 
the  name  of  Dr.  Stei^hensou,  President  of  the  British  Wesleyan  Confer- 
ence, and  the  institution  with  its  several  branches  stands  as  a  monument 
of  his  life's  work.  In  a  democratic  age  Churches  are  valued  as  they  do 
the  largest  amount  of  good  to  the  greatest  number  of  persons;  and 
this  philanthropic  work,  while  it  has  secured  the  blessing  of  those  who 
were  ready  to  perish,  has  also  rooted  Methodism  more  deeply  in  the  aflfec- 
tions  of  the  common  people. 


62  ECUMENICAL    METHODISM. 

The  status  of  Methodism  is  determined  by  its  missionary  zeal.  Recently 
there  has  been  a  remarkable  revival  of  home  missionary  enterprise.  The 
way  in  which  Methodism  is  endeavoring  to  solve  the  great  problems  of 
city  life,  and  the  manner  in  which  she  is  striving  to  make  her  strength 
effective  in  the  redemption  of  the  masses  of  mankind  from  the  bondage 
of  poverty,  degradation,  and  sin,  are  attracting  the  attention  and  admira- 
tion of  all  classes  of  the  community.  The  missions  in  London,  Manchester, 
and  Birmingham  constitute  a  new  departure,  and  mark  an  epoch  in  the 
history  of  evangelical  effort  combined  with  social  work.  The  marked 
success  has  led  to  the  establishment  of  similar  missions  elsewhere. 

The  sister  Churches,  however,  formed  their  highest  estimate  of  Meth- 
odism when  they  marked  the  direct  and  speedy  advance  of  foreign  mis- 
sionary enterprise.  Dr.  Cairns,  of  the  United  Presbyterian  College,  Edin- 
burgh, says:  "The  missionary  genius  of  Methodism  is  seen  in  Dr.  Coke, 
who  not  only  connects  himself  with  the  gigantic  expansion  of  the  work 
in  the  United  States,  but  embraces  both  the  East  and  West  Indies."  He 
also  concludes  an  eloquent  tribute  to  Methodism  as  a  missionary  Church 
by  adding:  "  Happily  there  is  not  the  least  sign  of  this  tide  tending  to 
ebb,  and  by  another  centenary  of  Wesley's  death  may  it  not,  with  other 
kindred  streams,  have  covered  the  earth  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea  ? " 
It  would  be  impossible  for  Methodism  to  maintain  her  status  if  she  were 
ever  to  regard  missions  as  "an  occasional  digression  from  the  regular  order 
of  business  of  the  Church,"  and  not  as  the  great  work  for  which  God  has 
raised  her  up. 

The  Master's  broadest  seal  has  been  put  upon  missionary  work.  For- 
eign missions  show  by  far  the  largest  increase  during  the  past  ten  years  in 
the  number  of  ministers,  of  lay  agents,  of  church  members,  and  of  chil- 
dren in  the  Sunday  and  day  schools.  In  the  Wesleyan  missions  there  is 
an  increase  of  ministers  of  15  per  cent. ;  of  lay  agents,  84  per  cent. ;  of 
church  members,  28.6  per  cent.;  and  of  scholars,  36.3  per  cent.  The 
South  African  Conference  has  been  formed  since  the  last  Ecumenical 
Conference.  In  1881  the  number  of  church  members  for  South  Africa 
was  18,645;  the  number  at  present,  including  10,515  on  trial,  is  47,221. 
The  West  Indian  missions  have  been  formed  into  two  Conferences,  and, 
including  the  Bahamas,  the  numbers  have  increased  from  47,411  to  59,454. 

In  Ireland  the  increase  in  the  number  of  church  members  is  only  5.8 
per  cent.,  but  during  the  decade  there  has  been  a  decrease  in  the  popula- 
tion of  9  per  cent.  But  the  fruit  of  Irish  Methodism  is  to  be  found  in 
many  lands,  and  especially  in  the  United  States.  From  the  time  when 
Philip  Emliury  landed  in  New  York  there  has  been  a  constant  stream  of 
immigration  from  Ireland  to  the  lands  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  Ire- 
land has  enriched  the  Methodism  of  the  world. 

French  Methodism  alone  shows  a  decrease,  but  the  circumstances  have 
been  exceptional  and  the  difficulties  enormous.  In  France,  however,  the 
tide  has  turned,  and  this  year  there  is  an  increase,  including  those  on 
trial,  of  about  150.  They  have  entered  upon  an  evangelistic  missionary 
career  which  is  full  of  promise. 


ESSAY    OF    EEV.    D.    J.    WALLER.  63 

The  Australasian  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church  shows  an  increase  of  34 
per  cent,  in  ministers,  of  20  per  cent,  in  church  members,  and  of  21 
per  cent,  in  Sunday  scholars.  These  returns  include  the  South  Sea  mis- 
sions, and  they  are  greatly  affected  by  the  troubles  and  persecution  in 
Tonga.  In  1884,  prior  to  the  secession,  the  statistics  for  Tonga  showed 
members,  7,336,  and  attendants  on  pviblic  worship,  18,500.  The  figures 
in  1890  were,  members,  875,  and  attendants,  2,241.  The  dark  days, 
it  is  believed,  are  now  over,  and  a  large  increase  is  anticipated.  It 
is  reported  that  at  the  reijuest  of  King  George  the  Rev.  James  Egan 
Moulton  has  returned  to  Tonga,  and  that  in  opening  the  Tongan  Parlia- 
ment the  king  remarked :  "  On  no  account  let  there  again  arise  dissen- 
sions among  the  Churches." 

The  centenary  celebration  of  the  death  of  John  Wesley  recently  held 
afforded  an  excellent  opportunity  of  forming  a  judgment  of  the  status  of 
Methodism.  A  great  change  has  taken  place  in  public  sentiment.  This 
centenary  celebration  was  of  world-wide  interest,  and  nearly  every  news- 
paper and  review  contained  appreciative  articles  on  the  history  and  devel- 
opment of  Methodism.  We  have  had  the  advantage  of  seeing  it  reviewed, 
criticised,  and  appraised  alike  by  friends  and  foes,  but  with  insignificant 
exceptions  the  articles  have  been  of  a  generous  and  appreciative  character. 

The  various  branches  of  Methodism  might  have  been  expected  to  unite 
for  the  purposes  of  mutual  recognition  and  thanksgiving,  for  the  Meth- 
odists every-where  belong  to  the  same  spiritual  tribe ;  but  the  other  tribes 
of  God's  Israel  hastened  to  offer  their  congratulations  and  to  join  their 
thanksffivinss  with  ours  to  the  "jreat  Head  of  the  Church  for  the  blessings 
which  he  had  conferred  on  common  Christianity  by  means  of  Methodism. 

•The  Protestant  Churches,  without  exception,  joined  in  paying  honors 
to  the  name  of  Wesley,  and  nearly  all  the  sister  Churches  were  represented 
in  City  Road  during  the  interesting  services.  Voices  of  appreciation  also 
came  from  very  unexpected  quarters.  In  the  perspective  of  a  hundrcc^ 
years  it  has  been  found  easier  to  gauge  the  proportions  of  the  great  relig- 
ious movement  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Comte  observes  that  "the 
dead  more  and  more  control  the  living."  It  is  true,  and  unquestionably 
the  spii-it  of  Wesley  is  more  vital  and  potent  now  than  it  was  a  century 
ago.  His  name  is  not  merely  a  blessed  memory,  it  is  a  living  force.  His 
posthumous  life  is  larger  and  more  influential  for  good,  and  it  has  perme- 
ated not  only  the  religious,  but  also  the  social  and  political  life  of  En- 
gland. The  movement  with  which  his  life  was  associated  could  not  be 
kept  within  the  bounds  of  the  Established  Church.  The  ordinary  chan- 
nels were  too  narrow,  and  they  were,  moreover,  choked  with  indifference, 
formality,  and  prejudice.  So,  like  a  mighty  flood,  the  revival  made  a 
new  way  for  itself  and  carried  fertility  far  and  wide. 

There  is  a  larger  Methodism  than  that  which  is  so  called.  If  we  speak 
of  it  as  a  spiritual  force — a  quickening  energy — then  we  must  look  far 
beyond  the  aggregate  of  Churches  which  bear  the  distinctive  name.  Wes- 
ley does  not  belong  to  one  Church  or  to  a  group  of  Churches,  but  to 
Christendom.     The  London  Times,  in  an  article  on  the  centenary  of  Wes- 


64  ECUMENICAL    METHODISM. 

ley's  death,  said:  "John  Wesley  belongs  as  much  to  the  Established 
Church  as  he  does  to  any  of  the  Methodist  Churches  -which  are  founded 
upon  his  teaching  and  inspiration.  The  evangelical  movement  in  the 
Church  of  England  is  directly  the  result  of  his  influence  and  example ; 
and  since  the  movements  and  ideas  which  have  molded  the  Church  of 
England  to-day  could  have  found  no  fitting  soil  for  tlieir  development  if 
they  had  not  been  preceded  by  the  evangelical  movement,  it  is  no  para- 
dox to  say  that  the  Church  of  England  of  to-day  is  what  it  is  because  John 
Wesley  lived  and  taught  in  the  last  century.  In  other  words,  John  Wesley 
belongs  to  the  ecclesiastical  history  not  only  of  Methodism,  but  of  Angli- 
can Protestantism.  Methodism  justly  claims  him  as  its  founder,  but  the 
Church  of  England  may  claim  him  quite  as  justly  as  her  restorer.  .  .  . 
John  Wesley  still  remains  the  greatest,  the  most  potent,  the  most  far- 
reaching  spiritual  influence  whicli  Anglo-Saxon  Christianity  has  felt  since 
the  days  of  the  Reformation."  < 

That  was  truly  a  prophetic  utterance  of  John  Wesley's  when  he  de- 
clared that  it  was  the  purpose  of  God  in  raising  up  Methodism,  "  not  to 
form  a  new  sect,  but  to  reform  the  nation,  particularly  the  Church,  and 
to  spread  scriptural  holiness  over  the  land."  Methodism  is  not,  and  never 
has  been,  a  sect.  Its  catholic  spirit  and  doctrines  have  jirevented  it  from 
falling  into  a  narrow  sectarianism;  but  by  the  providence  of  God  univer- 
sal Methodism  has  become  one  of  the  largest  Protestant  Churches,  if  not 
the  largest,  in  the  world.  But  the  larger  result  of  the  Methodist  revival 
is  the  effect  which  it  has  produced  upon  universal  evangelical  Christianity. 

When  we  think  of  the  dead  Anglicanism  and  the  torpid  non-conformity, 
of  the  lifeless  forms  in  which  Christian  truth  was  presented,  and  of 
the Calvinistic  doctrine  of  "divine  predestination  to  eternal  wrath  "  which 
was  preached  at  the  time  when  God  raised  up  John  Wesley,  and  now  be- 
hold the  multiplied  activities  of  millions,  and  listen  to  the  gospel  mes- 
sage which  may  be  heard  throughout  evangelical  Christendom,  we  may 
well  exclaim,  as  did  the  Florentines  when  they  saw  the  statue  of  David 
whicli  Michael  Angelo  had  hewn  out  of  the  rude  marble  :  "  A  dead  body 
has  been  brought  to  life ! "  The  status  of  Methodism  is  of  less  conse- 
quence and  is  far  less  potent  than  its  influence,  which  is  world-wide. 
John  Wesley's  larger  prophecy  awaits  fulfillment,  and  the  larger  mission 
of  Metliodism  still  remains  to  be  accomplished — the  regeneration  of  hu- 
manity, the  conversion  of  the  world  to  Christ. 

Mr.  President,  I  have  a  minute  and  a  half  of  my  time  remaining,  and 
I  will  therefore  tell  you  that  I  have  sent  out  schedules  to  find  out  as  far 
as  possible  the  status  of  Metliodism ;  but  I  found  that  the  returns  were  so 
varied  and,  in  many  cases,  so  unreliable  that  I  have  concluded  I  would 
only  furnish  such  as  can  be  relied  upon.  You  will  find  in  this  paper  the 
number  of  ministers  in  1881  and  the  number  in  1891.  You  will  find 
the  number  of  teachers  and  scholars  in  Methodist  Churches.  The  study 
of  these  statistics  will  show  that  in  the  Old  World  during  the  past  ten 
years  we  have  been  advancing  faster  than  the  growth  in  the  population, 
and  that  the  abundant  mark  of  God's  blessing  is  upon  us. 


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66 


ECUMENICAL    METHODISM. 


The  Rev.  John  Medicraft,  of  the  Methodist  New  Connex- 
ion, gave  the  first  appointed  address,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President  and  Honored  Fathers  and  Brethren :  I  cannot  refrain  from 
expressing  in  one  sentence  the  pleasure  I  have  in  attending  this  great  as- 
sembly, representing  the  various  tribes  of  our  beloved  Methodism, 
gathered  out  of  vs'ell-nigh  all  lauds  "  from  the  rising  of  the  sun  to  the  go- 
ing down  of  the  same." 

I  use  no  cant  expression  vrhen  I  say  "our  beloved  Methodism,"  for 
Methodism  is  beloved  by  us ;  and  it  may  vv^ell  be,  for  it  is  surely  beloved 
of  God — "afield  which  the  Lord  hath  blessed" — and  all  of  us  here  are 
filled  with  triumphant  joy,  making  our  boast  in  Him  who  "hath  done 
great  things  for  us  whereof  we  are  glad. " 

And  our  gladness  is  full  of  amazement  as  we  think  of  all  that  God  has 
wrought  all  over  the  world  through  Methodism.  It  is  with  us  as  it  was 
with  the  Babylonian  captives  when  their  captivity  was  turned:  "  We  are 
like  them  that  dream;  our  mouths  are  filled  with  laughter,  and  our 
tongues  with  singing." 

Well,  brethren,  it  is  all  of  the  Lord's  goodness  and  grace  that  it  is  so. 
Methodism  is  much  because  he  is  more — infinitely  more.  He  has  been  to 
us  "  a  place  of  broad  rivers  and  streams; "  and  so,  two  banners  are  un- 
furled over  us  in  our  gathering,  on  one  of  which  is  inscribed  ' '  Jehovah- 
tzid  Kenu,"  and  on  the  other  " Jehovah-nizzi ;  "  for  the  Lord  is  our  right- 
eousness and  our  strength. 

The  subject  of  the  paper  to  which  we  have  just  listened  is  a  very  wide 
one.  On  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  I  know  you  believe  in  big  things.  Well, 
that  part  of  the  world  in  which  the  Eastern  Section  of  Methodism  flour- 
ishes is  "  pretty  considerable,"  for  it  is  all  the  world  except  America— Eu- 
rope, Asia,  Africa,  and  Australasia,  with  their  tens  of  millions  of  square 
miles  of  territory  and  their  hundreds  of  millions  of  immortal  souls. 

Here  and  there  over  those  vast  regions  Methodism  is  known  and  is  ex- 
erting a  blessed  influence,  in  many  cases  among  civilized  but  non-Chris- 
tain  nations,  whose  histories  recede  into  an  unillumined  past,  where  the 
foot  of  inquiry  will  never  tread,  and  into  which  the  eagle  eye  of  specula- 
tion will  vainly  attempt  to  peer;  and  also  among  barbarous  tribes  bound 
by  heathen  prejudices  and  customs  which  have  enslaved  their  votaries  for 
hundreds  and  even  thousands  of  years;  and  last,  but  not  least,  in  the 
crowded  cities  and  towns  and  out  of  the  way  villages  of  countries  which 
own  the  cross,  but  whose  populations  are  so  rapidly  increasing  that  it  will 
take  all  the  time  of  Christian  Churches  to  overtake  them. 

In  those  far-reaching  regions,  thank  God,  Methodism  is  not  alone  in 
"  working  the  works  of  God."  Other  Christian  organizations  stand  with 
it  "shovilder  to  shoulder,"  and  join  with  it  in  the  great  fight  against  the 
powers  of  darkness.  And  if  you  ask  what  the  "  status  "  of  Methodism  is 
among  those  Christian  organizations,  I  have  only  to  remind  you  of  what 
you  have  read  and  heard  in  this  centenary  year  of  John  Wesley's  death,  in 
which  Methodists  have  not  been  allowed  to  celebrate  alone  the  great  occa- 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    JOHN    MEDICRAFT.  67 

sion,  but  the  adherents  of  every  form  of  Protestant  Christianity  have  united 
in  blessing  God  for  such  a  man,  and  have  borne  ungrudging  testimony  to 
the  signs  and  wonders  and  mighty  deeds  which  through  Methodism  God 
has  wrought. 

Now,  the  status  of  Methodism  in  the  Eastern  Section  to-day  is  not  what 
it  was  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago ;  and  I  am  thankful  that  it  is  not. 
In  Wesley's  day  Methodism  not  only  in  name,  bvit  in  fact,  was  perfectly 
novel.  We  have  heard  again  and  again  of  the  religious,  moral,  and  social 
condition  of  England  when  Methodism  arose,  how  the  Churches  were  for 
the  most  part  listless  and  inactive,  and  how  in  society  iniquities  prevailed 
among  all  classes  in  the  community.  But  Methodism  startled  men  both 
inside  and  outside  the  Churches,  and  "stirred  their  stagnant  souls  "  after 
a  wondrous  fashion.  Churches  were  awakened,  and  society  had  breathed 
into  it  a  new  life.  Multitudes,  especially  among  the  grimy  sons  of  toil, 
had  enkindled  in  their  breasts  new  hopes,  and  mounted  above  their  sordid 
condition,  lifted  up  by  the  power  of  noblest  aspirations.  From  Cornwall 
in  the  south-west  to  Northumberland  in  the  north-east  salvation  rolled 
along  like  a  mighty  river,  and  bore  on  its  bosom  rich  freights  of  blessing, 
while  on  its  banks  new  verdure  sprang. 

At  that  time,  therefore,  Methodism  was  unique.  It  was  like  the  bright 
and  morning  star,  and  so  was  "  the  observed  of  all  observers,"  and,  conse- 
quent! j',  it  was  signally  advantaged  so  far  as  status  is  concerned;  for  let 
us  not  forget  that  status  is  a  relative  term,  as  indeed  so  many  terms  are. 

Now,  however,  it  is  not  so.  The  status  of  Methodism  in  the  Eastern 
Section — at  any  rate,  in  Great  Britain — does  not  compare  so  favorably  with 
that  of  other  Christian  systems  combined  as  it  did  at  the  first.  But  why? 
Simply  and  solely  because  Methodism  is  no  longer  unique.  Methodism  has 
not  gone  down,  but  other  systems  have  come  up.  The  original  spirit  of 
Methodism  is  in  all  the  Churches  now.    In  this  we  rejoice,  and  will  rejoice. 

But  Methodism  does  not  suffer  by  comparison  even  to-day.  It  is  still 
holding  its  own,  and  more  than  holding  its  own,  in  numbers ;  and  its  moral, 
social,  and  religious  influence  was  never  greater  than  it  is  to-day.  That  is 
so  at  least  in  England,  the  cradle  of  Methodism.  On  the  continent  of  Eu- 
rope "there  is  yet  much  land  to  be  possessed."  There  it  is  met  by  the 
solid  rock  of  religious  indifference  and  the  scorn  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
hierarchy  and  priesthood.  In  mission  fields,  both  among  civilized  and 
barbarous  peoples,  Methodism  is  doing  splendidly,  and  as  we  think  of  its 
achievements  in  Africa,  in  India,  in  Japan,  and  in  "the  islands  of  the 
sea  "  we  thank  God  and  take  courage. 

Now,  all  that  I  have  said  is  very  general,  but  I  hope  not  "  delightfully 
vague,"  and  I  leave  statistics  to  those  who  like  them  and  who  often  can 
make  them  wonderfully  interesting.  They  are  not,  however,  in  my  line  of 
things,  and  I  give  them  a  wide  berth. 

Well,  in  conclusion,  how  is  Methodism  to  maintain  and  even  improve  its 
status  for  the  glory  of  God  in  the  good  of  mankind  ?  There  are  many 
answers  to  this  question,  but  there  is  one  answer,  I  think,  which  is  becoming 
of  greater  and  greater  importance  year  by  year,  and  which  we  shall  soon  have 


68  ECUMENICAL    METHODISM. 

to  consider ;  it  is  this :  Methodism  must  become  united.  It  is  a  pity  if  not 
a  disgrace  that  Methodism  should  be  broken  up  as  it  is.  Why  should  it 
be  ?  In  almost  all  things  we  are  of  one  mind  and  of  one  heart,  and  the  one 
or  two  things  in  which  we  differ  are  becoming  small  by  degrees  and 
beautifully  less.  Surely  some  federal  union  at  any  rate  is  possible.  Is 
there  no  great  Methodist  statesman  who  could  frame  a  tentative  scheme 
for  such  a  union,  and  which  union  would  be  a  grand  and  blessed  thing 
even  if  it  never  led  to  any  thing  further  ?  By  means  of  such  a  union — made 
visible  to  the  world  in  periodic  conferences  or  congresses,  and  made  use- 
ful in  the  world  by  concerted  action  for  righteousness  and  against  all 
iniquity — Methodism  would  in  England  put  her  mark,  as  she  cannot  do 
now,  upon  great  moral  and  social  movements ;  would  on  the  continent  of 
Europe  have  a  chance  of  making  progress  which  she  has  so  little  chance  of 
making  now ;  and  throughout  the  vast  field  of  heathenism,  with  their 
seething  populations,  would,  by  her  united  and  no  longer  rival  efforts, 
push  the  battle  to  the  gate,  and  (as  they  used  to  sing  in  Canada)  "  pull  old 
Satan's  kingdom  down."  And  I,  for  one,  would  be  grateful  if  one  result 
of  this  Ecumenical  Conference  should  be  the  bringing  about  of  such  a 
united  Methodism — east,  west,  north,  and  south. 

The  Rev.  James  Donnelly,  of  the  Irish  Methodist  Church, 
then  gave  the  following  appointed  address : 

Mr.  President,  Fathers,  and  Brethren :  It  is  to  me  a  great  honor  and  joy 
to  have  the  privilege  of  attending  this  Ecumenical  Conference,  and  espe- 
cially as  an  humble  representative  of  that  land  and  Church  from  whence 
came  the  "  holy  seed  "  which  God  employed  to  plant  Methodism  on  Ameri- 
can soil.  At  the  same  time  I  would  much  rather  some  one  else  had  been 
asked  to  take  the  responsibility  of  addressing  the  present  audience. 

1  do  not  undervalue  statistics  in  their  own  place.  They  can  be  made 
the  basis  of  important  calculations  and  the  means  of  suggesting  the  forma- 
tion of  suitable  plans  for  doing  effective  work.  I  fear,  however,  there  is 
often  a  tendency  to  overvalue  them,  and  the  danger  lest  by  surveying  our 
growing  numbers  we  yield  to  a  spirit  of  self-glorying,  and  that  Israel 
should  be  found  vaunting  itself  against  the  Lord.  It  is  not  without  some 
revulsion  of  feeling  that  I  observe  a  disposition  here  and  there  to  parade 
with  too  great  frequency  the  membership,  adherents,  property,  and  or- 
ganizations of  Methodism,  and  the  announcement  of  the  self-comjilaisaut 
boast  that  the  Methodist  is  the  largest  Protestant  Church  in  the  world. 
Indeed,  I  have  long  been  inclined  to  think  that  it  would  have  been  wiser 
and  better  had  Methodism  never  adopted  the  ])lan  of  publishing  to  the 
world  from  year  to  year  the  number  of  its  members.  What  I  regard  a 
more  excellent  way  would  be  to  keep  an  accurate  record  of  its  member- 
ship for  its  own  private  use,  and  let  the  public  census  reveal  the  relative 
strength  of  the  denominations  in  civil  and  official  documents.  God  is 
not  dependent  on  big  battalions  and  great  material  means  for  accomplish- 
ing his  gracious  designs.     In  the  "  Wars  of  the  Lord  "  he  has  never  at- 


ADDRESS  OF  REV.  JAMES  DONNELLY.  69 

tached  much  importauce  to  numbers.  The  histories  of  Joshua,  Gideon, 
Elijah,  and  others  show  that  it  is  nothing  with  him  to  help  with  many  or 
with  them  that  have  no  power.  Quality  rather  than  quantity  is  the  great 
essential  in  the  soldiers  of  the  King,  for  if  he  be  on  their  side  "  one  shall 
chase  a  thousand,  and  two  put  ten  thousand  to  flight."  I  am  thoroughly 
convinced  that  a  prominent  weakness  of  the  Metliodist  Church  has  been  an 
undue  craving  for  augmented  numbers  without  sufficient  regard  to  their 
spiritual  qualifications. 

But  while  expressing  these  views  I  have  no  wish  to  minimize  the  value 
of  the  important  facts  so  carefully  gathered  and  ably  marshaled  and 
presented  by  the  writer  of  the  paper  to  whom  we  have  listened  with 
such  pleasure.  The  progress  of  Methodism  and  the  way  in  which  it  has 
influenced  other  Protestant  Churches  in  the  Eastern  Section,  though  far 
exceeded  by  the  Western  Section,  have  been  very  remarkable.  For  the 
manifold  benefits  which  it  has  directly  and  indirectly  been  instrumental 
in  conferring  upon  the  nations,  we  do  not,  I  trust,  hesitate  gratefully  to 
exclaim:  "Not  unto  us,  O  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  unto  thy  name  give 
glory,  for  thy  mercy,  and  for  thy  truth's  sake !  "  And  though  the  growth 
in  numbers  and  the  symptoms  of  external  prosperity  demand  the  sincerest 
gratitude  to  God,  there  are  to  my  mind  several  features  which  mark  the 
different  branches  of  the  Methodist  family  in  common  that  should  specially 
evoke  our  grateful  praise. 

1.  In  these  days  of  theological  drift  and  change,  how  encouraging  to 
know  that  uniformity  of  doctrine  characterizes  all  the  tribes  of  our 
Methodist  Israel !  Among  us  who  are  meeting  together  in  this  holy  con- 
vocation there  is  no  "down  grade"  movement.  With  wonderful  tenacity 
we  have  been  enabled  by  the  grace  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  to  keep  the 
faith.  And  may  I  not  be  allowed  to  utter  the  confident  hope  that  should 
any  erratic,  eccentric  brother  with  abnormal  appetite  for  notoriety  be  de- 
tected in  departing  from  the  faith,  the  authorities  in  any  section  of  Meth- 
odism will  have  courage  and  loyalty  enough  to  deal  faithfully  with  such 
shepherd  as  would  mix  with  impure  ingredients,  however  sweet,  the  water 
of  life  and  attemj^t  to  foul  the  remainder  with  his  feet  ? 

2.  In  leading  usages  also  the  Methodist  Churches  are  one.  The  organ- 
ized systematic  employment  of  lay  agency,  both  male  and  female,  in  differ- 
ent departments  of  church  work,  the  observance  of  Christian  fellowship 
in  some  regular  form  as  an  integral  and  indispensable  element  for  promot- 
ing the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  members,  and  class-meetings,  prayer- 
meetings,  and  love-feasts  attended  to  with  more  or  less  faithfulness  and 
regularity  are  features  in  which  our  family  likeness  can  be  traced. 

3.  Of  late  years  several  movements  have  been  at  work  which  show  how 
much  alive  our  Churches  are  to  the  needs  and  evils  of  the  world,  and  the 
elasticity  and  adaptability  of  Methodism  to  take  full  share  in  uplifting, 
purifying,  and  saving  society.  The  vigorous,  aggressive  missions  oper- 
ating in  large  centers  of  population,  the  institutions  for  housing  and 
training  outcast  children,  the  efforts  to  rescue  the  fallen  and  relieve  the 
;su£fering,  the  general  active  interest  taken  in  bands  of  hope  and  temper- 


70  ECUMENICAL    METHODISM. 

ance  work,  the  firm  stand  against  gambling  and  in  favor  of  social  purity, 
the  prominence  given  to  the  teaching  and  spread  of  "scriptural  holiness" 
by  the  diffusion  of  suitable  literature  and  the  holding  of  conventions — these 
and  other  developments  exhibit  the  growing  zeal  of  the  present-day  Meth- 
odist toilers,  and  prove  that  they  are  "men  who  have  understanding  of  the 
times  and  know  what  Israel  ought  to  do." 

4.  "We  ought  not,  however,  to  shut  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  side  by 
side  with  these  indications  of  improvement  and  encouragement  there  are 
others  which  require  much  prayerful  vigilance  and  wise  planning  to  coun- 
teract. We  cannot  but  observe  with  sorrow  the  alienation  of  many  of  the 
sons  and  daughters  of  our  respectable  people  from  Methodism,  and  their 
drifting  into  other  communions ;  the  formality  that  often  prevails  in  ordi- 
nary public  worship ;  the  flowing  and  increasing  tide  of  worldly,  frivolous 
amusements ;  the  hot  haste  in  pursuit  of  riches  frequently  leading  to  dan- 
gerous speculations  and  other  questionable  methods  of  getting  wealth ;  the 
difficulty  of  securing  the  services  of  our  principal  and  more  intelligent 
people  in  active  efforts  for  promoting  the  spiritual  prosperity  of  the  cause 
of  Christ — these  and  other  symptoms  call  loudly  for  earnest,  thoughtful 
efforts,  in  full  dependence  upon  the  Spirit  of  God  to  resist  and  prevent. 
Never  must  we  allow  ourselves  to  forget  that  "  the  holy  seed  is  the  sub- 
stance thereof,"  and  that  only  in  proportion  as  this  is  possessed  and  mul- 
tiplied in  the  Methodist  Churches  are  we  true  to  our  vocation  and  answer- 
ing the  end  for  which  our  venerable  founder  declared  God  raised  us  up — 
"  to  spread  scriptural  holiness  throughout  the  land." 

As  to  Irish  Methodism,  I  rejoice  to  report  that  it  is  progressive  and 
active,  making  its  influence  felt  in  the  country  and  in  all  denominations. 
In  the  recently  published  census  it  is  found  that  during  the  past  decade 
the  Methodist  Church  increased  thirteen  per  cent.,  notwithstanding  that 
the  population  has  declined  and  all  other  Protestant  Churches  show  a  de- 
crease. In  the  previous  decade,  too,  five  thousand  were  added  to  the  num- 
ber of  our  adherents.  It  is  generally  known  that  Irish  Methodism  has 
played  an  important  part  in  the  history  of  the  Christian  Church  through- 
out the  world.  Mr.  Arthur  has  somewhere  said  that ' '  Methodism  in  Ireland 
was  never  distinguished  for  growing  timber,  but  it  has  done  much  in 
producing  fruit.  Although  it  is  a  tender  vine,  often  clinging  for  support 
to  other  trees,  yet  there  is  scarcely  a  banqueting  house  in  Methodism 
where  its  fruits  and  its  wine  have  not  heightened  the  feast."  In  England, 
in  France,  the  Channel  Islands,  Australia,  India,  China,  and  America 
Irish  Methodists  have  been  permitted  to  do  effective  Avork  for  the  cause  of 
Christ.  We  in  Ireland  hope  for  the  dawn  of  a  glorious  day  in  that 
country,  when  the  smile  of  the  great  Father  will  cover  the  whole  Emerald 
Isle,  and  we  "shall  go  out  with  joy,  and  be  led  forth  with  peace:  the 
mountains  and  the  hills  shall  break  forth  before  you  into  singing,  and  all 
the  trees  of  the  field  shall  clap  their  hands.  Instead  of  the  thorn  shall 
come  up  the  fir-tree,  and  instead  of  the  brier  shall  come  up  the  myrtle- 
tree  :  and  it  shall  be  to  the  Lord  for  a  name,  for  an  everlasting  sign  that 
shall  not  be  cut  off." 


ADDKESS    OF    REV.    J.    H.    BAIT.  71 

The  Rev.  J.  H.  Batt,  of  the  Bible  Christian  Church,  gave 
the  tliird  address  npon  the  appointed  topic,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President  and  Brethren :  The  present  status  of  Methodism,  which 
is  one  of  power  and  influence,  of  ojiportunity  and  responsibility,  is  the  re- 
sult of  the  work  of  God,  through  its  agency,  and  is,  therefore,  a  fact  to 
recognize  to  his  glory.  An  organized  Christian  community  representing 
a  Protestant  Church  both  wide-spread  and  compact,  such  as  Methodism 
is,  constitutes  an  important  part  of  the  existing  generation  of  men,  and 
is  a  considerable  factor  in  determining  the  character  of  the  next.  Ecu- 
menical Methodism  is  before  us — a  Protestant  evangelical  Church,  vari- 
ously expressed  in  outward  form,  having  great  power  of  adaptation  to 
national  character,  the  facility  of  shaping  itself  to  environment  without 
weakening  its  individuality  or  sacrificing  its  integrity,  which  is  one  sign 
of  vital  persistence;  having  on  its  surface  a  vigorous  dissimilarity  and 
freedom,  and  underneath  an  unmistakable  unity  of  foundation.  Method- 
ism is  part  of  the  web  of  life  among  the  highest  commonwealths  of  the 
last  century's  creation.  It  is  a  constituent  of  present-day  life  in  England, 
in  our  colonies  and  wide-spread  mission  fields,  and,  as  is  evident,  still 
more  extensively  in  this  country.  In  calculating  the  forces  that  are 
shaping  the  jiresent  and  the  future  for  humanity  it  has  to  be  reckoned 
with,  and  should — more  particularly  on  such  an  occasion  as  this — solemnly 
reckon  with  itself  before  God. 

Its  present  position  has  become  what  it  is  as  the  direct  fruit  of  the 
work  it  has  done,  and  is  to  be  maintained  and  improved  by  doing  the  same 
work  still  under  new  conditions  which  have  to  be  fearlessly  and  intelli- 
gently admitted  into  the  calculation.  The  mission  of  Methodism  is  to  all 
people  whom  it  can  reach  with  the  Gospel,  whether  rich  or  poor,  lowly  or 
exalted.  Standing  side  by  side  with  other  Churches  of  Christ  before  the 
r-uthless  judgment  of  the  world,  this  is  its  justification  and  the  reason  of 
its  existence.  It  includes  all  men  in  its  prayerful  purpose  of  love,  and 
would  win  all  to  Christ.  It  every-where  takes  the  status  of  the  class  among 
whom  it  succeeds — high  and  influential  if  it  wins  its  way  among  the 
wealthy  and  cultured  who  command  attention  and  exert  an  influence  on 
currents  of  thought  and  action  in  literature,  commerce,  and  politics; 
lowly  and  obscure  if  it  do  its  work  for  Christ,  as  it  generally  does,  in  the 
midst  of  the  poor  and  the  unknown.  Methodism  is  indifferent  to  status ; 
its  work  is  to  save  men ;  its  status,  the  accident  of  circumstances  or  result 
of  success,  not  with  it  a  primary  consideration.  It  is  not  so  proud  that  it 
affects  independence  of  any.  It  aims  to  reach  the  great  and  noble,  and  is 
content,  for  Christ's  sake,  in  the  rough  opinion  of  men  to  be  thought  am- 
bitious. It  seeks  out  the  lowly  among  the  people,  and  is  willing,  for 
Christ's  sake,  if  need  were,  to  bear  the  stigma  of  being  base.  In  speak- 
ing of  its  present  status  it  is  to  be  observed  that  it  goes  up  with  the  peo- 
ple it  elevates ;  its  work  creates  its  rank.  It  matters  not  where  it  sees  a 
human  being,  of  whatever  rank  or  language,  it  sees  a  soul  to  save  and  a 
life  to  win  for  Christ.     Distinctions  of  rank  fade  out  of  view  in  the  pres- 


72  ECUMENICAL    METHODISM. 

ence  of  the  cross  of  the  Son  of  man.  How  it  ranks  is  a  question  not  of 
first  magnitude  with  us,  and  is  one  we  are  content  to  leave  from  time  to 
time  to  the  decision  of  events.  The  question  of  faithfulness  to  our  work 
is  one  of  more  vital  consideration.  Only  this  much  we  humbly  affirm: 
Methodism  does  not  desire  to  enter  any  department  of  life  where  Christ 
cannot  enter. 

Though  Methodism  seeks  not  rank,  it  of  necessity  takes  some  kind  of 
position  among  men.  And  on  the  present  occasion  we  delight  to  recognize 
that  after  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  activity  it  has  so  worked  itself 
into  the  blood  of  the  nation  that,  whether  allowed  of  its  opponents  or  no, 
it  is,  under  God,  a  vigorous  and  healthful  agent  in  the  formation,  move- 
ment, and  destiny  of  modern  life  in  England. 

If  asked  how  it  has  made  for  itself  the  place  it  holds  in  the  modern 
world,  my  answer,  also  in  part,  is  that  the  best  elements  of  church  life 
were  fused  to  create  the  compound  which  forms  its  constitution.  I  can 
see  in  Methodism,  broadly  interpreted,  a  trace  of  Puritanism,  of  Presby- 
terianism,  of  Anglicanism — the  plainness  and  definiteness  of  Puritanism, 
the  organization  and  coherence  of  Presbyterianism,  the  spiritual  radiance 
and  sense  of  the  supernatural  of  the  best  side  of  the  Anglican  Church. 
The  three  elements — Puritan,  Presbyterian,  Anglican — were  woven  to- 
gether by  an  invisible  hand,  and  the  result  is  "the  threefold  cord." 

To  recur  to  my  first  metaphor.  These  elements  were  fused  to  make 
Methodism,  and  since  the  agent  present  to  make  a  fusion  of  elements  must 
be  more  powerful  than  the  elements  brought  together  and  united,  we 
reverently  acknowledge  that  the  power  in  this  instance  was  the  power  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  Into  these  compound  elements  was  introduced  one  that 
was  new — at  least  new  at  the  period  in  the  Church  in  my  country  when  it 
was  called  into  action — and  that  element  was  a  fervent  spirit  of  evangelism 
which  was  all  its  own;  and  if  not  limited  to  it  to-day — and  we  rejoice  to 
say  it  is  not — then  it  is  largely  because  of  the  success  of  Methodism  in 
diffusing  itself  abroad  as  an  invigorating  influence  far  beyond  its  own  dis- 
tinct fields.  Methodism,  with  Puritanism,  gives  prominence  to  definite- 
ness and  certitude  in  theology  and  teaching,  albeit  it  has  helped  to  liber- 
ate theology  from  the  restrictions  of  Calvinism  and  give  to  it  a  wider 
Interpretation  •,  yet  at  the  same  time  not  decrying  the  spiritual  side  of  Cal- 
vinism, but  recognizing  equally  with  it  what  was  always  present  to  the 
mind  of  Calvin,  namely,  that  there  is  a  shaping  divine  hand  traceable 
both  in  the  Church  and  the  world,  making  of  the  Church  the  body  of 
Christ  and  of  the  world  the  vehicle  of  lofty  eternal  purpose.  With  Pres- 
byterianism Methodism  recognizes  the  strength  which  lies  in  church  or- 
ganization and  representative  centralization,  and  the  consequent  concerted 
enterprise  readily  available  for  work  deliberately  planned,  or  for  situation 
of  sudden  emergency.  With  Anglican  Episcopacy  Methodism  has  come 
to  give  position  to  the  ministry  it  calls  out,  and  dignity  and  solemnity  to 
the  means  and  communion  of  grace.  While  separating  these  brightly 
colored  strands  in  tracing  the  threads  of  Methodism,  we  owe  it  to  histor- 
ical accuracy,  however,  to  say  that  they  all  ran  on  the  surface  in  turn  in 


ADDRESS    OF    EEV,    J.    H.    BATT.  73 

the  weaving  in  each  of  these  three  leading  manifestations  of  church  life 
in  England.  It  may  be  said,  too,  that  the  language  and  ardor  of  the 
evangelical  mystics  have  often  had  a  fascination  for  the  best  minds  of 
Methodism.  Methodism  as  it  has  developed  has  proved  to  be  a  fusion  of 
inextinguishable  elements  of  church  life  extant  at  the  time  when  it  began 
its  wonderful  career,  moved  by  an  agency  that  lies  beyond  us  and  is  of 
God,  to  which  is  added  a  simplicity  and  glow  of  life  and  movement  that 
gave  it  its  first  distinction  among  the  Churches.  Churches  that  are  con- 
temporary to-day  with  Methodism  freely  acknowledge  its  counectional 
quality.  Congregationalism  feels  its  want  of  the  connectional  principle. 
The  Church  of  England  claims  that  it  has  taken  up  into  itself  much  of  the 
spirit  and  action  of  Methodism ;  Salvationists,  that  they  are  the  living  in- 
stance to-day  of  Methodism  as  religion  on  fire.  The  fabled  beauty  of 
Helen  of  Troy  in  the  Greek  mythology  was  said  to  be  so  universal  that 
all  persons  claimed  relationship  to  her.  Methodism  has  enough  that  is 
ecumenical  in  it  to  secure  a  tribute  of  praise  from  widely  different  sources, 
perhaps  because  they  see  so  much  of  their  own  best  exjire-ssed  in  it. 
Methodism  is  catholic,  with  a  foundation  in  personal  experience;  liberal, 
with,  in  its  best  sense,  a  fixed  theology.  It  unites  connectional  authority 
with  sufficient  local  independence.  It  is  orderly,  yet  no  longer  calls 
aggressive  home  mission  effort  "irregular"  because  spontaneous  and  out- 
side official  sanction,  which  was  the  mistake  made  when  the  movement 
originated  which  gave  birth  to  my  own  denomination  and  threw  "the 
people  called  Bible  Christians  "  outside  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church 
— for  the  time.  To-day  our  Wesleyan  Methodist  friends  would  not  ban 
such  effort  as  "irregular,"  but  bless  and  label  it  "a  forward  move- 
ment." I  said  that  Methodism  is  a  fusion  of  inextingmsliable  elements  of 
church  life  extant  at  the  time  when  it  began  its  career.  This  is  a  part  of 
the  reason  why  I  think  that  its  present  position  is  secure  and  its  future  of 
service  assured.  It  will  never  drop  out  of  its  place  in  history,  because  it- 
self in  modern  church  life  is  a  part  of  history  already  made,  and,  I  will 
add,  of  history  yet  in  the  making  as  well. 

At  the  same  time,  I  am  free  to  admit  that  there  are  tendencies  of  life 
and  thought  existing  in  England  to-day  that  are  calculated  to  greatly  dis- 
count our  position  and  prospects.  I  would  name  the  intellectual  attitude 
assumed  toward  the  whole  question  of  the  supernatural,  including  the 
problem  of  the  date  of  origin,  the  structure,  and  authority  of  the  Script- 
ures. There  is  also  the  terrible  pomp  and  pride  of  w^ealth,  the  idolatry 
of  caste,  the  indifference  to  spiritual  things  engendered  by  material  pros- 
perity and  ease,  the  truculent  skepticism  and  rough  hostile  resoluteness 
of  many  of  our  toilers.  Contemporary  with  various  phases  of  skepticism 
exist  developments  of  superstition  under  the  claims  of  sacerdotalism  which 
throw  a  formidable  barrier  across  the  jiath  of  Methodism  and  all  the  other 
Protestant  evangelical  Churches — the  absorbing  sense  of  uncertainty  and 
change  consequent  upon  the  theoretical  pulling  to  pieces  of  existing  gov- 
erning arrangements  in  numerous  departments  of  life.  I  say  "theoret- 
ical "  because  a  practical  settledness  and  love  of  remaining  in  possession 
8 


74  ECUMENICAL    METHODISM. 

of  "what  has  proved  to  be  trustworthy,  a  sagacity  and  mother-wit,  exist 
which  will  be  our  safeguard  and  prevent  any  serious  and  general  attempt 
to  put  the  new  theories  into  practice  ;  besides  which  there  are  in  the  air 
other  forces  of  change  which  are  entirely  commendable.  In  view  of  them 
all  we  have  no  fear.  The  shaping  divine  hand  is  present.  Methodism 
to-day  is  what  it  is  as  the  result  of  its  own  work,  and  not  of  any  forego- 
ing pvirj)ose  or  thought  of  man.  The  first  half  of  the  last  century,  when 
Methodism  arose,  was  the  darkest  jjeriod  of  British  history  since  the  Ref- 
ormation. Pure  spirits  sought  to  barricade  England  against  the  terrible 
invasion  of  corrupt  life  which  came  up  on  every  side.  It  was  the  time  of 
the  plague  of  forms  of  uncleanness  in  Europe,  "  in  all  their  coasts,"  as  in 
another  Egypt;  and  England  did  not  escape.  The  whole  Christian 
Church  has  come  to  see  that  the  rod  was  in  the  hand  of  Methodism  which 
stayed  the  encroachment  on  the  very  hearth  of  the  mother-countrj'  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race.  Who  knows  how  much  the  entire  English-speaking 
people  of  the  world  owe  to  this  fact  to-day  ?  Methodism  was  taken  up 
with  its  mission  in  the  absorjjtion  of  a  divine  power.  Its  strength  still 
lies  in  the  same  concentration,  and  in  consecration  before  the  same  holy 
presence.  There  is  no  self-protection  for  religious  communities  where 
there  is  only  thought  of  it ;  laying  ourselves  out  in  Christ's  name  is  our 
surest  defense.  So  the  first  Methodists  found.  Doing  good  is  our  best 
protection  from  infection  of  evil.  We  thank  God  for  the  past.  We  thank 
God  equally  for  the  present.  We  thank  him  in  confident  hope  for  the  day 
of  blessing  that  is  to  be  for  mankind  in  Jesus  Christ,  the  Redeemer  of  the 
world.  Fellow  Methodists  the  world  over,  our  Master  is  one ;  and  we  are 
all  brethren. 

In  the  discussion  which  followed  the  appointed  addresses, 
tlie  Rev,  Hugh  Pkice  Hughes,  M.A.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Meth- 
odist Church,  said : 

Mr.  President:  I  think  that  Dr.  Waller's  remarks  need  to  be  supple- 
mented and  explained.  His  statements  with  respect  to  the  Established 
Church  of  England  are  calculated  to  give  a  very  exaggerated  impression 
in  this  country  of  the  success  which  that  Church  has  attained  during  the 
the  last  half  century.  In  that  success,  so  far  as  it  has  been  spiritual,  no 
one  rejoices  more  than  I  do ;  but  let  us  not  forget  that  at  this  moment, 
notwithstanding  all  the  success  of  the  Church  of  England,  the  great  ma- 
jority of  the  people  of  England  are  outside  of  that  Church  and  outside  of 
every  other  Church. 

Dr.  Waller  himself  states  that  while  the  Church  of  England  claims 
thirteen  millions  she  only  provides  church  accommodations  for  five  or  six 
millions.  I  do  not  think  any  Church  can  claim  more  than  she  can  accom- 
modate in  her  buildings,  especially  when  tjiey  are  not  all  crowded. 

My  friend  has  further  told  us  that  the  Metiiodists  alone  provided  for 
about  three  millions.  Add  the  other  great  evangelical  Churches,  and  from 
his  own  statistics  it  can  be  shown  that  the  Church  of  England  provides  for 
only  a  minority  of  the  people. 

Dr.  Waller  iiuist  be  as  well  aware  as  I  am  that  a  most  unjust  law  forces 
the  people  of  England  to  send  their  children  to  church  schools.     Half  of 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  75 

the  day  scholars  she  claims  belong  to  us  and  not  to  her.  I  am  bound 
further  to  differ  from  Dr.  Waller  in  the  estimate  he  has  formed  with  re- 
spect to  our  own  day-school  system.  For  my  own  part,  I  think  we  should 
have  had  much  more  educational  influence  if  we  had  accepted  the  saga- 
cious advice  of  William  Arthur  twenty  years  ago,  and  used  all  our  re- 
sources to  establish  in  England  a  system  of  elementary  education  similar 
to  the  magnificent  conunon  school  system  which  prevails  on  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic.  If  we  had  had  no  elementary  day-schools  of  our  own  we 
should  have  had  much  more  influence  in  determining  the  elementary  ed- 
ucational arrangements  of  our  country  than  we  possess  to-day.  While  in 
spite  of  our  small  vested  interest,  which  has  long  fettered  us,  we  have  de- 
termined this  very  year,  by  an  overwhelming  majol'ity,  that  the  primary 
object  of  the  British  Methodist  Church  is  to  establish  a  non-sectarian 
school  system  in  every  part  of  the  country,  we  have  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  we  shall  derive  a  thousand  times  more  advantage  from  such  a  policy 
than  from  our  present  denominational  system. 

Our  own  denominational  system  provides  at  this  moment  for  only  one 
hundred  thousand  Methodist  children  at  the  outside.  But  we  have  not 
less  than  a  million  Sunday-school  children,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  whom 
are  at  present  driven  into  the  schools  of  the  Church  of  England.  Such  is 
the  result  of  the  short-sighted  and  mistaken  policy  of  the  past. 

I  am  very  sorry  that  Dr.  Waller  dismissed  in  one  sentence  the  way  in 
which  our  brethren  are  laying  hold  of  the  great  populations  in  the  crowded 
centers  in  Manchester,  Birmingham,  Leeds,  and  elsewhere.  We  are  solv- 
ing the  great  city  problem  as  we  never  solved  it  before.  We  have 
nothing  to  fear  from  the  Church  of  England,  if  we  only  use  sanctified  com- 
mon sense  and  scriptural  audacity  in  attacking  th.^  great  masses  of  poj)- 
ulation.  I  am  sorry  that  Mr.  Donnelly  seems  to  think  that  we  must 
make  our  choice  between  quality  and  quantity.  In  jj^ngland  we  go  in  for 
both. 

Mr.  Donnelly  :  I  did  not  state  that ;  I  said  God  preferred  quality  above 
quantity. 

Mr.  Hughes:  I  say  God  prefers  both.  I  say,  further,  that  I  have  no 
such  dread  with  regard  to  the  increase  of  worldliness  as  has  been  expressed 
here  to-day.  Neither  have  we  to  complain  that  our  richest  and  most 
highly  educated  people  refuse  to  work.  They  are  in  the  front  rank  to-day. 
We  want  only  one  thing  more,  and  that  is  to  carry  out  Mr.  Medicraft's 
suggestion  to  secure  Methodist  union.  Let  us  stand  shoulder  to  shoul- 
der, and  in  the  twentieth  century  we  shall  be  the  Church  of  the  English 
people. 

The  Rev.  William  Morley,  of  the  Australasian  Methodist 

Church,  spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  I  want  to  present  two  or  three  facts  that  will  aid  the 
members  of  this  Conference  in  estimating  the  present  status  of  Methodism 
in  the  south-eastern  portion  of  what  is  here  known  as  the  Eastern  Section, 
especially  with  reference  to  those  seven  thousand  members  that  Dr.  Wal- 
ler has  referred  to  as  being  lost  to  us  in  the  Friendly  Islands ;  and,  while 
we  regret  that  on  the  other  side  of  the  world  as  much  as  any  one  can,  I 
want  to  say  that  these  seven  thousand  people  are  Methodists  still.  They 
call  themselves  the  Free  Church  of  Tonga,  but  they  believe  the  same 
Methodist  doctrine  that  John  Thomas  and  Thomas  Adams  taught  them. 
They  sing  the  same  hymns.  They  keep  up  their  class-meetings,  their 
quarterly  meetings,  their  Conferences.  They  are  Methodists  still  in  all 
the  essentials  »of  Methodist  life,  and  we  trust  again  to  see  one  Methodist 
Church  there. 


76  ECUMENICAL   METHODISM, 

I  want  to  say  in  regard  to  the  recent  missionary  enterprise  to  which  Dr. 
Waller  has  referred,  that  our  Conferences  are  striving  to  extend  the  king- 
dom of  God,  and  every  one  of  our  Annual  Conferences  has  sent  a  repre- 
sentative to  start  the  mission  in  New  Guinea.  We  could  have  sent  three 
times  as  many  if  we  had  had  the  funds  for  them,  as  volunteers  were  nu- 
merous. From  all  the  mission  fields  native  volunteers  were  forthcoming 
from  the  depleted  Church  of  Tonga  and  from  New  Britain,  where  a  mis- 
sion was  only  commenced  fifteen  years  ago. 

I  think  it  should  be  emphasized  here  that  the  missionary  spirit  in  Aus- 
tralasian Methodism  is  thus  prevailing  among  Europeans  and  natives. 

Let  me  say  one  word  more,  showing  the  spirit  of  Methodism  in  these 
southern  lands.  We  are  growing  our  own  ministers.  Most  of  us  here 
this  morning  were  sent  out  from  the  Old  World.  To-day  fifty  per  cent,  of 
our  ministers  have  been  admitted  to  the  work  in  the  colonies,  and  I,  as 
coming  from  England,  may  be  permitted  to  say  that  the  colonial  ministers 
are  not  behind  the  ministers  sent  out  from  England  with  regard  to  educa- 
tion and  equipment.  Throughout  these  southern  colonies  we  have  a 
system  of  common  school  education  which  is  free,  secular,  and  compul- 
sory. 

Personally,  I  regret  exceedingly  that  the  Bible  should  be  excluded  from 
these  public  schools,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  is  largely  so.  We  are  try- 
ing to  do  something  for  higher  education  in  connection  with  our  colleges 
in  New  South  Wales,  Victoria,  Tasmania,  South  Australia,  and  New  Zea- 
land in  this  respect,  colleges  for  ladies  being  also  established  in  Sidney 
and  Melbourne.  I  want  to  say  here  that  the  Conference  in  England  has 
given  us  Mr.  Sugden  as  the  master  of  Queen's  College  in  Melbourne,  for 
which  we  are  greatly  indebted.  There  are  in  Australasia  about  seven 
hundred  Methodist  ministers,  three  times  as  many  local  preachers,  and 
one  in  eight  of  the  population  is  an  adherent  of  the  Church.  In  the  mis- 
sions are  ninety  ordained  ministers  and  one  hundred  thousand  attendants 
on  our  services. 

The  Rev.  James  Travis,  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church, 
concluded  the  discussion  with  the  following  remarks : 

Mr.  President :  I  want  to  make  a  correction  in  the  statistics  given  by  Dr. 
Waller  in  regard  to  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church.  In  the  year  1881 
we  had  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  thousand  three  hundred  and  twelve 
church  members.  The  Canadian  members  were  included  in  that  total. 
Since  1881  I  am  glad  to  say  that  eight  thousand  three  hundred  and  four 
Primitive  Methodists  have  gone  to'help  form  the  great  Methodist  Church 
of  Canada.  Our  present  members  are  one  hundred  and  ninety-four  thou- 
sand four  hundred  and  fifty-three.  When  these  facts  are  taken  into  con- 
sideration the  rate  of  increase  in  our  denomination  is  therefore  about 
double  the  percentage  stated  by  Dr.  Waller. 

I  want  to  state  one  or  two  things  in  regard  to  progress.  I  attended  the 
great  council  of  the  Congregationalists  in  London  a  short  time  ago,  and  I 
heard  a  distinguished  American  say  that  the  mission  of  Congregation- 
alism was  not  for  the  common  people,  but  for  the  educated  classes,  for 
men  with  hard  heads  and  great  intellects.  I  rejoice  that  the  mission  of 
the  section  of  Methodism  to  which  I  belong  is  still  f(n-  the  common  peo- 
ple. We  are  not  ashamed,  sir,  to  keep  com])any  with  our  great  Master. 
Since  the  last  Ecumenical  Council  we  have  taken  a  lesson  from  the  presi- 
dent of  this  session,  and  we  have  established  our  orphanage.  We  have 
gone  to  the  common  people,  and  by  the  grace  of  God  we  have  been  en- 
abled to  lift  them  up — not  simply  to  save  their  souls,  l)ut  tft  lift  them  up. 

Years  ago  there  was  a  demand  for  colleges,  and  we  have  now  three 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  77 

colleges — one  at  Birmingham,  one  at  York,  and  one  at  Manchester.  As 
soon  as  we  have  the  means  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  we  shall  have  multi- 
plied our  educational  institutions. 

We  have  never  been  distinguished  as  a  foreign  missionary  Church.  We 
had  no  foreign  missions  until  1870,  but  I  am  glad  to  tell  the  Conference 
that  during  the  last  two  or  three  years  we  have  had  a  great  revival  of  the 
missionary  spirit  in  our  denomination,  and  we  have  now  a  mission  party 
in  south  Central  Africa.  A  few  months  ago  it  reached  the  Zambezi.  This 
is  one  of  the  most  difficult  and  one  of  the  most  expensive  missionary  enter- 
prises, perhaps,  in  the  history  of  the  Church.  I  may  say  here  in  passing 
that  we  have  already  been  repaid  for  the  outlay  of  our  money  in  the  en- 
largement of  our  sympathies.  I  will  also  say  that  we  are  dealing  now 
with  one  of  our  greatest  difficulties.  We  are  dealing  with  our  chapel 
debts.  They  have  been  a  great  burden  to  us,  but  we  are  dealing  with 
them,  and  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  but  that  in  a  few  years  our  trust 
estates  will  be  in  easy  circumstances. 

I  very  much  sympathize  with  the  remarks  made  by  Mr.  Hughes  with  re- 
gard to  the  Church  of  England.  When  the  whole  Church  of  England 
was  against  Methodism  Methodism  had  not  millions  of  people  behind  it, 
and  Methodism  could  make  more  rapid  advancement  then  than  it  is  mak- 
ing to-day.  Why  need  we  fear  the  Church  of  England  with  millions  of 
peojile  behind  us  ?  Why  should  we  fear  it  with  the  best  preachers  in  En- 
gland in  our  ranks  ?  Why  should  we  fear  it  with  some  of  the  wealthiest 
and  most  generous  men  in  England  ?  We  are  making  far  too  much  of 
the  opposition  of  the  Church  of  England  to  Methodism.  Let  us  be  Meth- 
odists and  go  about  our  work  in  a  Methodist  fashion.  We  have  no  need 
to  fear  either  the  Church  of  England  or  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  or 
all  the  combinations  outside  of  those  Churches  together. 

The  denomination  to  which  I  have  the  honor  to  belong  believes  in  free 
education  and  free  schools,  and  that  evei'y  child  in  the  country  should 
have  the  benefit  of  that  education.  As  Professor  Huxley  once  said :  "  We 
want  a  great  highway  along  which  the  child  of  the  peasant  as  well  as  of 
the  peer  can  climb  to  the  highest  seats  of  learning." 

The  hour  for  adjournmeiit  having  arrived,  the  session  closed 
with  tlie  doxology,  and  the  benediction  by  the  Rev.  T.  B.  Ste- 
phenson, D.D.,  LL.D. 


78  ECUMENICAL   METHODISM. 


SECOND  SESSION. 

The  Conference  opened  at  3  P.  M.,  the  Rev.  A.  Carman, 
D.D.,  General  Superintendent  of  the  Methodist  Church,  Canada, 
presiding.  Tlie  devotional  services  were  conducted  by  the 
Rev.  John  Lathern,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  Canada, 
and  the  Rev.  T.  G.  Wii.liams,  D.D.,  of  the  same  Church. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  C.  H.  Fowler,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Metli- 
odist  Episcopal  Church,  then  read  the  following  essay  on  "The 
Present  Status  of  Methodism  in  the  Western  Section  : " 

Methodism  never  whipped  a  Quaker  or  burned  a  witch  or  banished  a 
Baptist.  That  Christian  charity  is  part  of  her  present  status.  Geology 
tells  us  that  the  present  status  of  the  earth  is  the  resultant  of  unnumbered 
forces  working  through  unnumbered  ages.  Some  of  the  specific  modifi- 
cations achieved  by  certain  agencies  may  be  easily  traced  in  mountain 
ranges  and  in  ocean  beds  and  in  the  channels  of  continental  rivers.  These 
great  characters  can  be  read  by  anj^  eye.  But  infinitely  deeper  and  more 
marvelous  are  the  fine  tracings  and  hair  lines  that  mark  the  recent  changes 
through  which  any  given  measure  of  the  earth  has  passed,  by  which  the 
coffin  of  the  dead  coral  is  seen  in  the  ocean  reef,  and  the  stamen  of  the 
ancient  flower  is  wrought  into  the  rocky  heart  of  the  mountain.  If  we 
had  perfect  vision  and  complete  knowledge  we  could  read  in  every  spoon- 
ful of  air  and  in  every  ounce  of  earth  the  unabridged  history  of  every 
change  and  of  every  form  and  of  every  force  that  has  ever  come  upon  any 
atom  of  matter.  It  is  only  a  question  of  instruments  that  prevents  our 
measuring  the  ground-swell  sweeping  across  the  face  of  the  sun  that  has 
been  projected  from  a  falling  autumn  leaf. 

Thus  also  history  tells  us  that  the  present  status  of  American  Method- 
ism is  the  resultant  of  unnumbered  forces  of  heart  and  brain,  of  tide  and 
tempest,  of  climate  and  temperature,  of  transit  and  eclipse  through  count- 
less ages.  Nothing  is  foreign  to  this  theme,  but  the  time  necessary  for 
its  discussion. 

We  have  seen  the  rich  pippin  engrafted  upon  the  wild  crab.  The  sweet 
fruit  draws  much  of  its  life  from  the  old  crab-root.  So  we  see  American 
Methodism  ingrafted  upon  the  wild  natural  stock  of  the  American  colonies, 
and  drawing  much  of  its  life  and  type  from  this  vigorous  natural  root. 
These  colonics  are  unlike  any  other  colonies  known  to  history.  They  did 
not  spring  like  the  Greek  colonies  that  filled  the  islands,  surrounded  the 
Mediterranean,  and  reached  as  far  as  India,  from  fear  of  too  great  a  state 
and  from  love  of  trade ;  not  like  Roman  colonies  that  were  pitched  with  the 
soldiers'  camp  every-where  for  ambition  and  power ;  not  like  the  Asiatic 
colonies  planted  for  plunder  and  despotism.  These  colonies  sprang  from 
an  awakened  conscience.     The  breath  that  tilled  their  souls  was  the  true 


ESSAY    OF    BISHOP    C.    H.    FOWLER.  79 

martyr  spirit,  and  the  rock  on  which  they  builded  was  the  Rock  of  Ages — 
the  best  possible  foundation  on  which  to  build  a  temple,  the  best  possible 
material  out  of  which  to  make  a  Church,  the  best  possible  soil  on  which 
to  raise  God's  spiritual  fruit. 

A  hundred  years  of  growth  on  this  soil  and  in  this  free  state  has  produced 
a  condition  of  life  dissimilar  from  any  other  development  among  men. 
As  the  colonies  sprang  from  the  mother-country  with  a  civilized  life  with 
which  to  conquer  an  uncivilized  continent,  and  soon  became  the  rival  and 
finally  the  peer  of  the  mother-country,  so  American  Methodism  sprang 
out  of  a  rich  and  ripe  religious  life,  with  deep  experience,  tested  theology, 
and  profound  biblical  scholarship.  Thus  born  and  bred,  she  soon  competed 
with  all  other  systems  for  the  front  rank  as  a  saver  of  souls  and  of  civ- 
ilizations. 

Standing  here  this  hour  we  cannot  but  turn  our  faces  toward  yonder 
neighboring  city,  so  beautiful,  so  full  of  Christian  homes  and  happiness,  fit 
companion  for  this  city,  this  the  most  beautiful  city  on  the  globe.  And 
we  cannot  avoid  contrasting  that  hour  of  one  hundred  and  seven  years 
ago  with  the  present  hour.  What  a  picture  greets  us  out  of  that  day ! 
It  can  be  shown  on  a  small  canvas.  One  Conference,  eighty-three  preach- 
ers, and  only  fourteen  thousand  nine  hundred  and  eighty-eight  members 
in  America.  With  Coke  and  Asbury  at  their  head  they  seemed  a  youth- 
ful group.  Eighteen  of  the  Americans  were  middle-aged  and  had  seen 
some  service.  About  forty  of  the  Conference  were  young  men  or  boys. 
They  had  boundless  energy,  burning  hearts,  blazing  tongues,  luminous 
faces,  and  were  led  by  great  leaders.  But  they  were  only  a  handful. 
To-day  that  handful  has  been  proven  to  be  corn,  and  it  waves  like  the 
cedar  of  Lebanon.  Then  there  was  but  one  Methodist  denomination  and 
only  one  Annual  Conference,  only  eighty-three  traveling  preachers  and 
fourteen  thousand  nine  hundred  and  eighty-eight  members.  To-day  there 
are  fifteen  denominations  of  Methodists,  a  fact  that  is  thought  to  show 
that  they  have  some  brains  and  some  independence.  Perhaps  with  more 
brains  and  more  independence  there  would  be  less  denominations,  per- 
haps only  two  or  one.  The  one  Conference  has  multiplied  into  about  300 ; 
and  the  83  traveling  preachers  have  multiplied  into  about  34,555,  be- 
sides 30,000  local  preachers  ;  and  the  14,988  members,  actual  commu- 
nicants, have  multiplied  into  about  4, 904, 270,  with  5,000,000  Sunday-school 
children,  and  a  following  of  over  20,000,000  souls  in  the  republic.  Meth- 
dism  crossed  the  brook  into  this  century  leaning  on  a  solitary  staff.  She 
will  cross  over  out  of  the  century  with  more  than  two  bands  besides  flocks 
and  herds  and  camels  and  asses.  For  she  has  about  56,335  churches  and 
al)out  15,000  parsonages,  with  church  property  worth  more  than  $200,- 
000,000.  I  cannot  go  into  details.  I  am  not  making  a  year-book,  nor  will 
I  make  a  census-report.  I  cannot  even  catalogue  the  presiding  elders.  Yet 
you  will  pardon  me  if  I  stop  long  enough  to  give  the  names  of  the  Meth- 
odist denominations,  with  the  number  of  their  churches,  their  traveling 
ministers,  and  their  members : 


80  ECUMENICAL   METHODISM. 

Denomination.  Churches.  Ministers.       Communicants. 

Methodist  Episcopal 22,833  14,792  2,283,154 

Methodist  Episcopal,  South 12,217  5,050  1,213,511 

African  Methodist  Episcopal 4,069  3,807  462,395 

African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion 3,500  3,050  420,223 

United  Brothers 4,265  1,455  199,709 

Colored  Methodist  Episcopal 2,100  1,800  174,024 

Methodist  Protestant 2,139  1,441  148,416 

Evangehcal  Association 2,062  1,227  150,234 

United  Brethren  (Old  Couf.) 1,381  623  50,582 

American  Wesleyans 535  300  20,000 

Congregational  Methodists 50  100  4,000 

Free  Methodists 952  700  22,861 

Independent  Methodists 35  30  5,000 

Primitive  Methodists 147  65  5,517 

Union  American  Meth.  Epis.,  Colored 50  115  3,935 

Total 56,335  34,555  4,904,270 

The  increase  since  some  of  these  figures  were  reported  puts  the  totals 
beyond  those  given. 

All  these  figures  acquire  their  values  by  their  relations.  Comparisons 
are  not  only  sometimes  odious,  but  often  dangerous  and  misleading.  The 
brother  who  said,  "Have  had  a  good  year,  Mr,  Bishop;  have  doubled  my 
membership,"  gave  a  note  of  victory.  But  when  asked  how  many  he  had 
to  start  with  he  changed  the  strain  by  answering,  "None,  sir,  none.'* 
So  these  figures  to  find  their  just  values  must  stand  in  their  proper  en- 
vironments. 

Listen  to  the  figures  for  A.  D.  1800: 

Population  of  the  United  States 5,308,483 

Communicants  of  Protestant  Churclies 1,227,052 

Population  of  Roman  Catholic  faith 100,000 

Communicants  of  Methodist  Churches 54,894 

(See  Dorchester's  Prohlem  of  Religious  Progress,  pp.  457  and  538.  Also  Gen- 
eral Minutes  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.) 

Study  the  immense  growths  seen  in  the  following  figures  for  A.  D. 
1890: 

Population  of  the  United  States,  62,622,250. 

Protestant  Churches:  Number  of  churches,  151,281;  number  of  ministers, 
103,203;  number  of  communicants,  21,757,071. 

Roman  CathoHc  Churches:  Number  of  churches,  7,523;  number  of  ministers, 
8,332:  population,  4,676,292. 

Methodist  Clmrches:  Number  of  churches,  56.335;  number  of  ministers, 
34,555;  number  of  communicants,  4,904,270. 

Add  for  Canada  Methodism,  3,092  churches,  1,712  ministers,  and  241,273  com- 
municants, and  our  statistics  are  encouraging. 

(It  must  be  born  in  mind  that  Romanism  counts  entire  population,  while  Prot- 
estantism counts  only  communicants.  On  the  same  basis  the  figures  would 
stand :  Protestant  population,  that  is,  people  attending  and  served  by  Protestant 
churches,  55.000,000;  of  this,  the  Methodist  population  is  over  20,000,000. 
Roman  Catholic  population,  4,676,292.) 

The  Lamb's  bride,  as  incarnated  in  American  Methodism,  seems  a  fair 
and  lovely  woman,  when  intimately  known  and  justly  judged.  The  fore- 
going figures  only  give  us  a  view  of  her  noble  form.     But  the  clearness  of 


ESSAY    OF    BISHOP    C.    H.    FOWLER.  81 

her  mind,  the  power  of  her  spirit,  and  the  beauty  of  her  character  remain 
to  be  learned  from  a  study  of  her  history,  her  achievements,  and  her 
activities. 

American  Methodism  has  a  right  to  a  high  place  among  the  thinking 
and  educating  forces  of  this  western  continent  and  nineteenth  century. 
Methodism  was  born  in  the  halls  of  a  great  university  and  has  never  lost 
her  birthmark.  In  the  last  century  she  had  among  others  two  men — 
John  Wesley  and  Adam  Clarke — of  whom  Theodore  Parker  said:  "  One 
was  the  greatest  organizer  and  the  other  the  greatest  scholar  of  the  last 
thousand  years."  In  this  country  her  first  movement  displayed  the  in- 
stincts of  a  thoroughbred.  The  first  act  of  the  celebrated  Christmas  Con- 
ference in  1784,  that  organized  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  was  to 
adopt  the  name,  which,  like  God's  nomenclature,  typed  her  government 
and  polity.  Then  American  Methodism  was  born.  Her  first  act,  her  first 
resolution,  was  to  ordain  a  college.  The  first  breath  she  drew  crystal- 
lized into  Cokesbury  College.  It  is  as  natural  for  her  to  speak  universi- 
ties and  colleges  and  educational  institutions  into  being  as  it  is  for  the 
lark  to  give  forth  his  morning  song.  She  was  full  of  this  revealing,  illu- 
mining power,  and  almost  every  full  breath  since  her  first  has  spoken 
some  institution  for  advanced  education  into  being.  With  her  hundreds 
of  universities  and  colleges  and  theological  schools,  and  with  her  thou- 
sands of  professors  and  instructors,  and  with  her  tens  of  thousands  of  stu- 
dents, pressing  into  every  known  field  of  investigation,  with  no  one  to 
limit  or  embarrass  the  search  for  truth ;  with  her  text-books  received  in 
the  best  universities  and  translated  into  scores  of  languages,  she  at  least 
has  a  right  to  stand  in  the  first  class  of  the  world's  educators. 

Thus  born  and  bred,  working  in  every  department  of  scholarship, 
"from  her  youth  up,"  it  is  only  natural  that  she  should  scatter  her 
printed  pages  yearly  by  the  hundreds  of  millions,  and  plant  her  libraries 
literally  every-whcre.  The  greatest  religious  publishing  house  in  the 
Dominion  of  Canada  is  the  Methodist  Publishing  House  of  Toronto.  The 
greatest  in  the  sunny  South  is  the  Methodist  House  in  Nashville.  The 
greatest  religious  publishing  house  in  New  York  and  in  America  and 
in  the  world  is  the  Methodist  Book  Concern.  Out  of  these  great  brain- 
centers  are  projected  scores  of  ganglions  of  nerve-power  in  her  deposito- 
ries, and  the  nerves  of  her  periodicals  extend  into  every  civilized  com- 
munity. There  is  hardly  a  postmaster  in  the  service  of  the  government 
that  does  not  handle  her  papers.  There  is  hardly  a  hamlet  inside  the 
outermost  boundary  of  the  republic  where  her  libraries  are  not  circulated 
and  read.  With  her  great  and  inexhaustible  treasuries  of  knowledge, 
such  as  McClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclopedia ;  with  her  great  arguments, 
such  as  Foster's  Objections  to  Calvinism,  and  Bledsoe's  Theodicy,  and 
Whedon  on  the  Will,  that  have  driven  fatalism  out  of  the  Christian 
Church;  and  with  her  Bowne's  Metaphysics  that  have  gone  as  text-books 
into  the  leading  universities;  and  with  her  Chautauqua  literary  circles, 
reading  translations  of  the  ancient  classics  and  volumes  of  modern  science 
in  tens  of  thousands  of  communities,  Methodism  has  a  right  to  general 


82  ECUMENICAL    METHODISM. 

respect  in  the  field  of  letters.  Surely  this  incarnation  of  the  Lamb's 
bride  is  clothed  and  in  her  right  mind. 

Once  a  few  knights  clad  in  steel  and  armed  with  sjiears  and  swords  and 
battle-axes  could  ride  down  thousands  of  unarmed  peasants.  They  gave 
omnipotence  to  the  feudal  lords  and  made  the  castle  the  only  place  of 
safety  and  power.  Might  was  the  measure  of  right,  and  a  coat  of  mail 
was  the  inspiration  of  courage.  But  some  old  chemist  borrowed  gun- 
powder from  the  Chinese,  and  then  any  finger  that  could  pull  a  trigger 
could  overthrow  the  mailed  knight  and  his  horse  like  sheej)  in  a  slaughter 
pen.  Castles  were  shattered  like  sheep-cotes.  Strength  yielded  to  activ- 
ity. Courage  became  contagious  and  viniversal.  Right  found  a  voice  that 
reached  the  ear  of  God.  So  once  it  was  that  kings  and  their  courts 
monopolized  all  knowledge  as  well  as  all  power.  The  only  brain  in  a 
nation  occupied  the  throne  or  the  saddle.  The  people  were  nothing  but 
bedding  for  horses  or  food  for  powder.  But  that  German  in  Metz  picked 
up  his  movable  type  and  set  up  the  printing-press  like  a  new  divinity. 
Kings  slid  down  from  divine  right  to  be  contented  with  human  right. 
There  rose  above  all  thrones  and  above  all  despotism  that  invisible,  sleep- 
less, deathless,  resistless  power.  Public  Opinion.  That  is  the  power  back 
of  the  bench  and  back  of  the  pulpit,  back  of  the  ballots  and  back  of  the 
bullets.  Powder  will  hardly  explode  unless  it  is  mixed  with  the  con- 
sensus of  oj^iuion.  Bullets  will  scarcely  hit  the  mark  unless  they  have 
ideas  in  them.  The  great  problem  of  governing  these  millions  of  America 
is  the  simple  question  of  forming  public  opinion.  Methodism,  having  one 
third  of  the  people  of  this  country  studying  in  her  Sunday-schools,  listen- 
ing to  her  pulpits,  and  reading  her  literature,  has  only  to  be  worthy  of 
her  inheritance  and  true  to  her  God  to  make  this  land  the  land  of  prom- 
ise for  the  ignorant  and  oppressed,  and  this  approaching  century  the 
golden  age  for  the  race. 

"VVe  have  only  to  glance  at  her  great  benevolent  organizations  to  feel 
the  power  of  her  spirit.  Her  missionaries  are  learning  all  grammars  and 
all  vocabularies,  mastering  all  languages  and  running  throughout  all 
continents.  "We  have  personally  felt  their  mettle  and  studied  their  faces 
in  nearly  every  land  in  the  torrid  belt  on  the  circle  of  the  equator,  as  well 
as  on  the  borders  of  Patagonia  in  the  far  south  and  in  the  most  northern 
city  of  the  world ;  also  in  the  capital  of  the  Chinese  Empire  and  in  the 
capital  of  the  Russian  Empire ;  every-where  through  all  longitudes  and 
through  all  latitudes  her  sons  and  her  daughters  have  only  one  ambition, 
and  that  is  to  plant  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ;  only  one  calling,  and 
that  is  to  declare  the  saving  power  of  Jesus  Christ ;  onlj'  one  purpose,  and 
that  is  at  all  costs  to  conquer  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ.  This  inspira- 
tion and  spirit  reaches  back  to  all  the  homes  of  this  land  and  gives  new 
life  to  our  hearts,  new  vigor  to  our  faith,  new  breadth  to  our  thought,  and 
a  new  heaven  to  our  enra]itured  vision.  The  warp  of  God's  purpose  and 
the  woof  of  man's  sympathies  are  woven  into  a  garment  for  the  Lamb's 
bride. 

The  church  extension  societies,  building  a  new  church  every  two  hours 


ESSAY    OF    BISHOP    C.    H.    FOWLEK.  83 

of  each  working  day ;  the  Freedraen's  Aid  Society,  doing  a  large  work  in 
view  of  the  field  it  has  to  occupy;  the  Sunday-school  unions,  standing 
with  one  hand  on  the  cradle  and  the  other  on  the  pulpit;  the  tract  so- 
cieties, crowding  in  where  the  living  preacher  is  excluded,  carried  about 
by  opponents  like  birds  on  the  back  of  a  rhinoceros,  foraging  and  living 
on  the  enemy;  the  woman's  foreign  missionary  societies,  that  rise  above 
the  boundaries  of  the  nations  and  superior  to  the  brogues  of  the  races ; 
the  woman's  home  missionary  societies,  that  nourish  the  sources  of  the 
river  of  life  that  flows  out  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  and  makes  glad  the  city 
of  our  God ;  the  city  mission  societies,  that  seek  to  assimilate  and  trans- 
form into  healthy  bone  and  tissue  and  blood  the  baptized  and  unbaptized 
heathenism  that  flows  in  upon  us  here  at  the  confluence  of  all  the  races ; 
the  deaconess  homes,  where  workers  are  trained  to  care  for  every  dis- 
tress; and  hospitals,  where  we  follow  the  Master  into  soul-healing  through 
body-healing — all  these,  like  so  many  hands  enabling  the  Church  to  lay 
hold  upon  a  dying  world,  indicate  the  spirit  with  which  the  bride  seeks 
to  carry  forward  the  work  of  her  Lord,  and  make  up  that  which  is  behind 
his  sufferings.  Surely,  in  the  midst  of  such  activities  she  ought  to  be 
wholly  sanctified — body,  soul,  and  spirit. 

This  is  not  all.  Great  as  are  these  figures,  wide-reaching  as  are  these 
plans,  aggressive  as  are  these  movements,  yet  they  are  only  a  part,  only  a 
small  part,  of  the  work  and  substance  of  Methodism.  There  lies  beyond 
all  these  her  influence,  the  overflow  of  her  character.  Just  as  the  atmos- 
phere enswathes  the  earth  and  makes  it  habitable  by  man,  so  there  en- 
swathes  Methodism  an  atmosphere  that  enables  it  to  sustain  and  commu- 
nicate life.  John  Richard  Green,  that  greatest  of  all  historians  of  the 
English  people,  sums  up  the  preaching,  popularity,  power,  scholarship, 
statesmanship  of  Wesley,  and  after  giving  the  numbers  of  his  societies  he 
says,  "  But  these  are  only  a  part  of  what  Mr.  Wesley  accomplished.  He  re- 
created England. "  Mr.  Green  gives  us  a  melanchoUy  picture  of  the  failure 
of  Walpole,  the  great  minister,  who  bought  his  majorities  in  Parliament, 
openly  attended  theaters  accompanied  by  his  mistress,  had  no  faith  in 
principle  or  patriotism,  and  ruled  drunken,  debauched,  murdering,  mob- 
bing England  as  a  mere  matter  of  commerce,  till  his  great  abilities  utterly 
failed  him,  and  he  was  compelled  to  retire  before  a  ruin  he  could  neither 
cure  nor  check.  In  this  distress  Mr.  Wesley  took  hold  of  the  bottom  of 
English  society,  awakened  its  conscience,  gave  it  a  new  standard  of  meas- 
urement, opened  its  eyes  to  spiritual  realities  and  spiritual  forces,  estab- 
lished an  authoritative  throne  in  the  bosom  of  the  peasant  and  of  the 
middle-class  man,  and  called  England  up  to  a  new  life  and  new  history. 
Just  at  this  juncture,  so  critical  and  perilous,  Pitt  came  to  the  wool-sack 
to  find  England  and  Protestantism  threatened  as  never  before.  The  Bour- 
bon  family  were  bent  on  crushing  both. 

Pitt  had  no  party  in  either  House,  for  he  scorned  to  use  the  public 
treasure  for  bribes.  The  king  feared  and  hated  him.  He  stood  alone. 
But  he  perceived  the  new  life  in  the  hearts  of  the  common  people.  He 
appealed  to  their  honesty,  integrity,  and  patriotism,  and  they  never  dis- 


84  ECUMENICAL    METHODISM. 

appointed  him.  He  smote  the  rock  of  the  public  conscience,  and  streams 
of  power  followed  and  sustained  him  through  all  the  moral  deserts  of  the 
upper  classes.  In  one  decade  he  crushed  the  power  of  France  in  India 
and  saved  that  vast  empire  of  two  hundred  and  seventy  millions  for  Prot- 
estantism. He  rescued  Frederick  the  Great  from  the  French  and  Spanish 
and  made  the  great  Protestant  German  Empire  possible.  He  drove  the 
French  out  of  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  and  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and 
made  this  great  Protestant  republic  possible.  Green  tells  us  that  but  for 
the  new  life  created  by  Wesley  and  Methodism  there  would  have  been 
nothing  on  which  Pitt  could  stand  and  these  three  Protestant  empires 
could  not  have  existed . 

This  vast  overflow  of  Methodism  into  the  life  of  England  has  its  counter- 
part in  America.  Asbury  found  a  gambling,  cock-lighting,  prize-fighting. 
Sabbath-breaking  people,  startled  by  murders  and  ruffianism  by  day  and  by 
robbers  and  highwaymen  by  night.  The  churches  had  but  little  power.  The 
teaching  of  the  pulpit  and  the  lives  of  the  pews  were  alike  received  with 
scorn  and  contempt.  Infidelity  and  blasphemy  characterized  the  world, 
formalism  and  fatalism  paralyzed  tlie  Church.  Mr.  Asbury  and  Methodism 
preached  a  knowable  religion  that  saved  from  sin  and  made  men  happy 
in  a  knowledge  of  pardon.  It  reached  the  hearts  of  the  common  people. 
It  spread  from  barn  to  kitchen  and  from  kitchen  to  drawing-room,  and 
from  the  drawing-room  to  temple  and  legislative  hall,  till  it  permeated 
the  public  mind,  awakened  the  public  conscience,  set  up  a  new  standard, 
and  made  universal  an  old  and  new  Gospel.  This  joyous  experience 
has  overflowed  the  cup  of  Methodism  and  filled  the  cup  of  nearly  all  the 
orthodox  Churches,  making  a  glad  experience  a  common  heritage  of  be- 
lievers. The  ' '  secret  decree  "  is  forgotten,  and  all  the  other  decrees  are 
being  trundled  out  of  the  back  door  like  worn-out  furniture,  never  to  be 
needed  again.  This  old  Goliath  that  tormented  Israel  for  fourteen  hun- 
dred years  lias  met  its  youthful  David.  The  fact  that  a  believer  may 
know  that  his  sins  are  forgiven  is  preached  from  nearly  all  pulpits  and 
testified  to  in  nearly  all  social  meetings.  That  is  Methodism.  It  may  sit 
up  to  commune  and  emphasize  days  and  feasts  and  new  moons.  But  hav- 
ing a  knowable  religion  it  is  Methodism.  In  stating  the  status  of  Amer- 
ican Methodism  we  must  not  overlook  regenerated  Churches  and  a  regen- 
erated nation. 

In  this  statement  of  the  status  of  Methodism  we  must  glance  at  some  of 
the  principal  wants  of  the  Church.  Her  highest  want  is  the  maintenance 
of  a  firm  hold  upon  the  supernatural.  Unless  Methodism  is  supernatural 
she  is  nothing.  She  was  called  into  being  to  bear  testimony  to  the  great 
fact  of  a  supernatural  world.  Like  Christianity  in  every  age,  she  has 
gained  all  her  victories  by  her  league  with  supernatural  forces.  When 
Moses  and  Aaron  went  before  Pharaoh  to  deliver  God's  message  and  plead 
for  his  people  they  went  depending  upon  supernatiu-al  power.  Aaron 
threw  down  his  rod,  and  away  it  ran  like  any  other  serpent,  and  away  ran 
the  soldiers  of  Pharaoh.  It  was  a  constant  appeal  to  God.  The  whole 
argument  was  based  on  God's  interference.     From  Moses  to  the  present 


ESSAY    OF  BISHOP    C.    H.    FOWLEK.  85 

time  God  has  honored  trust  in  him.  What  is  neede<l  more  than  all  else  is 
to  maintain  a  sharp  and  full  hold  upon  miraculous  power  to  make  over 
sinners  into  new  creatures  in  the  instant  of  faith. 

In  the  chilling  fog  of  higher  criticism,  which  is  higher  only  in  name  and 
assumption,  all  the  warmth  and  winsomeness  of  Christianity  are  destroyed. 
Our  type  of  religion  is  neutralized.  If  we  do  any  thing  it  must  be  by  the 
presence  and  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  "We  were  raised  up  as  a  witness  to 
this  power.  Our  mission  was  not  chiefly  to  preach  justification  by  faith. 
That  we  do  preach,  but  it  was  taught  centuries  before  Methodism  existed. 
We  were  not  to  teach  the  freedom  of  the  will.  This  we  do  teach,  but  we 
borrowed  it  from  saints  centuries  older  than  we.  We  w^ere  not  to  put  all 
our  emphasis  on  the  doctrine  of  sanctification.  Properly  understood,  we 
do  teach  that.  But  that  is  not  the  center  and  secret  of  Methodism.  That 
is  a  snug,  nice  little  parlor,  w^hen  a  few  souls  peculiarly  made  and  re-made 
can  sit  down  together  in  a  heavenly  place.  But  a  great  Church  that  is  to 
save  a  big  dying  world  must  be  vastly  larger  than  that,  many  more  sided 
than  that.  The  great  center  and  secret  of  Methodism,  tlie  reason  of  her 
existence,  is  to  bear  testimony  to  a  knowable  religion — religion  to  secure 
and  repeat  the  witness  of  the  Holy  Spirit  with  our  spirit  to  our  present 
state  of  grace.  This  is  the  supreme  doctrine  and  power  of  Methodism. 
When  we  lose  this  we  lose  our  hold  upon  God,  our  hold  upon  men,  and 
our  usefulness  among  sinners.  Let  us  run  into  the  coming  century  as  our 
fathers  ran  into  this,  proclaiming  and  relying  upon  this  greatest  of  all 
truths,  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  work  consciously  upon  the  hearts 
and  minds  of  men,  convincing  of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment 
to  come,  and  witnessing  to  believers  their  adoption.  The  power  that  made 
the  Church  grow  in  this  century  from  hundreds  to  millions  will  make  her 
grow  in  the  coming  century  from  millions  to  hundreds  of  millions,  to  all 
millions.  The  world  wants  men  with  convictions.  There  is  no  room  in 
the  advance  line  for  probabilities.  Nothing  but  felt  certainties  have  any 
power  in  them.  Lieutenant  Grant,  of  the  British  Army  in  India,  has  the 
secret.  After  his  eighty  natives  under  his  inspiration  conquered  four 
thousand  intrenched  natives,  one  of  his  soldiers  said,  "How  could  we  do 
any  thing  else  than  conquer  wdth  Lieutenant  Grant  Sahib  leading  us  ? " 
He  has  not  only  won  a  captain's  commission  and  the  Victoria  Cross,  but 
unless  found  by  some  stray  bullet  he  has  cleared  the  way  to  a  general's 
star.  Our  greatest  want  is  to  maintain  a  firm  hold  upon  a  supernatural 
religion  that  accepts  science  as  a  re-want  and  laughs  her  out  of  camp  as  a 
commander,  contented  to  go  up  or  down  with  almighty  God. 

Our  next  need  is  ideas.  We  must  reach  out  in  all  directions  with  the  ap- 
pliances  necessary  for  varied  success.  We  ought  to  capture  and  utilize 
every  secret  that  brings  success  to  any  other  Church.  Romanism,  with  no 
pretense  to  converting  grace,  does  a  large  business  by  the  power  of  her 
organization  and  of  her  architecture.  The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
achieves  commendable  success  by  her  social  forces.  Congregationalism 
makes  itself  useful  by  her  emphasis  upon  education.  Presbyterianism 
holds  a  front  line  by  her  family  following  and  family  training.   The  great 


86  ECUMENICAL    METHODISM. 

Baptist  Church  pushes  forward  by  her  immense  energy  and  definite  cere- 
mony and  by  counting  as  good  fish  every  thing  that  comes  into  her  deep  sea 
net.  The  Salvation  Army  is  rolling  up  a  great  host  of  workers  by  abandon- 
ing her  pride  and  respectability  to  start  with,  and  by  providing  no  ambu- 
lances and  making  no  provisions  for  drones.  It  is  work  or  die.  Method- 
ism needs  the  courage  to  seize  and  utilize  all  these  ideas  from  the  cathe- 
dral to  the  rescue-mission,  from  the  university  to  the  family,  from  the  or- 
gan to  the  tambourine,  from  the  great  preacher  to  the  weeping  tramp. 
There  must  be  no  power  too  great  for  us  to  master  and  no  instrument  too 
humble  for  us  to  utilize. 

Again,  we  must  fight  for  the  centers  of  population.  Our  fathers  went 
into  the  country  because  there  were  few  cities  into  which  any  one  could  go. 
Asbury  said,  "I  will  show  the  preachers  that  I  can  work  in  the  country." 
Were  he  living  to-day,  like  Paul  he  would  seek  city  appointments.  Now 
the  people  are  moving  into  the  cities.  More  than  one  fourth  of  all  the 
people  have  moved  in  and  the  others  are  coming.  In  the  past  we  have 
legislated  from  the  stand-point  of  the  circuit.  Now  we  must  legislate  from 
the  stand-point  of  the  cities.  The  cities  are  the  forts.  Whoever  holds 
them  holds  the  future.  In  the  cities  the  extremes  meet  and  are  intensified. 
We  must  build  so  as  to  rival  and  overreach  Rome.  Our  cathedrals  must 
be  large  enough  for  all  classes,  and  our  workers  must  burrow  down  into 
the  lowest  levels.  The  problem  given  us  by  Providence,  which  we  must 
solve  or  perish,  is  how  to  save  the  cities.  At  all  costs  we  must  reach  all 
classes  and  unite  them  in  a  common  faith  and  in  a  common  brotherhood. 
The  Church  must  thus  settle  the  labor  difficulty.  If  we  allow  any  other 
agency  to  settle  it  we  must  give  place  to  that  agency  and  seriously  reduce 
our  usefulness  among  men. 

Another  want  is  consecrated  money.  Already  all  the  great  questions  of 
saving  this  world  are  reduced  to  questions  of  money.  We  have  the  Bible, 
the  steam-presses,  the  steam-ships,  the  open  world,  the  theology,  the  bib- 
lical scholarships,  the  general  intelligence,  the  personal  experience,  the 
consecrated  men  and  women.  All  that  we  now  lack  is  consecrated  money. 
God  seems  to  be  making  ready  to  give  us  this.  Look  at  the  vast  fortunes 
accumulated  in  a  single  life-time — more  vast  and  more  numerous  than  ever 
known  before.  Some  of  these  are  finding  their  way  into  Christian  work. 
Here  and  there  fabulous  fortunes  are  consecrated  to  good  purposes.  Sec- 
tions of  cities  are  seized  by  rich  and  holy  women  and  transformed  into 
holy  neighborhoods.  More  will  follow.  Methodism  must  catch  this  spirit 
and  inspiration.  I  believe  we  shall  soon  see  great  endowments  for  col- 
leges and  hospitals  and  homes  in  all  our  cities.  We  shall  see  great 
churches  and  cathedrals  that  will  compare  favorably  with  our  mansions. 
Never  before  was  consecrated  money  needed  more  or  could  it  do  so  much. 
May  God  pour  upon  the  whole  Church  the  spirit  of  liberal  planning  and 
princely  giving. 

Time  forbids  our  tracing  all  the  steps  by  which  the  scattered  societies 
along  the  Atlantic  coast  are  multiplied  into  the  great  hosts  that  fill  every 
commonwealth;  by  which  the  wandering  itinerant,  carrying  his  larder  and 


ESSAY    OF   BISHOP    C.    H.    FOWLER.  87 

his  library  in  his  saddlebags,  sleeping  often  in  the  forest  or  on  the  mount- 
ain-side where  night  overtakes  him,  is  transformed  into  the  great  com- 
pany of  ministers  upon  whose  preaching  and  steps  friendly  congregations 
wait  that  they  may  be  ministered  unto  in  heavenly  things  and  m.iy  minis- 
ter unto  him  in  earthly  things ;  by  which  the  society  with  thriftless  mem- 
bers, with  only  kitchens  and  barns,  with  the  scorn  of  sister  Churches  and 
the  mobs  of  the  ungodly,  have  been  supplanted  by  great  societies  with, 
temples  and  cathedrals  and  wealth  and  great  philanthropies,  and  abun- 
dant space  in  the  front  rank  of  Christian  denominations — time  will  not 
allow  us  to  trace  these  steps,  yet  we  ought  to  study  for  a  moment  the  proc- 
esses by  which  a  great  Church  is  made. 

How  is  a  soldier  made  ?  "Whence  comes  the  soldier  of  a  man  ?  A  lad 
taken  out  of  your  streets,  dressed  in  a  soldier's  uniform,  fed  on  a  soldier's 
rations,  carrying  a  soldier's  weapon,  and  marching  to  a  soldier's  music  is 
not  a  soldier.  He  is  only  a  lad,  clothed,  fed,  armed,  marched  like  a 
soldier.  The  soldier  of  a  man  is  generated  by  fiercer  processes.  It 
is  worried  in  by  long  marches.  It  is  pressed  in  by  long  watches  on  the 
picket-line.  It  is  filtered  in  by  the  dews  of  night.  It  is  washed  in  by 
the  rains  of  heaven.  It  is  starved  in  by  half  a  biscuit  a  day.  It  is  baked 
in  by  the  fever  on  the  hospital  cot.  It  is  blown  in  by  shot  and  shell.  It 
is  thrust  in  by  saber  and  bayonet.  That  is  where  the  soldier  of  a  man 
comes  from.  Do  you  know  where  the  great  Church  comes  from  ?  It  is 
not  merely  a  great  number  gathered  out  of  their  homes  one  day  in  seven, 
seated  in  cushioned  pews,  fed  on  refined  utterances,  baptized  at  the  holy 
altar,  and  recorded  in  the  church  record.  These  may  be  incidents  in  the 
production  and  experience  of  a  great  Church.  But  there  is  needed  infi- 
nitely more  than  all  these.  There  must  be  the  vivid  apprehension  of  the 
great  revealed  truths  about  accountability,  redemption,  heaven,  hell,  im- 
mortality, eternity.  There  must  be  an  awakened  conscience  which  sees 
in  sin  the  undying  worm  and  the  unquenchable  fire,  the  one  infinitely  hor- 
rid thing  that  God  hates,  against  which  his  awakened  wrath  flows  forever 
like  a  shoreless  ocean  of  fire.  There  must  be  a  deep  and  humiliating  ex- 
perience of  an  absolute  surrender  to  the  will  of  God,  taking  his  cause  in 
evil  as  well  as  in  good  report,  facing  foes,  enduring  persecutions,  enter- 
ing dungeons,  embracing  charred  stakes,  kissing  the  headman's  ax,  brav- 
ing the  tortures  of  scorn  and  contempt.  There  must  be  a  holy,  all-domi- 
nating purpose,  embracing  all  the  race  and  covering  all  the  years,  to  do 
the  utmost  possible  to  lift  this  dying  race  up  to  God.  A  people  thus 
convicted  and  equipped,  standing  upon  the  Rock  of  Ages,  inspired  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  taught  by  the  word  of  God,  may  rise  into  the  dignity  and 
power  of  a  great  Church.  God  help  us  that  we  may  have  not  only  the 
victories  of  past  greatness,  but  also  the  greatness  necessary  for  future 
victories ! 

I  cannot  close  without  looking  over  the  sweep  of  history  that  is  open 
behind  us  to  catch  God's  instruction  from  the  ages.  The  enduring  em- 
pires have  been  great  empires.  Egypt  with  her  many  centuries  was  a 
combination  of  many  provinces,  each  with  its  products,  arts,  wants,  and 


88  ECUMENICAL    METHODISM. 

commerce.  Greece  united  under  her  common  name  and  with  her  common 
sympathies  many  stately  provinces,  islands,  and  cities,  covering  every 
shade  of  courage  and  culture  from  Sparta  to  Athens,  and  she  stretches 
from  Inachus  founding  Argus  nineteen  centuries  before  Christ  to  that  cul- 
tivated group  in  Athens  sending  forth  light  and  wit  from  their  classic 
pens  nineteen  centuries  after  Christ.  The  one  hundred  and  twenty  prov- 
inces of  Syrian  and  Babylonian  empires  gave  breadth  to  that  dominion, 
and  the  breadth  insured  length.  Rome  has  been  a  factor  that  could  not 
be  counted  out  of  the  world's  compacts  for  twenty-five  centuries,  and  she 
stretched  her  breadth  over  the  surface  of  the  known  world.  The  vast  em- 
pires of  the  Moguls  were  made  great  by  unity  under  one  flag  of  the  Chiefs 
of  Asia.  The  magnificent  domain  of  Charlemagne  was  built  out  of  the 
timbers  of  many  states.  The  Holy  Roman  Empire,  that  did  so  much  for 
the  Roman  Church  and  for  the  Bourbon  family,  grew  out  of  consolidating 
the  states  of  Europe.  China,  coming  out  of  the  old  hive  in  Mongolia, 
reaching  down  into  the  Middle  Kingdom,  stretching  away  in  all  directions 
to  the  seas  or  mountains,  has  combined  all  the  great  provinces  iuto  an 
empire  that  stretches  through  forty-five  centuries  of  strife  and  over  four 
hundred  millions  of  jjeople.  Russia  has  risen  to  her  present  vast  power 
and  proportions  because  she  has  drawn  into  her  common  life  the  hard 
riders  from  the  steepes  of  Asia,  the  subtle  diplomatists  of  Poland,  the 
hardy  and  heroic  sons  of  Finland ;  compelled  to  unite  these  diverse  and 
multiiDlied  people,  she  has  had  greatness  thrust  upon  her. 

It  was  only  yesterday  that  Germany  was  composed  of  two  hundred  and 
sixteen  states  and  kingdoms,  and  was  powerless  as  a  rope  of  sand.  French 
troops  carried  the  eagles  of  the  south  through  the  streets  of  Berlin,  and 
the  weeping  Louise  fled  before  Napoleon  for  the  life  of  her  frightened 
boys.  But  to-day,  cemented  by  the  purpose  of  her  old  prime  minister,  by 
the  sword  of  Moltke,  and  by  the  iron  statesmanship  of  Bismarck  into  one 
great  Protestant  empire,  she  sits  at  the  head  of  the  council  table  of  the 
nations,  and  not  a  soldier  lifts  his  foot  in  Europe  without  her  permission. 
Not  long  ago  England  was  occupied  by  a  group  of  tribes  settled  in  sepa- 
rate countries,  and  she  was  the  helpless  prey  of  her  neighbors  from  the 
continent  of  her  own  feuds.  But  the  trend  of  civilized  life  has  turned 
and  strengthened  her  spirit  till  to-day  her  ships  carry  her  flag,  her  com- 
merce, her  liberties,  her  protection,  and  her  Protestantism  over  all  seas  and 
to  all  lands.  There  is  but  one  law  woven  into  the  history  of  all  peoples 
and  filtered  into  the  blood  of  all  races  and  molding  the  statesmanship  of 
all  ages,  and  that  is  this:  The  enduring  nations  hate  heen  great  nations. 
Unity  is  strength. 

This  law  holds  with  unabated  power  over  every  branch  of  the  Christian 
Church.  It  holds  over  the  power  of  Methodism.  You  and  I  may  nurse 
our  petty  politics  and  cavil  about  the  size  of  a  button  or  the  cut  of  a  gar- 
ment and  amuse  ourselves  with  the  shades  of  our  brigade  plumes  while 
the  common  enemies  of  our  evangelism  march  through  the  breaks  in  our 
ranks,  leaving  us  in  our  weakness  to  mourn  over  our  defeats.  But  there 
is  a  wiser  and  a  wider  statesmanship  within  our  reach,  which  shall  close 


ADDRESS    OF   BISHOP    C.    B.    GALLOWAY.  89 

Tip  all  breaks  in  tlie  ranks  of  Methodism,  economize  all  power  in  her  vast 
expenditures,  utilize  the  lielpfulness  of  kindly  friends,  and  compel  the  re- 
spect of  the  skeptical  classes.  You  and  I  may  first  go  with  our  littleness 
and  our  prejudices  to  our  little  and  forgotten  graves,  but  the  statesman- 
ship will  come.  I  see  it  borne  on  the  mighty  current  that  sweeps  through 
all  the  great  ages  of  history.  It  will  come.  It  is  in  the  trend  of  civili- 
zation. It  will  come.  It  has  the  spirit  of  Christianity.  Patient  within 
the  shadow^  stands  the  Prince  of  Peace  offering  us  the  crown  of  the  sal- 
vation of  this  great  continent  which  we  may  wear  when  we  are  one  in 
him.  Lord  Jesus,  give  us  time  and  we  will  come  to  oneness  in  thy  great 
spiritual  kingdom.  And  we  will  lift  this  great  nation  up  into  thy  right- 
eousness. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  C.  B.  Galloway,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Cliurch,  South,  gave  the  following  appointed  ad- 
dress : 

Mi-.  President  and  Brethren  :  In  speaking  of  the  present  status  of 
Metliodism  in  the  Western  Section  I  shall  endeavor  to  be  modest  and  con- 
servative in  statement,  and  to  this  I  am  admonished  by  a  Prussian  tourist 
who,  in  writing  of  Americans,  said:  "  They  prefer  broad  humor  and  de- 
light in  hyperbole." 

The  section  I  represent  has  a  rich  Methodist  heritage  and  apostolic  lin- 
eage. It  witnessed  the  early  missionary  labors  of  Mr.  Wesley,  albeit  the 
founder  of  Methodism  was  not  then  a  Methodist.  I  dare  say  his  memories 
of  those  two  years  were  more  profitable  than  pleasant.  We  can  claim  some 
first  things  in  the  South.  We  think  that  the  first  Methodist  sermon  in 
this  New  World  was  preached  there,  the  first  Methodist  society  organized, 
and  the  first  Methodist  chapel  built.  The  first  Sunday-school  in  America 
was  organized  by  Francis  Asbury  in  1786,  at  the  house  of  Thomas  Cren- 
shaw, in  Hanover  County,  Va.  It  was  to  aid  Mark  Moore  in  plant- 
ing our  cause  in  New  Orleans  that  led  to  the  organization  of  the  first  mis- 
sionary society  in  American  Methodism.  The  Gospel  according  to  Meth- 
odism took  early  and  strong  root  in  the  South.  It  was  eminently  adapted 
to  the  genius  and  spirit  of  our  genial  parallels.  Its  fervor  and  fire  just 
suited  the  daring  and  dash  of  the  cavalier.  Its  broad  catholicity  found 
response  in  his  unbounded  generosity;  its  brotherliness  in  his  peerless 
manhood;  and  its  spirit  of  conquest  in  his  splendid  courage  and  heroic 
fortitude. 

There  Methodism  found  warm  hospitality  and  most  rapid  growth.  In 
1774  there  were  six  hundred  and  eighty-three  members  in  society  in  the 
upper  districts  and  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty-four  in  the  South. 
In  1784  there  were  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  seven  in  the  North  and 
thirteen  thousand  three  hundred  and  eighty-one  in  the  South.  Nearly  all 
of  the  early  native  itinerant  preachers  were  from  beneath  our  Southern  sun. 
From  there  Jesse  Lee  went  eastward  and  planted  Methodism  in  New  En- 
gland, Freeborn  Garretson  to  Nova  Scotia,  and  others  across  the  mount- 
ains to  the  great — the  ultimate — West. 


90  ECUMENICAL   METHODISM. 

And  that  wonderful  growth  has  continued.  In  the  South  every  sixth 
soul  is  a  Metlioilist — the  largest  relative  Methodist  population  in  the  United 
States.  In  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  alone  we  have  one 
million  two  hundred  and  eighteen  thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty-one 
members. 

Methodism  is  honored  as  a  Church,  a  distinct  and  distinguished  member 
of  the  body  of  Christ.  It  bears  all  the  marks,  carries  all  the  credentials 
of  an  institution  of  God.  It  has  passed  its  apologetic  period.  We  have 
not  only  demonstrated  our  right  to  live,  but  commanded  recognition  as 
probably  the  most  potent  moral  and  religious  factor  of  our  times.  The 
old  days  of  ridicule  and  persecution  have  passed.  Methodism  now  enjoys 
a  historical  and  spiritual  prestige  unequaled  by  any  Protestant  denomina- 
tion. It  has  wrought  itself  deeply  into  the  life  of  society.  We  are  under 
no  social  bans,  we  are  restrained  by  no  social  or  political  limitations. 
All  classes  of  mind,  all  degrees  of  culture,  all  grades  of  wealth,  all  stations 
of  political  or  commercial  importance  and  responsibility  are  open  to  us 
and  are  addressed  weekly  from  our  pulpits.  Plowmen  and  governors 
and  presidents  alike  await  on  our  ministry. 

We  insist  upon  a  consecrated  ministry,  divinely  called  and  preaching 
the  doctrines  of  salvation  attested  by  their  own  experiences.  With  Charles 
Wesley  we  sing : 

' '  What  we  have  felt  and  seen 

With  confidence  we  tell, 
And  publish  to  the  sons  of  men 

The  signs  infallible." 

The  burden  of  our  proclamation  is  a  present  conscious  forgiveness  of  sins. 
As  some  one  has  happily  phrased  it,  we  preach:  "  1.  Man  is  lost;  2.  Man 
may  be  saved  if  he  will ;  3.  He  may  be  saved  now,  with  a  tremendous 
emphasis  upon  the  now." 

We  guard  with  jealous  care  the  doctrinal  purity  of  Methodism.  Theo- 
logical adventurers  and  creed-makers  are  not  at  a  premium  among  us. 
Isms,  social  and  religious,  do  not  flourish  in  our  conservative  atmosphere. 
And  whether  to  our  credit  or  not,  there  is  little  hospitality  to  "  advanced 
thought"  and  the  "  higher  criticism." 

Nor  are  the  people  less  loyal  to  our  grand  system  of  church  govern- 
ment. Some  one  has  petulantly  denominated  it  "  a  naked  ecclesiastical 
despotism,"  yet  we  honor  its  history,  rejoice  over  its  triumphs,  and  love 
its  very  sacrifices.  After  the  trial  of  more  than  a  century,  our  people  are 
abundantly  satisfied  with  tlie  itinerancy  and  general  superintendency.  The 
essential  features  of  our  polity  are  guarded  with  the  same  jealous  and 
sacred  care  as  is  our  doctrinal  integrity. 

One  fact  may  be  mentioned  with  emphasis — we  adhere  rigidly  to  the 
methods  and  spirit  of  the  fathers  in  assigning  the  preachers  to  their  work. 
Ours  is  a  sent  and  not  a  called  ministry.  Our  appointments  are  not  rat- 
ifications of  pre-arrangements  between  charges  and  preachers.  It  is  con- 
sidered an  impeachment  of  itinerant  fidelity  to  ask  for  a  certain  appoint- 
ment.    The  more  perfect  the  abandonment  of  thought  or  desire  for  spe- 


ADDRESS    OF   BISHOP    C.    B.    GALLOWAY.  91 

cial  place,  the  nearer  our  approach  to  the  ideal  apostolate.  Brave  old 
veterans  among  us  look  back  with  pardonable  pride  upon  the  fact  that 
through  long  and  heroic  careers  they  "  never  intimated  to  bishop  or  pre- 
siding elder  a  wish  for  any  particular  appointment."  Preachers  are  sent 
without  inquiry  as  to  whether  it  would  be  agreeable  for  them  to  move,  or 
where,  or  when.  All  surrender  themselves  for  labor  without  choice  of 
pastorate  or  measure  of  compensation.  And  no  army  of  earth  can  show 
fewer  men  to  desert  the  flag  or  flee  the  field.  Wonderful  system !  Its 
like  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  whole  range  of  ecclesiastical  history.  Won- 
derful men !  Their  peers  are  not  in  all  the  annals  of  heroism  or  the  stories 
of  chivalry. 

There  is  little  or  no  sentiment  among  us  in  favor  of  removing  the  dis- 
abilities of  the  men  or  imposing  a  "fancy  franchise"  upon  the  women. 
We  interpret  Paul  as  our  fathers  did  and  w^ere  not  confounded.  Our  glo- 
rious women  are  home-keepers.     I  represent  a  land  of  large  families. 

I  mention  with  grateful  pleasure  the  healthy  growth  of  Methodism  in 
our  cities.  In  this  respect  it  is  keeping  time  with  the  tides.  It  has  been 
supposed  that  our  itinerant  system,  so  eminently  useful  in  pioneer  work, 
lacks  the  conservatism  needed  for  older  and  denser  populations ;  that  it 
flourishes  in  the  country,  but  it  fails  in  the  city.  And  when  we  consider 
the  immense,  if  not  dangerous,  drift  of  population  from  the  rural  districts 
to  the  cities,  this  question  is  invested  with  momentous  import.  During 
this  century— from  1790  to  1890— the  urban  population  of  the  United 
States  increased  from  3.35  per  cent,  to  29.13  per  cent.,  or  from  one 
thirtieth  to  nearly  one  third  of  the  total  population.  From  1880  to 
1890  the  increase  was  from  22.57  per  cent,  to  29.12  per  cent.  The 
number  of  cities  with  more  than  8,000  inhabitants  increased  during 
the  last  ten  years  from  286  to  443.  The  smaller  per  cent.,  however, 
of  this  growth  is  in  the  South  Atlantic  and  South  Central  divisions 
of  our  country.  With  very  few  exceptions  our  Methodism  has  not 
only  kept  pace  with  but  exceeded  the  increase  of  the  urban  population. 
A  distinguished  author  and  minister  of  another  Church  said  a  few  years 
ago :  ' '  The  frontiers  of  modern  civilization  are  in  the  cities,  and  America 
expects  Methodism  to  man  the  frontiers."  It  is  well  for  us  to  heed  that 
exhortation,  and  endeavor  to  meet  that  sublime  expectation. 

But  while  our  growth  has  been  gratifying  in  the  cities,  our  advance  has 
been  majestic  in  the  rural  districts.  There  we  have  won  our  greatest  tri- 
umphs— there  may  be  found  our  crown  of  glory.  While  emphasizing  the 
importance  of  strengthening,  of  garrisoning  the  cities,  I  would  not  un- 
dervalue the  work  of  the  country.  We  must  encourage  ' '  those  who  preacn 
the  Gospel  to  the  men  who  live  by  the  plow."  From  the  country,  from 
towns  and  villages — away  from  the  rush  and  ruin  of  city  life — come  the 
men  and  women  of  moral  worth  and  patriotic  purity  and  mental  power. 
There  we  raise  a  purer,  sturdier  citizenship  on  whom  the  country  can  rely 
in  times  of  danger,  and  to  whom  the  Church  will  look  to  champion  her 
faith  and  be  its  most  apostolic  and  zealous  propagandists. 

In  its  relation  to  intemperance  and  the  liquor  traffic,  that  matchless  evil 


92  ECUMENICAL    METHODISM. 

of  the  age,  Methodism  in  the  South  stands  squarely  for  total  abstinence 
and  legal  prohibition.  Our  last  General  Conference  adopted  with  enthu- 
siasm a  report  which  contained  these  strong  and  stirring  words :  ' '  We 
are  emphatically  a  prohibition  Church.  .  .  .  We  are  opposed  to  all  forms 
of  license  of  this  iniquity,  whether  the  same  be  'high'  or  'low.'  It  can- 
not be  put  so  'high'  that  the  prayers  of  God's  people  for  its  suppression 
will  not  rise  above  it,  nor  so  '  low, '  though  it  makes  its  bed  in  hell,  that 
the  shrieks  of  the  souls  lost  through  its  accursed  agency  will  not  descend 
beneath  it."  But  while  we  are  a  prohibition  Church  we  are  not  a  pro- 
hibition party  Church.  Christ  and  Caesar  are  at  peace,  but  they  are  inde- 
pendent. I  give  it  as  my  matured  opinion  that  the  Church,  as  such,  can- 
not ally  herself  to  any  political  party,  though  every  plank  in  its  platform 
be  in  accord  with  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  But  on  high,  proper,  script- 
ural grovmds  we  are  moving  with  locked  shield  and  quickened  steps  to  the 
redemption  of  our  fair  land  from  this  accursed  evil.  And  our  cause  prom- 
ises to  be  a  conquest.  Already  over  one  half  of  the  total  area  of  the  South 
is  under  prohibition  in  the  form  of  local  option.  The  cause  is  moving  on 
and  will  triumph.  The  world  can  scarcely  present  a  parallel  to  the  ma- 
jestic speed  of  its  march.  The  people  have  decreed  it — the  saloon  must 
go ;  if  not  to-day,  to-morrow.  It  is  a  question  of  conscience,  of  principle, 
of  duty  to  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man. 

In  our  section  we  have  not  reached  the  acute  stage  of  the  irrepressible 
conflict  with  the  aggressions  of  the  Romish  Church.  With  the  exception 
of  Louisiana,  originally  settled  and  owned  for  years  by  the  French,  we 
have  comparatively  few  Roman  Catholics  in  the  South.  In  my  native 
State  of  Mississippi,  with  her  78,000  Southern  Methodists,  the  Romanists 
number  11,348.  In  Georgia  there  are  11,288  Romanists,  and  134,340 
members  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  alone.  In  North 
Carolina  we  have  a  membership  of  108,999,  while  the  Roman  Catholics 
have  only  2,640.  But  we  heartily  unite  with  you  in  resisting  that  subtle 
and  powerful  enemy  of  the  open  Bible  and  the  common  school  and  the 
vital  principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty. 

Southern  Methodism  has  made  a  history  in  the  cause  of  missions  among 
the  negroes  that  never  can  be  forgotten.  The  great  leaders  of  the  Church 
consecrated  to  it  their  splendid  and  warmest  abilities.  Bishop  Capers 
stirred  the  whole  Church  in  its  behalf,  wrote  catechisms  for  their  Sunday- 
schools,  and  preached  to  them  every-where  with  a  power  jjeculiarly  his 
own.  On  the  marble  shaft  that  marks  his  grave  is  this  inscription :  "  The 
Founder  of  Missions  to  the  Slaves  of  South  Carolina."  The  bishops  said 
in  their  address  to  the  General  Conference:  "We  regard  these  missions  as 
the  crowning  glory  of  the  Church ; "  and  the  General  Conference  in  its 
pastoral  address  responded:  "The  salvation  of  the  colored  people  in  our 
midst  is  the  primary  duty  of  the  Southern  Church."  In  1861  we  had  over 
two  hundred  thousand  colored  members.  Our  interest  in  them  has  not 
abated ;  our  responsibility  has  not  ended.  We  are  committed  as  strongly 
to  their  elevation  to-day  as  ever,  and  Providence  is  opening  effectual 
doors  for  us  to  enter. 


ADDKESS    OF    BISHOP    C.    B.    GALLOWAY.  93 

But  time  would  fail  me  to  tell  of  our  church  extension  work — spending 
over  a  half  million  dollars  therefor  in  the  past  eleven  years,  bmlding,  as 
we  did  last  year,  one  new  church  for  every  nineteen  hours  in  the  three 
hundred  and  sixty -five  days ;  of  our  growing  Sunday-school  work  and  the 
Epworth  League  movement;  and  of  the  great  and  effectual  doors  the 
Holy  Spirit  has  opened  to  our  missionary  enterprise.  "We  are  carrying  the 
Gospel  to  Japan,  China,  Brazil,  Mexico,  and  the  Indians,  and  in  every 
field  the  cause  is  wonderfully  blessed  of  God. 

There  is  an  educational  revival  among  us ;  this  vital  interest  is  now 
dominant.  Believing  that  the  Church  that  educates  is  the  Church  of  the 
future,  we  are  building  and  endowing  schools  and  colleges  as  never  be- 
fore. I  have  a  near  neighbor.  Major  R.  W.  Millsaps,  who  has  just  given 
$65, 000  for  the  establishment  of  a  male  college  in  Mississippi,  and  his 
generous  benefaction  has  stirred  to  the  depths  the  Methodist  hearts  of  the 
South-west. 

I  confess,  without  repentance,  that  our  contributions  to  literature  have 
not  been  many  or  massive.  It  is  not  to  our  discredit.  We  have  been  too 
busy  doing  the  work  of  evangelists  to  write  books.  The  problems  of  a 
new  country — keeping  pace  with  the  daring  pioneer,  preempting  the  land 
for  Christ,  meeting  and  evangelizing  the  vast  thousands  of  immigrants 
hurrying  to  our  shores,  building  schools  and  churches,  laying  the  founda- 
tions of  a  great  Christian  civiliziition — have  so  consumed  time  and  energy 
as  to  have  little  room  for  learned  leisure.  We  have  been  doing  a  more 
difficult  and  imperative  work  than  writing  books.  The  Empress  Cather- 
ine said  to  a  French  savant :  ' '  My  dear  philosopher,  it  is  not  so  easy  writ- 
ing on  human  flesh  as  it  is  on  paper."  We  have  been  a  "voice  crying  in 
the  wilderness,"  rather  than  "the  pen  of  a  ready  writer."  If  we  have 
had  fewer  technical  scholars,  we  have  rejoiced  in  more  wise  evangelists, 
whose  crowns  are  gemmed  with  stars,  and  whose  works  do  follow  them. 
Yet  we  have  done  something,  and  our  contributions  are  daily  increasing. 
We  have  given  some  honored  names  to  Methodist  literature,  whose  works 
have  permanent  value.  We  have  Theodicy,  by  Bledsoe;  the  History  of 
Methodism,  by  Bishop  McTyeire;  The  Errors  of  Papacy,  The  Worlc  of 
Christ,  and  other  volumes  by  Marvin;  Systematic  Theology,  hj  ^Mmmevs; 
and  many  others  that  will  long  be  standard  among  us. 

One  fact  is  noticeable,  if  not  ominous,  among  us — a  growing  relative 
decrease  in  the  number  of  local  preachers.  In  Southern  Methodism  we 
have  6,366  local  preachers,  and  5,050  itinerant  preachers — an  increase  of 
only  498  local  preachers  in  the  decade,  while  the  itinerant  ministry  in- 
creased 1,036.  These  unpaid  lay  preachers  have  made  possible  our 
miraculous  history.  Bishop  Asbury  said:  "  They  are  the  body-guards  of 
our  cause."  Another  pronounced  them  "the  right  arm  of  the  itinerancy." 
The  foundations  of  American  Methodism  were  laid  by  local  preachers. 
Whether  the  historic  fact  is  ever  settled  as  to  who  deserves  the  honor  of 
preaching  the  first  Methodist  sermon  in  this  new  world,  Philip  Embury 
or  Robert  Strawbridge,  in  either  case  it  was  the  voice  of  a  local  preacher. 
Estimating  the  number  of  churches  in  Southern  Methodism  at  13,000,  and 


94  ECUMENICAL    METHODISM. 

the  number  of  effective  traveling  preachers  at  5,000,  we  have  7,000  con- 
gregations without  preaching  every  Sabbath.  If  every  local  preacher  in 
the  connection  filled  an  appointment  (which  we  know  is  not  tlie  case), 
there  would  still  be  a  thousand  or  more  congregations  without  a  gospel 
sermon  on  each  Lord's  day.  If  we  are  to  dispense  with  this  arm  of  our 
service — if  it  is  to  be  discontinued  as  one  of  the  chief  factors  in  our  sys- 
tem— I  fear  we  will  have  to  revise  the  whole  polity  of  the  Church,  or,  in 
other  words,  "unmethodise  Methodism."  It  may  be  that  wiser  and 
special  effort  should  be  directed  to  the  lay  agencies  and  activities  of  our 
Methodism.  The  vicarious  principle  cannot  be  transferred  into  Church 
work  without  infinite  peril.  We  cannot  rely  upon  a  regular,  well-paid 
ministry  to  do  all  the  preaching,  praying,  and  Christian  work  without 
paralyzing  the  vital  energies  of  the  Church  and  undermining  her  very 
foundations.  Every  member  must  be  a  worker,  and  every  slumbering 
faculty  awakened  and  mobilized  for  service.  Reliance  solely  upon  the 
pastors  will  reverse  the  history  of  a  century.  They  cannot  conduct  all  the 
social  meetings,  visit  all  the  sick,  carry  the  Gospel  from  house  to  house, 
and  then  plan  new  work — open  new  fields  for  the  sower  and  reaper. 
Methodism  has  ever  given  prominence  and  emphasis  to  the  work  of 
the  laity.     And  to  them  she  is  indebted  for  much  of  her  apostolic  history, 

Methodism's  greatest  peril  is  from  a  subtle  aggressive  worldliness,  and 
a  lack  of  wholesome,  positive  discipline.  With  our  unparalleled  growth  in 
numbers  and  rapid  increase  in  wealth,  we  are  in  danger  of  a  worldly  con- 
formity that  will  emasculate  strength,  impair  our  testimony  against  the 
vices  of  the  age,  and  delay,  if  not  defeat,  the  great  movements  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

During  the  session  of  the  Ecumenical  Conference  ten  years  ago,  in  City 
Road  Chapel,  the  London  Times  raised  the  question  as  to  whether  Method- 
ism had  staying  power.  That  question  is  to  be  answered  in  our  firm  ad- 
herence to  the  spirit  which  projected  the  Methodist  movement  and  has 
been  the  secret  of  its  miraculous  history.  I  believe  our  cause  is  to  con- 
tinue.    So  long  as  we  remain  a  witnessing  people  we  will  be  a  people. 

"  Our  flag  on  every  height  unfurled. 

And  morning  drum-beat  round  the  world," 

is  prophecy  of  grander  things  in  the  future  if  we  are  true  to  the  heritage 
of  the  fathers. 

The  Rev.  William  Bktggs,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
Canada,  gave  the  following  appointed  address  : 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Brethren  :  I  appear  in  your  presence  intrusted  with 
an  honorable  office  and  charged  with  an  agreeable  duty.  The  honorable 
office  is  that  of  a  member  of  this  Ecumenical  Council,  made  a  member  by 
the  Methodist  Church — the  Methodist  Church,  without  prefix  or  suffix — 
and  my  present  duty  is  to  state  as  well  as  I  can  in  the  few  minutes 
of  time  allotted  to  me  the  present  status  of  Methodism  in  that  part  of  the 
Western  Section  where  lives  and  thrives  the  Methodist  Church ;  I  mean 


ADDRESS    OF   KEY.    WILLIAM    BKIGGS.  95 

in  that  confederation  of  provinces  known  as  the  Dominion  of  Canada, 
and  in  the  island  of  Newfoundland,  the  oldest  transatlantic  possession  of 
Britain- — England's  most  ancient  colony,  and  the  first  mission-field  of 
Methodism — and  also  in  the  islands  of  Bermuda,  once  visited  by  Wliite- 
field.  The  Dominion  is  bounded  on  the  south  by  this  great  republic,  the 
United  States,  a  country  of  so  many  nationalities  that  a  witty  writer 
calls  America  ' '  the  half  brother  of  the  world ;  "  bounded  on  the  north  by 
the  Arctic  Ocean ;  on  the  east  by  the  Atlantic ;  and  on  the  west  by  the 
Pacific  Ocean.  We  have  thus  a  Bible  name  and  a  scriptural  boundary ; 
"a  dominion  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  unto  the  ends  of  the 
earth."  A  dominion  free  to  the  lover  of  liberty,  fair  to  the  lover  of 
beauty,  fertile  to  the  tiller  of  the  soil.  A  dominion  which,  by  its  peo- 
ple's holy  living,  will  bring  upon  it  the  ancient  blessing,  God's  guardian 
eye  "from  the  beginning  even  unto  the  end  of  the  year."  And,  sir, 
perhaps  this  is  why  the  members  of  the  Canadian  delegation  instinctively 
feel  at  home  in  their  allotted  place  in  this  council,  namely,  around  the 
north-east  pillar  within  the  body  of  the  Conference.  For  we  have  no 
dread  of  the  north,  but  the  opposite  feeling;  so  much  so,  that  when  the 
north  pole  is  reached  a  Canadian  will  doubtless  be  at  the  top  of  it  waving 
the  union  jack.  In  this  vast  territory  there  is  but  one  Methodism,  with 
the  exception  of  some  throbbings  of  Methodist  life  south  of  the  lakes  that 
have  struggled  for  an  organization  in  our  bracing  northern  clime.  But  in 
the  practical,  prevailing,  whole-country-covering  sense  of  the  word  there 
is  but  one  Methodism,  united  in  one  Church  called  the  Methodist 
Church.  Henceforth  in  our  organic  unity  we  need  no  such  auxiliary  phrases 
as  Wesleyan,  Episcopal,  New  Connection,  Primitive,  or  Bible  Christian  as 
local  definers;  the  grand  old  generic  word  "  Methodist  "  names  us  all 
with  sufficient  definiteness,  and  is  a  worthy  appellation.  For  in  all  the 
essentials  of  doctrine  we  were  one ;  in  all  the  best  things  one ;  in  highest 
thoughts  and  deepest  feelings  a  unit ;  and  we  might  have  echoed  the  figura- 
tive language  of  Owen  and  Goodwin  at  the  Savoy  Synod,  that  "though 
we  had  been  launched  singly,  we  had  all  been  steering  our  course  by  the 
same  chart  and  the  same  holy  and  blessed  truths  had  been  our  lading." 

We  have  in  the  whole  field  of  our  Church  over  a  million  members  and 
adherents — about  20  per  cent,  of  the  population  of  the  Dominion,  or 
nearly  one  third  of  the  Protestant  people  therein,  making  us  numerically 
the  leading  Protestant  Church  of  our  confederated  country,  and,  as  dem- 
onstrated by  census  figures,  are  increasing  our  numbers  by  a  larger  per- 
centage than  that  shown  by  the  growth  of  population.  The  population  of 
Canada  increased  in  the  last  ten  years  at  the  rate  of  llj  per  cent.  The 
Methodist  membership  increased  during  the  same  period  at  the  rate  of 
43  per  cent. 

The  whole  work  is  under  the  care  of  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  nine- 
teen ministers  and  over  three  thousand  local  preachers,  who  hold  "  the  unity 
of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace  "  and  who  are  preaching  a  theology  not  sad 
nor  sorrowful,  and  who  are  singing  a  hymnology  whose  versification  of  earth- 
ly existence  is  not  a  life-long  sigh ;  but  the  Te  Deum  spirit  prevails,  and  where 


96  ECUMENICAL    METHODISM. 

the  minor  of  the  melancholy  mood  wails  forth,  the  soul  of  our  Israel's  sweet- 
est singer  soon  comes  back  to  the  melody  of  the  opening  note : 

"  O  for  a  thousand  tongues  to  sing 

My  great  Redeemer's  praise, 
The  glories  of  my  God  and  King, 

The  triumphs  of  his  grace  !  " 

In  the  government  of  this  Church  there  is  a  quadrennial  General  Confer- 
ence composed  of  an  equal  number  of  ministerial  and  lay  delegates,  to 
whom  alone  is  committed  the  power  of  making  rules  and  regulations  for 
the  whole  Church.  There  is  one  general  itinerant  superintendent,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Carman,  a  member  of  this  council.  There  are  eleven  Annual 
Conferences.  The  Annual  Conference  is  composed  of  ministers  who  have 
been  in  the  work  four  years  and  have  been  ordained,  and  laymen  comple- 
mental  in  number  to  the  ministerial  members.  And,  sir,  whether  in  the 
quadrennial  parliament  of  our  Church  or  in  the  annual  assembly,  we 
have  found  our  laymen  acting  as  brethren  in  the  best  sense  of  the  best 
brotherhood  in  the  world — the  brotherhood  of  Methodism. 

A  word  or  two  about  the  status  of  Methodism  in  regard  to  our  mission- 
ary work.  The  missionary  cause  is  second  to  no  other  in  the  affections 
and  religious  interest  of  our  people ;  in  all  parts  of  the  country  and  among 
all  classes  of  the  community  a  common  and  predominant  sentiment  of  favor 
toward  it  exists,  based  on  the  conviction  that  the  cause  is  of  God,  and  that 
it  is  at  once  a  duty  and  a  privilege  to  contribute  to  its  efficiency.  Our 
Missionary  Society  is  sixty-seven  years  of  age.  It  had  the  first  year  an  in- 
come of  about  $140.  Last  year's  income  was  $240,000,  or  a  fraction  over 
one  dollar  a  member.  It  has  five  hundred  and  fifty  ministers,  teachers, 
and  native  assistants.  The  different  departments  are  home  missions 
throughout  the  Dominion  and  Newfoundland;  French  missions  in  the 
province  of  Quebec ;  Indian  missions  in  Ontario,  the  North-west  Territory, 
and  British  Columbia;  Chinese  missions  on  the  Pacific  coast;  a  large  and 
flourishing  foreign  mission  in  Japan ;  and  a  new  mission,  just  established,, 
in  West  Central  China. 

The  "Women's  Missionary  Society  is  a  society  young  in  years,  but  full  of 
zeal  in  its  special  work  and  worthy  of  the  increasing  annual  support  whicli 
it  receives,  last  year's  income  being  $28,000.  Its  fields  of  work  are  foreign 
and  at  home,  the  foreign  in  Japan.  The  Avomen  of  our  Methodism 
through  this  society  are  drawn  into  great  sympathy  to  lielp,  prayerfully 
and  practically,  the  workers  in  these  special  fields  of  operation — workers 
earnest,  consecrated,  cultured,  successful,  wise  in  winning  souls. 

The  leaders  of  our  Methodism  have  always  been  prominent  in  the  educa- 
tional work  of  the  country.  Our  national  system,  which  is  graduated  from 
the  public  school  through  the  high-school  and  the  collegiate  institute 
into  the  university,  is  largely  the  creation  of  tlie  Rev.  Dr.  Ryerson,  one 
of  the  heroes  of  the  days  of  pioneer  Methodism  in  Canada. 

Our  educational  enterprises  are  worthy  of  note.  In  the  fourteen  higher 
educational  institutions  belonging  to  Canadian  Methodism  we  have  two- 
thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty-two  students,  t;uiglit  by  one  hundred 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    WILLIAM    BEIGG8.  9T 

and  fifty-seven  professors  and  tutors.  The  annual  income  of  these  in- 
stitutions of  $190,209;  and  their  endowments  and  other  assets  amount 
to  over  $1,300,000.  They  have  in  the  past  fifty  years  graduated  over 
three  thousand  three  hundred  young  men  and  women  in  the  various 
courses  of  study,  nearly  six  hundred  of  these  receiving  the  B.A.  degree. 
Of  the  students  two  hundred  and  eight  are  pursuing  the  divinity 
course,  affording  a  full  supply  of  educated  men  for  the  ranks  of  our 
ministry.  Victoria  University  has  this  year  entered  upon  its  fifty-first 
year  of  university  work,  and  next  year  Mount  Allison  will  celebrate 
the  jubilee  year  of  its  foundation. 

Our  superannuation  fund  is  divided  into  two  sections,  Western  and 
Eastern — the  Western  embracing  our  entire  Avork,  except  the  maritime 
provinces,  which  are  under  the  control  of  the  three  Eastern  Conferences. 
Both  sections  together  have  an  invested  capital  of  over  a  quarter  of  a 
million  dollars,  the  income  from  which,  together  with  the  circuits  and 
preachers'  animal  contributions,  and  other  sources  of  revenue,  amounting 
to  about  $100,000  a  year,  enables  us  to  make  a  moderate  provision  for  our 
aged  ministers,  widows  of  deceased  ministers,  and  their  fatherless  chil- 
dren. 

With  the  first  Methodist  pioneers  in  Canada  came  the  Sunday-school, 
which  has  contributed  greatly  to  the  upbuilding  of  the  Church  of  God  in 
our  land.  We  have  now  over  3,000  schools,  with  more  than  29,000 
teachers,  and  nearly  232,000  scholars.  In  the  great  province  of  Ontario, 
the  most  populous  and  influential  in  the  Dominion,  the  Methodist  Sunday- 
schools  outnumber  those  of  all  the  other  Protestant  Churches  taken  to- 
gether. And  in  that  province  every  third  person  is  a  Methodist.  The 
new  social  and  religious  organization  among  the  young  people,  the  Ep- 
worth  League,  reached  in  eighteen  months  three  hundred  and  ninety 
leagues,  with  a  membership  of  nearly  seventeen  thousand,  and  is  growing 
with  remarkable  rapidity. 

The  arrangement  for  the  supply  of  Methodist  and  other  wholesome 
literature  consists  of  two  parts,  the  Toronto  Book  and  Publishing  House, 
having  a  branch  at  Montreal,  and  the  Halifax  Book  Room.  In  Toronto 
our  premises  are  large  and  commodious,  securing  room  for  all  the  other 
connectional  offices. 

The  capital  in  the  business  is  $275,000  and  the  annual  turnover  up- 
ward of  $400,000,  in  which  there  are  sales  of  250,000  books  and  upward 
of  400,000  tracts,  pamphlets,  etc. 

Our  periodical  issues  consist  of  the  Christum  Guardian,  the  oldest  relig- 
ious weekly  in  the  Dominion ;  the  Methodist  Magazine,  monthly ;  and  six 
Sunday-school  pojiers,  making  in  all  a  circulation  of  \ipward  of  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  each  issue.  The  Montreal  branch  and  the  Halifax 
Book  Room  are  doing  excellent  work  in  their  localities,  the' latter  house 
publishing  weekly  the  Wesley  an,  our  long  established  official  Church 
organ  for  the  maritime  provinces,  Newfoundland,  and  Bermuda.  The 
Toronto  Concern  contributes  part  of  its  profits  every  year  to  the  super- 
annuated ministers'  fund. 


98  ECUMENICAL    METHODISM. 

The  temperance  question  is  one  to  which  great  prominence  is  given  in 
all  parts  of  the  Dominion.  The  liquor-traffic  is  felt  to  be  a  gigantic  evil 
there  as  every-where — a  common  helper  to  all  villainy,  the  natural  milk  of 
criminality,  the  cause  and  curse  of  poverty,  perhaps  the  most  hopeless 
element  in  the  body  of  sin.  We  are  worthy  of  our  position  as  a  Church, 
namely,  as  the  first  and  foremost  in  fighting  this  foe. 

I  have  named  the  field  of  our  Church  and  the  extent  of  our  operations. 
Allow  me  in  conclusion  to  state  that  the  time  in  wliich  this  work  is  being 
done  gives  to  it  a  potency  of  remarkaljle  value.  In  Canada  and  the 
United  States  (if  the  brethren  belonging  to  this  side  of  the  line  will  allow 
me  to  annex  their  country  to  ours  in  this  statement)  the  growth  and  de- 
velopment of  Methodism  have  been  contemporaneous  with  the  growth 
and  development  of  these  nations.  For  be  it  remembered  that  Methodism 
has  been  as  the  mold  into  which  the  life  of  these  nations  has  poured  it- 
self, thus  giving  shape  as  well  as  permanence  to  the  social  religious  char- 
acter of  this  continent.  And  in  this  presence  it  would  be  impossible  to 
forget  that  after  reviving  a  dead  Church  and  rousing  a  slumbering 
nation  across  the  sea,  Methodism  comes  to  us  to  take  hold  of  a  new  life 
that  is  now  being  lived,  and  the  new  history  that  is  now  being  written, 
and  work  out  in  this  Western  world  the  great  thought  and  purpose  of 
God.  Nor  shall  any  one  charge  us  with  a  boastful  spirit  when  we  say 
that  in  this  new^  land,  where  every  thing  is  fresh  and  strong  and  vigorous, 
where  the  opportunities  are  manifold  and  multiplied,  it  would  seem  as 
though  Methodism  has  a  larger  mission  and  a  greater  prospect  of  success 
than  in  any  other  country  under  the  skies. 

Now,  sir,  this  is  our  Methodism;  its  government  pliable  without  sac- 
rificing principle,  and,  if  Bishop  Fowler  will  allow  me  to  use  one  of  his 
.figures  which  I  read  lately,  I  will  say,  "It  fits  dowm  into  all  the  hollows, 
and  up  around  all  the  knolls,  like  the  farmer's  old  sled  that  broke  all  the 
new  sleds  because  there  was  just  give  enough  in  it  to  avoid  the  strain." 
This  pliable  system  resting  upon  the  great  mass  of  the  Church  and  adjust- 
ing itself  to  changing  circumstances  was  not  an  invention,  but  a  growth 
in  the  order  of  Providence.  This  is  our  Methodism,  sir,  flexil)le,  adapted 
to  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men,  learned  and  illiterate,  in  city  or  coun- 
try, however  disparted  by  class  or  clime.  This  is  our  Methodism,  faith- 
ful in  its  teaching  and  preaching  the  "  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,"  ringing 
out  the  glad  tidings  that  Christ  Jesus  is  come  into  the  world  a  Saviour — a 
Saviour  for  every  sinner,  a  Saviour  for  every  sin.  This  is  our  Methodism 
"walking  abroad  in  the  sunshine,"  as  William  Morley  Punshon  repre- 
sented her  to  the  Manchester  Conference  in  England  years  ago.  And  she 
is  as  worthy  of  his  picture  of  her  in  every  feature  now  as  then.  "  Walk- 
ing abroad  in  the  sunshine,  cowering  beneath  no  ancient  shadow,  she  has 
taken  the  position  which  she  ought  always  to  take  among  the  Churches, 
standing  forth  in  her  comeliness  as  the  peer  of  all  and  in  her  charity  as 
the  friend  of  all ;  too  kind  to  be  the  enemy,  too  proud  to  be  the  vassal 
of  any,  and  too  affluent  in  spirit  and  resources  to  be  the  poor  relation  of 
any."     May  the  Lord  bless  her  more  and  more,  and  all  the  Churches  rep- 


ADDRESS    OF    BISHOP    B.    W.    ARNETT.  99 

resented  here,  and  widen  our  prayerful  wish — grace  be  with  all  them  that 
love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  B.  W.  Arnett,  D.D.,  of  the  African 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  gave  tlie  final  appointed  address, 
as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  The  subject  to  be  treated  by  me  is  the  status  of  Meth- 
odism in  the  Western  Section,  and  in  that  portion  which  is  geographically 
known  as  the  West  Indies,  Central  America,  Mexico,  South  America,  and 
the  United  States,  containing  a  population  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
million  two  hundred  and  forty-two  thousand  people,  and  of  that  popu- 
lation I  am  to  represent  this  afternoon  nineteen  million  fifty-four  thou- 
sand two  hundred  and  sixty-one,  and  all,  sir,  in  the  short  space  of  fifteen 
minutes. 

I  feel  the  importance  of  the  occasion.  I  feel  that  in  the  work  assigned 
us  the  committee  made  a  mistake;  they  ought  to  have  given  me  the  sub- 
ject of  African  Methodism  in  this  Western  Section.  In  other  words,  I  am 
to  show,  if  I  can,  that  there  are  two  sides  to  this  question — there  is  a  light 
side  and  a  dark  side.  I  must  find,  if  I  can,  a  relation  to  the  children 
that  have  come  to  sit  around  this  common  table.  I  must  prove  to  you,  if  pos- 
sible, that  we  have  a  mother,  and  it  is  a  very  difficult  matter  sometimes 
for  a  mother  even  to  recognize  her  own  children. 

When  they  were  looking  for  the  first  things  yesterday  I  wondered  if 
there  was  any  left  for  me.  I  remember  this,  sir,  in  the  history  of  John 
Wesley,  that  on  the  30th  of  November,  1758,  he  recorded  the  fact  that  he 
baptized  Nathaniel  Gilbert  and  two  colored  women.  Sir,  we  are  your 
brethren ;  one  in  origin,  one  in  responsibility,  and  one  in  destiny. 

There  are  Christians  here  who  say  that  Methodism  was  born  in  New 
York;  others  that  it  was  born  in  Sam's  Creek.  If  you  go  to  New  York, 
Philip  Embury  is  there  and  Betty  the  African  servant ;  and  if  you  go  to 
Sam's  Creek  you  are  told  that  of  the  twelve  persons  Aunt  Annie  Switzer 
was  among  them.  So,  sir,  you  see  we  are  connected  with  the  British  and 
the  American  Methodisms.  No  matter  where  they  find  their  source,  we 
are  there,  and  by  the  grace  of  God  we  are  going  to  stay  there. 

So  whatever  belongs  to  you  belongs  to  us.  If  you  have  had  heroes  in 
the  past,  so  have  we.  If  you  have  had  noble  men  in  the  past,  so  have  we. 
If  you  have  had  noble  women  in  the  past,  so  have  we.  Among  the  first 
things,  it  was  said  here  on  yesterday  that  Bishop  Asbury  organized  the 
first  Sunday-school  at  Creashaws  in  Virginia.  Dr.  Bennett  is  good  au- 
thority, and  Dr.  Atkinson  is  good  authority.  You  can  find  that  John 
Carston,  a  colored  boy,  was  the  first  convert  in  that  school.  These  are  only 
a  part  of  our  first  things,  and  we  come  here  to-day  to  answer  to  this  body 
for  what  God  has  done  for  us  in  the  past  and  what  he  is  doing  for  us  now. 

We  say  to  you  to-day  that  our  growth  there  lias  been  marvelous. 
Wonderful  have  been  our  privileges;  and  Methodism  is  the  only  organ- 
ization, or  the  first  organization  in  the  world,  to  take  a  special  interest  in 


100  ECUMENICAL    METHODISM. 

the  salvation  of  the  negro  race.  lu  1790  Francis  Asburv,  at  diaries- 
ton,  Carolina,  proposed  the  first  Sunday-school  effort  for  the  negro. 
In  1827  Bishop  Capers,  a  grand  and  noble  man,  proposed  the  first  mis- 
sion to  the  Santee  slaves.  And  so  the  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God  w^as  preached 
to  masters  and  slaves  in  Columbus,  S.  C,  and  on  the  Santee.  It  is  true 
that  we  sometimes  had  to  sit  up  high,  but  we  got  the  Gospel  just  the 
same,  and  we  heard  the  word  of  salvation  just  the  same.  In  the  North 
we  had  to  sit  behind  the  door,  but  we  heard  the  Gospel  just  the  same; 
and  to-day  I  come  representing  a  constituency  of  men  and  women  who 
are  the  product  of  a  century  of  prayer,  a  century  of  tears,  a  century  of 
labor  and  exaltation  of  Christianity  and  Methodism. 

Sir,  we  owe  more  to  Methodism  than  to  any  other  organization  in  this 
country  for  the  present  status  of  the  negro  race ;  and  we  come  here  to-day 
in  behalf  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church,  that  grand  or- 
ganization of  men.  They  have  had  23  superintendents  and  bishops, 
and  to-day  they  have  6  living  intelligent  men  on  your  floor,  representing 
423,000  members  and  300,000  Sunday-school  scholars,  led  on  by  Bishops 
Moore  and  Hood  and  Harris,  and  by  the  matchless  orator  J.  C.  Price. 

We  come  also  to  represent  the  Colored  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
the  first  daughter  of  the  Methodist  Church,  South,  and  the  first  child  and 
the  only  one  she  ever  had  or  ever  will  have.  They  have  1,800  preachers 
and  175,000  members.  They  have  3,100  churches  valued  at  $1,500,000. 
But,  sir,  I  come  not  only  to  represent  them  here  and  to  present  to  you 
whatever  facts  and  statistics  I  can  gather,  but  to  tell  our  friends  from 
across  the  water  that  with  the  heritage  given  us  by  our  liberty  and 
freedom  we  are  doing  the  best  we  can.  We  find  that  the  Colored  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  and  the  Zion  Church  and  the  African  Meth- 
odist Eiiiscopal  Church,  of  which  I  have  the  honor  to  be  a  member,  are  all 
doing  well.  The  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  3,849  travel- 
ing preachers,  9,753  local  preachers  and  exhorters,  and  466,225  members, 
and  thus  you  see  that  these  three  organizations  have  about  8,752  traveling 
preachers  belonging  to  the  African-Methodist  race,  or  the  Methodist- 
African  race,  as  you  choose  to  j)ut  it. 

Then  there  are  our  friends  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  they 
are  learning  every  day — and  so  are  we,  for  that  matter.  They  have  2,803 
and  more  traveling  preachers.  Take  the  8,000  and  your  odd  numbers  and 
your  2,303,  and  it  gives  you  11,055  colored  preachers  in  the  United  States. 
Now,  is  not  this  a  good  showing  ?  Can  you  beat  it  ?  These  are  some  of 
our  first  things.  Then  behind  all  these  come  the  local  preachers;  and 
they  come  along  in  grand  numbers.  God  is  calling  them  every  day  and 
every  night,  either  by  dreains  or  by  signs.  There  are  .26,000  local  preach- 
ers. Take  the  11,000  traveling  preachers  and  your  26,000  local  preachers, 
and  you  have  37,000  colored  preachers  who  are  at  work  in  this  land 
preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God  every  Sunday—  at  least  two  ser- 
mons, and  every  sermon  with  at  least  one  idea. 

And  then  upon  our  local  preachers  come  our  exhorters  and  class-leaders 
and  stewardesses,  for  -we  are  ahead  of  our  white  brethren  in  that  respect. 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  101 

"We  have  harnessed  the  women  up  and  put  them  to  work ;  and  they  do 
not  want  to  go  to  the  General  Conferences — they  are  satisfied  at  home. 
We  have  a  total  membership  of  1,333,342.  That  is  what  we  present  to 
you  to-day.  Think  of  that.  Multiply  your  1,333,242  by  four,  and  we  liave 
the  grand  sum  of  a  population  of  over  5,000,000  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren depending  upon  the  pulpit  for  their  moral  and  religious  instruction. 
We  claim  that  more  than  half  the  negroes  in  the  United  States  are  either 
directly  or  indirectly  influenced  by  the  African  Methodist  pulpits  of  this 
country. 

Then,  sir,  I  could  go  on  and  show  to  you  the  other  work  which  we  are 
doing  in  education,  etc.,  not  only  in  religion.  Not  only  are  we  trying  to 
get  salvation  for  these  people,  but  we  are  trying  to  see  that  they  shall  live 
on  earth.  We  are  not  alone  teaching  our  people  how  to  walk  on  the  gold- 
paved  streets  of  heaven,  but  we  want  them  to  know  how  to  walk  upon  the 
streets  of  Washington.  We  are  not  alone  teaching  them  how  to  wear  the 
lonsr  white  robe  in  heaven,  but  how  to  clothe  their  wives  and  children 
and  themselves  here.  They  must  not  alone  have  the  Bible,  but  they  must 
have  the  spelling-book.  They  must  have  the  Bible  too,  and  they  must 
have  the  pocket-book  and  the  bank-book.  With  these  three  books — the 
spelling-book  and  the  Bible  and  the  pocket-book — Methodism  will  con- 
quer the  world.  The  spelling-book  is  the  key  to  knowledge ;  the  Bible  is 
the  key  to  heaven;  and  the  pocket-book  the  way  to  win  the  Anglo-Saxon 
heart. 

The  Kev.  J.  M.  Buckley,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Metliodist 
Episcopal  Church,  introduced  the  general  discussion,  as  fol- 
lows : 

Mr.  President:  I  take  the  platform  because  my  seat  is  in  the  aisle,  and 
because  there  was  a  general  call  to  take  the  platform.  I  have  the  same 
reason  for  wishing  elevation  that  Zaccheus  had  when  he  climbed  the  tree. 

Now,  in  regard  to  the  subject  before  us,  I  wish  to  speak  of  the  value 
and  use  of  statistics.  It  is  the  opinion  of  some  persons  tliat  the  Meth- 
odists in  giving  these  statistics  are  simply  piling  up  a  monument  of  earthly 
pride;  and  it  has  been  intimated  by  a  denomination  in  this  country, 
which  has  never  yet  gained  a  half  a  million  of  members,  that  we  spend  a 
great  deal  of  time  over  our  statistics. 

The  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament  prohibited  the  numbering  of  the 
people  when  the  work  of  the  chosen  people  was  to  be  accomplished  chiefly 
by  miraculous  displays  of  God's  wisdom  and  power.  The  moment  the 
New  Testament's  evangelical  work  began  we  find  statistics  given — the 
number  of  converts  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  and  on  one  or  two  other  oc- 
casions being  specified.  We  find  many  statistics  in  the  Book  of  Revela- 
tion. Statistics  are  given  of  the  elders  and  even  of  the  beasts;  and  we 
infer  that  the  only  reason  that  a  summary  of  the  "finally  saved  "  is  not 
given  is  that  they  were  so  innumerable  that  no  man  could  number  them. 

Statistics  are  of  vital  im]iortance.  Our  Methodist  fathers  began  with 
them.  We  acquired  the  habit  of  giving  statistics  from  John  Wesley,  who 
required  every  helper  to  bring  the  census  of  his  work.  If  statistics  simply 
mean  so  many  human  bodies,  they  may  be  a  fearful  delusion;  but  if  they 
mean  men  and  women  who  have  professed  a  willingness  to  pass  from  death 


102  ECUMENICAL    METHODISM. 

into  life,  these  statistics  are  of  the  first  importance,  and  they  are  a  wonder- 
ful means  of  encouragement.     Of  course,  they  can  be  carried  too  far. 

Now,  if  our  distinguished  friend  Dr.  Briggs  is  correct  when  he  says 
that  over  one  third  of  the  population  of  Ontario  are  Methodists — and  I 
have  no  reason  to  doubt  it — and  we  allow,  as  some  persons  say,  foiu-  per- 
sons for  every  one  who  belongs  to  the  Church,  we  annihilate  the  popula- 
tion of  Ontario  with  its  millions,  and  call  for  about  twenty-five  per  cent, 
more.  So  you  see  that  statistics  can  be  carried  too  far.  The  fact  in  the 
case  is  that  we  have  not  a  right  upon  the  average  to  assume  more  than  two 
constituents  in  addition  to  each  member. 

There  is  a  material  difference  between  the  statistics  of  English  Churches 
and  our  own.  The  English  Churches  only  make  statistics  of  persons  who 
attend  class;  in  this  country  that  is  not  the  case.  Our  statistics  do  not, 
therefore,  stand  for  so  mucli  for  that  reason  as  the  statistics  of  the  Wesleyan 
connection,  and  such  Churches  as  agree  with  it. 

Now,  one  word  and  I  shall  conclude.  We  were  told  this  morning  by 
Dr.  Waller  that  there  are  in  the  Church  which  he  represents  four  hundred 
and  eighty-six  thousand  communicants,  as  I  understood  him.  Now,  the 
daughter  of  the  Church  of  England,  which  has  been  here  from  the  begin- 
ning, and  is  in  some  cities  in  the  possession  of  immense  endowments,  de- 
rived prior  to  the  Revolutionary  VVar,  has  never  yet  in  the  United  States 
accumulated  a  membership  amounting  to  four  hundred  and  eighty-six 
thousand.  Furthermore,  it  is  the  boast  of  many  of  the  rectors  of  that 
Church  that  a  very  large  number  of  its  communicants  have  come  from 
other  denominations.  Hence  these  statistics  of  ours  present  a  most  stu- 
pendous problem.  It  is  a  stupendous  problem  how  any  one  Church  can 
achieve  such  marvelous  results  in  comparison  with  the  only  apostolic 
Church. 

As  for  our  property  statistics,  observe  this :  All  this  vast  amount  of 
property  is  the  free  gift  of  the  people,  rich  and  poor.  There  is  no  State 
tax  here  for  the  support  of  religion,  nor  is  any  man  threatened  with  dam- 
nation or  excommunication  if  he  will  not  contribute.  The  people  give 
freely.  There  is  no  charge  for  funerals.  There  is  no  charge  for  baptism, 
and  there  is  no  charge  for  any  thinj;.  So  that  the  statistics  of  property 
not  only  stand  for  so  many  dollars  and  cents,  but  they  stand  for  the  feel- 
ings of  the  hearts  of  the  people. 

The  Eev.  A.  B.  Leonard,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  made  tlie  following  remarks  : 

I  am  quite  sure  that  our  friends  from  the  other  side  of  the  water  are  by 
this  time  thoroughly  convinced  that  we  on  this  side  of  the  water  know 
how  to  sound  our  own  trumpets.  But  I  want  to  say  a  word  with  refer- 
ence to  the  status  of  Methodism  in  this  Western  Section  from  tlie  stand- 
point of  our  missionary  operations.  Our  Missionary  Society  is  now 
seventy-two  years  old,  having  been  first  organized  in  the  year  1819,  and 
that  Missionary  Society  has  grown  in  its  strength  and  in  its  resources  year 
by  year  until  this  day,  so  that  now  it  ranks  among  the  greatest  missionary 
societies  in  the  world. 

About  the  time  of  its  organization,  a  member  of  the  Baltimore  Confer- 
ence, I  think  it  was,  declared  that  he  hoped  to  see  the  day  when  the  in- 
come of  this  society  would  be  at  least  a  thousand  dollars  a  year.  We 
think  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  on  the  31st  day  of  this  month,  when 
our  fiscal  year  closes,  we  shall  report  $1,250,000  as  our  income  for  the  year; 
and  if  we  add  to  this  sum  that  of  our  Woman's  Home  Missionary  Society 
and  our  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  and  the  contributions  for 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  103 

missions  in  other  directions,  we  shall  reach,  I  think,  a  grand  total  of  but 
little  less  than  $1,800,000. 

The  Missionary  Society  has  done  a  great  part  of  the  work  of  planting 
Methodism  in  the  more  central  West  and  North-west.  When  we  start 
westward,  sir,  from  New  York,  and  cross  the  western  line  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, touching  the  soil  of  Ohio,  we  say  that  we  are  on  Methodist  territory. 
And  as  we  go  westward  from  that  point  the  proportion  of  Methodists 
increases  constantly  as  compared  with  other  religious  denominations. 
When  we  reach  the  States  of  Iowa  and  Kansas  we  find  there  are  as  many 
Methodists  in  those  States  as  all  other  denominations  put  together,  Roman 
Catholics  included.  I  reckon  that  is  the  reason  we  have  prohibition  in 
those  States. 

Let  me  say  that  if  the  Methodists  all  over  this  country  will  stand 
by  their  principles  as  they  do  in  loM'a  and  Kansas,  we  will  certainly  have 
legal  prohibition  in  many  more  jjortious  of  this  great  country. 

We  have  gone  up  through  the  North-west  planting  Methodist  churches, 
until  Methodism  is  the  great  dominant  power  of  that  region.  This  Mis- 
sionary Society,  by  its  pioneer  work,  has  brought  into  existence  other 
societies. 

We  went  along  until  the  year  1837,  and  then  we  organized  our  Tract 
Society  and  Sunday-School  Union,  for  the  purpose  largely  of  supplement- 
ing our  missionary  work.  Then  in  1864  we  organized  our  Church  Exten- 
sion Society,  which  has  brought  into  existence  since  that  period  between, 
eight  thousand  and  nine  thousand  churches.  And  Chaplain  McCabe, 
whom  almost  every  body  throughout  the  world  knows,  declares  that  we 
are  building  as  many  churches  in  this  land  every  two  years  as  the  Roman 
Catholics  have  altogether  on  American  soil.  If  we  keep  on  at  that  rate, 
and  other  denominations  will  do  their  duty,  I  think  we  will  keep  this 
country  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Romanists. 

Then  in  1866  we  organized  our  Freedmen's  Aid  and  Southern  Education 
Society,  and  we  have  gone  into  the  South  because  the  Missionary  Society 
went  there  and  opened  the  way.  We  have  built  more  than  forty  institutions 
of  learning  in  that  land,  and  in  the  last  year  between  eight  thousand  and 
nine  thousand  young  men  and  women  were  studying  in  the  halls  of  these 
institutions.  Since  that  we  have  organized  our  Woman's  Home  Mission- 
ary Society  and  our  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  both  of  which 
are  doing  splendid  service  in  their  respective  spheres. 

The  Rev.  J.  C.  Simmons,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  I  have  but  a  word  to  say.  My  long  labor  on  the  frontier 
entitles  me  to  a  few  moments  of  the  precious  time  of  this  Conference.  My 
call  to  the  work  in  California  was  as  distinctive  as  my  call  to  the  ministry. 
I  went  in  an  early  day,  and  have  been  there  within  a  few  months  of  forty 
years,  and  I  want  to  speak  just  a  moment  with  regard  to  the  frontier 
work  of  the  Methodist  Church.  It  has  ever  been  in  the  lead  in  that 
matter. 

Some  one  said  on  this  floor  yesterday  that  wherever  the  tide  of  men 
rolled,  in  the  front  of  that  tide  would  be  found  a  Methodist  preacher.  I 
can  say  more  than  that.  Not  only  is  there  found  a  Methodist  preacher, 
but  there  are  found  Methodist  helpers,  men  and  women,  who  stand  by  this 
preacher  and  hold  up  his  hands  while  he  preaches  the  unsearchable  Gos- 
pel of  Jesus  Christ.  God  no  longer  feeds  his  preachers  by  the  raven,  but 
he  sends  men  and  women  to  feed  them,  even  on  the  frontier.  But,  sir, 
California  is  no  longer  the  frontier.     We  reach  the  ocean,  and  then  the 


104  ECUMENICAL    METHODISM. 

tide  rolls  back  and  the  frontiers  are  behind  us,  beyond  the  Sierra  Nevada 
and  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  Methodism  of  the  East  and  of  the  West 
is  rolling  such  a  tide  of  gospel  truth  that  we  expect  to  overwhelm  this 
continent  with  the  glorious  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God.  Not  only  so,  sir, 
but  these  men  have  gone  out  at  a  sacritice.  It  is  only  three  weeks  ago 
that  I  stood  amid  the  burning  sands  of  Arizona,  side  by  side  with  the 
heroes  of  that  Territory,  who  have  been  preaching  Jesus  Christ  there  in  a 
land  which  is  so  hot  that  you  can  broil  your  bacon  and  cook  your  eggs  in 
the  sand  without  fire ;  and  yet  these  men  have  stood  there  beneath  that 
burning  sun  and  over  these  heated  sands,  and  have  talked  to  men  there, 
and  have  told  them  that  there  was  a  place  hotter  than  that,  and  have 
pleaded  with  them  to  escape  this  place  of  burning. 

But,  sir,  there  is  another  fact — the  frontier  is  a  grand  thing.  We  went 
forth,  sir,  from  the  East  until  we  reached  the  Pacific  Ocean,  w^hose  mighty 
waves  came  sweeping  from  afar,  and  we  stood  upon  the  shore  and  looked 
out  to  where  the  bended  heavens  kissed  the  rolling  flood,  and  still  the 
water  was  out  beyond.  And  it  seemed  that  there  were  souls  out  beyond, 
as  well  as  water,  and  the  Pacific  Conference  and  the  California  Conference 
now  form  the  spring-board  on  which  the  missionaries  to  China  and  Japan 
leap  over  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  land  among  the  moon-eyed  Chinamen  and 
the  systematic  Japanese. 

It  is  a  glorious  thing  to  be  a  Methodist  preacher  in  the  West.  Why, 
some  of  us  have  been  preaching  there  so  long  that  we  would  rather  preach 
than  go  to  heaven  right  now.  We  do  not  want  to  leave  our  blessed  work, 
and  yet  we  have  difliculties  out  there  to  which  you  in  the  East  and  you 
in  England  are  strangers.  On  our  shore  men  have  been  dumped  from 
every  nation  of  the  earth,  with  all  their  wickedness,  with  all  their  folly, 
and  with  all  their  idolatry,  and  we  have  to  meet  all  these  and  to  rescue 
even  our  sons  and  our  daughters,  who  are  liable  to  be  borne  away  with 
this  tide  of  wickedness  and  free  thought. 

And,  sir,  on  the  Sabbath,  which  is  a  grand  day  for  wickedness  and  a 
grand  day  for  displays  and  a  grand  day  for  the  assembling  of  vast  multi- 
tudes, there  are  difficulties  presented  to  us  which  are  never  presented  to 
you.  The  people  who  are  wicked,  or  are  wickedly  inclined,  assemble  on 
these  days,  and  they  spend  the  holy  Sabbath  in  unholy  orgies.  We  have 
to  meet  all  that,  but  by  the  grace  of  God  we  are  able  to  do  it  with  the 
Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God  upon  our  lij^s. 

J.  J.  Maclaren,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Clnirch, 
Canada,  continued  the  discussion,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  Lest  the  members  of  this  Conference  may  think  that  our 
friend  Dr.  Briggs,  who  gave  such  a  splendid  report  of  the  state  of  Meth- 
odism in  Canada,  was  drawing  upon  his  imagination  for  his  figures,  as 
our  friend  Dr.  Buckley  suggested,  I  beg  to  assure  them  that  the  returns 
of  tlie  membership  which  Dr.  Briggs  gave  are  taken  from  the  official  re- 
turns of  the  Methodist  Church  in  Canada.  Lest  any  one  should  suppose 
that  those  returns  are  exaggerated,  I  beg  to  assure  him  that  in  Canada  we 
only  count  as  members  those  who  attend  class-meeting.  Our  Canadian 
Methodist  Discipline  follows  the  apostolic  rule  followed  after  Pentecost, 
when  the  converted  continued  steadfastly  in  the  apostles'  doctrine — fel- 
lowship, breaking  of  l)read,  and  prayers.  Put  into  modern  language  it 
means  they  attended  preaching,  chiss-meetings,  the  Lord's  Supper,  and 
the  prayer-meetings.  Our  Discipline  requires  our  members  to  attend  all 
these  four  means  of  grace. 

As  to  church  returns  and  statistics,  I  may  say  that  we  in  Canada  are 


GENERAL    KEMAKKS.  105 

more  fortunate  in  statistics  than  some  of  our  friends  in  other  places.  The 
government  census  is  taken  every  ten  years  and  is  not  partial  to  Method- 
ism. So  that  not  only  have  we  our  own  Church  statistics,  but  we  have 
also  by  the  census  the  number  of  adherents  of  the  Methodist  Church. 
This  gives  us  an  advantage  which  our  friends  elsewhere  do  not  enjoy. 
Looking  at  it  in  this  way  we  find  that  these  returns  are  above  the  figures 
given  by  Dr.  Briggs.  I  hold  in  my  hand  the  official  report  of  the  last 
Ecumenical  Conference,  and  I  have  the  returns  there,  and  I  have  taken 
the  pains  to  look  at  the  Minutes  of  the  various  Conferences  at  the  time  of 
the  union,  and  I  find  that  for  every  hundred  members  in  the  old  Method- 
ist Church  of  Canada  the  census  reported  four  hundred  and  seventy-five 
adherents.  The  two  reports  are  made  in  the  same  month — April.  Dr. 
Briggs  has  calculated  on  the  basis  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  to  the  hun- 
dred only. 

Our  friend  Bishop  Galloway  has  eloquently  said  this  afternoon  that 
the  Methodists  of  his  section  were  gratified  that  they  were  holding  their 
own  in  the  cities.  We  are  doing  better  than  that,  and  I  could  refer  to 
several  cities,  but  I  have  not  the  time.  I  will  simply  mention  one — To- 
ronto, the  second  largest  city  in  the  dominion.  In  the  last  ten  years,  from 
the  taking  of  one  census  to  the  taking  of  another,  the  population  of  To- 
ronto increased  from  a  little  below  ninety  thousand  to  about  two  hun- 
dred thousand — a  rate  more  rapid  than  any  city  of  its  size  in  the  United 
States.  Yet,  notwithstanding  the  great  increase  of  the  population  of  the 
the  city  of  Toronto,  the  membership  of  the  Methodist  Church  trebled 
during  that  time.  The  census  returns  of  this  year,  when  published,  will,  I 
think,  show  that  Methodism  has  increased  in  adherents  quite  as  rapidly. 
While  the  population  has  increased  by  125  per  cent.,  the  membership  of 
the  Methodist  Church  will  be  found  to  have  increased  nearly  200  per 
cent. 

I  am  sorry  that  our  friend  Mr.  Hughes  from  England  has  not  time  to 
come  to  Canada  and  see  our  work  there.  Some  of  our  brethren  from 
across  the  water  have  been  there,  and  they  know  what  we  are  doing.  Mr. 
Hughes  would  have  found  that  we  have  grappled  with  some  problems 
that  are  troubling  other  cities.  In  our  city  we  keep  the  Sabbath — no  Sun- 
day papers,  no  street-cars,  and  no  open  shops — and  yet  our  people  enjoy 
themselves.  We  have  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  liquor  licenses  for  our 
two  hundred  thousand  population,  and  every  bar  and  liquor-shop  is  closed 
from  seven  o'clock  on  Saturday  evening  until  Monday  morning,  and  other 
rigid  restrictions  are  enforced. 

In  that  city  we  have  thirty  churches,  thirteen  of  them  built  since  the 
union  of  1883,  and  one  of  them  will  hold  at  least  50  per  cent,  more  than 
this  church,  and  three  others  are  nearly  as  large.  Two  thirds  of  the  pop- 
ulation of  Toronto  are  church-goers,  and  three  fourths  of  the  children  are 
found  in  the  Sabbath-schools. 

Tlie  Rev.  J.  II.  Jones,  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen :  I  thank  God  that  I  have  lived  to  see 
this  day  and  to  hear  the  addresses  upon  the  subject  before  us.  I  have 
listened  with  great  care  and  attention  to  the  eloquent  and  able  addresses 
which  have  been  delivered  to  us  both  this  morning  and  this  afternoon. 
But  I  think  they  have  not  exhausted  this  subject  in  the  amount  of  time 
given  them,  and  I  want  to  bring  out  in  a  few  minutes  that  which  Bishop 
Arnett  did  not  bring  out,  in  connection  with  the  work  that  is  being  done 
under  the  flag  of  Methodism,  for  the  consideration  of  our  brothers  here. 
10 


lOG  ECUMENICAL   METHODISM. 

We  believe  in  Methodism  pure  and  simple ;  we  believe  in  it  as  John 
Wesley  did ;  and  while  we  are  a  daughter  of  the  grand  old  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  we  think  that  we  are  in  full  line  with  John  Wesley. 
We  are  striving  as  best  we  can  to  maintain  the  old  principles.  We  have 
every  thing  in  common  with  you  that  we  can  have.  There  is,  I  think, 
however,  one  thing,  and  the  speech  of  Bishop  Galloway  reminds  me  of 
it,  that  you  have  and  we  have  not.  Thank  God  we  have  our  class-meet- 
ings; we  have  our  appointments;  and  I  can  say  with  Bishop  Galloway 
that  whenever  the  African  Methodist  Conference  appoints  a  minister  he 
goes,  and  he  goes  with  the  command  of  God.  They  assail  the  house  and 
the  home  of  the  enemy  wherever  found. 

We  are  here  with  you  to-day  to  celebrate  this  great  force  that  is  uplift- 
ing the  world,  and  we  propose  by  the  help  of  God  to  continue  along  in 
this  line  until  the  flag  of  Jesus  shall  wave  over  the  vast  creation.  It  has 
been  said  here  that  there  was  but  one  Methodist  denomination  in  Canada. 
Perliaps  it  Avill  be  well  to  note  that  tliere  is  another  there.  The  African 
Metliodist  Church  is  in  the  Dominion  of  Canada;  she  is  there  to-day  to 
help  the  government,  to  help  the  Methodists  of  Canada,  to  redeem  that 
land,  and  to  bring  about  the  great  day  of  our  Lord  Jesus  and  his  mighty 
triumph.  Slie  is  not  only  there,  she  is  all  over  this  land,  even  in  the 
islands  of  the  sea. 

There  is  one  thing  that  I  started  to  mention  that  you  have  and  we  have 
not.  Methodism  has  given  us  every  thing  that  it  has  given  you— all  but 
one  thing.  We  have  not  our  civil  rights  in  this  laud  as  you  have  them. 
But  I  will  tell  you  one  thing  we  have,  we  have  the  Lord  God  as  our 
leader,  and  we  meet  you  in  the  personal  strength  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  We  believe  that  he  will  bring  to  us  every  thing  that  a  citizen 
and  a  man  and  a  Christian  ought  to  have.  God  bless  you,  brethren.  On 
the  great  day  when  the  general  roll  is  called  we  expect  to  meet  you,  and 
we  expect  to  meet  you  in  full  possession  of  all  our  rights,  and  that,  too, 
on  the  plane  of  perfect  equality.  Let  the  flag  of  Methodism  wave  from 
north  to  soutli  and  from  east  to  west. 

We  are  not  drifting  off  into  speculations  and  idols.  We  hold  to  the 
old  doctrines — the  doctrines  of  John  Wesley.  We  appeal  to  that  flag; 
and  by  and  by  when  we  come  to  heaven  we  propose  to  carry  with  us  our 
record.  We  not  only  light  for  salvation,  but  we  are  trying  to  educate  the 
youth  of  the  land.  We  are  working  along  in  that  line.  We  have  in  this 
land  to-day  thirty-nine  schools  and  colleges,  which  are  turning  out  their 
graduates  yearly  and  are  employing  hundreds  of  teachers.  We  propose 
to  push  on  in  that  work,  and  when  the  grand  day  comes  we  hope  to  see 
accomplished  the  great  work  that  God  has  given  us  to  do. 

Mr.  R.  A.  W.  Bruehl,  of  the  Metliodist  Episcopal  Church, 
continued  the  discussion,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  I  have  listened  to  the  addresses  which  have  been  deliv- 
ered here  with  great  attention,  and  I  have  derived  much  instruction, 
much  entertainment,  and  much  gratification  therefrom. 

The  Germans  have  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  Methodism.  Wesley 
was  converted  through  the  instrumentality  of  German  missionaries. 
Emory  was  brought  up  by  a  German  woman — Barbara  Heck — who  ex- 
horted him  to  wake  up  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  people  as  it  was  his 
duty.  Bisliop  Asbury  translated  the  discipline  into  tiie  German  language, 
but  it  was  thought  by  other  officials  of  tlie  Church  that  the  work  among 
the  Germans  would  not  be  fruitful.  A  German  local  preacher  by  the 
name  of  Albrecht  left  the  Church  and  commenced  to  preach  among  the 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  107 

Germans.  His  preaching  resulted  in  the  foundation  of  the  Evangelical 
Association  known  mostly  under  the  name  of  Albrights. 

German  Methodism  commenced  in  1835  and  took  hold  in  Germany  in 
1840;  at  least,  work  began  there  at  that  time.  William  Nast  was  the 
founder  of  German  Methodism  in  1835.  O !  God  bless  his  work !  What 
has  been  the  fruit  of  his  lal)ors  in  connection  with  his  Gennan  brethren ! 

Once  a  man  wrote  to  me  to  send  him  twenty  pages  of  tracts,  and  said  that 
he  wished  therewith  to  convert  a  German ;  but  1  wrote  back  to  my  good 
brother  that  twenty  pages  of  German  tracts  would  not  convert  him ;  you 
may  spend  on  him  two  hundred  pages  of  tracts  before  achieving  a  result. 
You  will  have  to  bring  him  up  and  lead  him  to  Christ.  It  is  hard  to  get 
a  German  over.  It  is  very  hard,  that  is  true,  but  if  he  has  become  a 
Methodist,  if  he  has  come  to  Christ,  if  he  has  received  forgiveness  of  his 
sins,  he  is  a  loyal  Methodist,  and  he  loves  and  respects  Methodism  until 
the  Lord  takes  him  to  the  upper  world.  German  Methodism,  thank  God, 
has  become  a  great  factor  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

To-day  we  have  766  traveling  preachers  and  544  local  preachers;  and 
yet  a  great  many  of  these  1,810  traveling  and  local  preachers  have 
come  direct  from  the  Roman  Catholic  Church ;  they  have  come  direct 
from  intidelity;  they  have  come  from  those  who  do  not  believe  any  thing 
concerning  Christianity.  I  am  one  of  them  myself  who  came  from  the 
Roman  Catholic  C^hurch  and  was  destined  to  become  a  priest.  But, 
thank  God,  I  preach  the  Gospel  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
have  done  so  for  over  thirty  years.  The  membership  of  the  German 
Methodist  Church  is  71,338.  When  Wesley  died  there  were  in  England 
71,000  members.  We  have  909  chvirches  and  451  parsonages,  worth 
$4,355,000.  We  have  1,374  Sunday-schools  and  12,460  teacher-s,  with 
78,555  scholars.  Then  we  have  7  colleges,  60  teachers,  and  1,300  stu- 
dents annually.  We  have  2  orphan  asylums.  We  founded  the  first  orphan 
asylum  in  America  in  the  Methodist  Church  in  1863.  Six  hundred  or- 
phans were  raised  and  became  good  men  and  good  women.  The  contri- 
butions for  preachers'  salaries,  benevolent  purposes,  etc.,  are  $1,250,000 
annually.  Thanks  be  to  God  for  the  blessings  he  has  granted  the  German 
work  during  its  short  existence  ! 

The  Rev.  E.  Lloyd  Jones,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Chiircli, 
concluded  the  discussion  of  the  morning,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President:  I  wish  to  make  a  few  observations.  I  have  observed 
throughout  the  discussion  to-day  what  I  think  is  to  be  greatly  regretted : 
that  whenever  the  word  "  speculation  "  was  used  it  was  used  somewhat 
sneeringly,  and  such  words  as  "philosophy,"  "science,"  and  "higher 
criticism  "  were  all  used  in  what  appeared  to  me  to  be  a  tone  of  dispar- 


agement 


I  have  also  noticed  that  the  word  "orthodoxy"  was  very  often  spoken 
of,  and  to  me  it  conveyed  the  idea  that  orthodoxy  meant  stopping  where 
John  Wesley  stopped,  and  going  no  further;  and  implying  that  John 
Wesley  had  said  the  last  word  that  could  be  said  upon  all  theological  sub- 
jects. If  that  is  orthodoxy,  then  I  and  many  with  me  are  not  orthodox. 
i  have  the  profouudest  reverence  for  Wesley,  and  believe  entirely  in  his 
doctrines;  bvit  what  I  say  is  that  Wesley  was  not  a  wall  that  marked  off 
the  confines  of  all  possible  truth,  but  he  was  a  ladder  by  which  we  may 
climb  to  higher  truths.  With  John  Robinson  I  say,  God  has  more  light 
to  bring  out  of  his  eternal  word,  and  that  is  my  method  of  looking  at 
Wesley.  I  am  sure  that  the  history  of  John  Wesley  himself  fully  justifies 
me.     He  was  a  man  whose  mind  grew  year  by  year,  and  who  was  not  even 


108  ECUMENICAL    METHODISM. 

afraid  of  admitting  that  sometimes  he  changed  his  opinions  and  made 
mistakes.  He  did  that  at  the  last  Conference  held  while  he  was  alive. 
In  that  manner  I  use  John  Wesley  not  as  an  end,  not  as  a  fetich,  not  as  a 
fossil,  but,  as  I  said  before,  as  a  ladder  to  climb  higher. 

It  was  ordered  that  all  notices  of  motion  should  be  signed  by 
two  delegates,  and  upon  presentation  to  the  Conference  should 
be  sent  to  the  Business  Committee,  to  be  afterward  reported 
by  them  to  the  Conference.  The  session  then  closed  with  the 
singing  of  the  doxology,  and  the  benediction  by  the  E,ev.  E. 

B,  E.YCKMAN,  D.D. 


BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS.  109 


THIRD  BAY,  Friday,  October  9,  1891. 


TOPIC : 
THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH:   ITS  ESSENTIAL  UNITY  AND  GEN- 
UINE CATHOLICITY. 


FIRST  SESSION. 


THE  morning  session  was  opened  at  10  o'clock,  the  Kev.  H. 
T.  Makshall,  of  the  Methodist  New  Connexion,  in  the 
chair.  The  Scripture  was  read  by  the  Rev.  J.  Le  Hubay,  of 
tlie  Methodist  New  Connexion,  and  prayer  was  offered  by  the 
Rev.  George  Packek,  of  the  same  denomination.  The  Jour- 
nal of  the  preceding  day  was  read,  amended,  and  adopted. 
The  Secretary  announced  for  the  Business  Committee  that 
Bishop  H.  W.  "Warren,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  was  appointed  to  preside  at  the  second  session  of 
the  third  day ;  Bishop  J.  W.  Hood,  D.D.,  of  the  African  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Zion  Church,  to  preside  at  the  first  session  of  the 
fifth  day  ;  the  Rev.  M.  T.  Myers,  of  the  United  Methodist  Free 
Church,  to  preside  at  the  second  session  of  the  fifth  day  ;  Bishop 
R.  K.  Hargiove,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  to  preside  at  the  first  session  of  the  sixth  day  ;  and  the 
Rev.  D.  J.  Waller,  D.D.,  of  the  "Wesleyan  Methodist  Church, 
to  preside  at  the  second  session  of  the  sixth  day. 

The  Committee  requested  that  the  President  of  the  Confer 
ence,  at  the  opening  of  each  session,  invite  the  speakers  for  the 
session  to  take  seats  near  the  platform. 

The  following  memorials  and  resolutions  were  presented  by 
the  Secretary  and  referred  to  the  Business  Committee : 

1.   Communications  from  the  Evangelical  Association. 
3.  Greetings  from  the  Evangelical  Synod  of  Maryland. 

3.  A  resolution  on  Methodist  fraternal  action,  signed  by  Thomas 
Snape  and  T.  Morgan  Harvey. 

4.  A  resolution  on  the  opium  traffic,  signed  by  George  Douglas  and 
David  HUl. 


110  THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 

5.  A  memorial  on  a  social  question,  signed  by  Thomas  "Wortliington  and 
James  Travis. 

6.  A  resolution  of  sympathj^  with.  Rev.  Samuel  Antliff,  D.D.,  signed  by 
Joseph  Ferguson  and  Thomas  Lawrence. 

7.  A  memorial  from  the  Local  Preachers'  National  Association  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

8.  A  motion  to  hold  a  special  Conference  love-feast  or  fellowship  meet- 
ing. 

9.  A  motion  to  appoint  a  committee  on  the  statistics  of  Methodism, 
signed  by  J.  J.  Maclaren  and  W.  Briggs. 

10.  A  resolution  as  to  the  hour  for  closing  the  afternoon  session,  signed 
by  J.  A.  Scarritt,  M.  J.  Talbot,  and  R.  H.  Manier. 

The  Rev.  T.  G.  Selby,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church, 
read  the  following  essay  on  "Christian  Unity  : " 

In  the  more  spiritual  ages  that  are  before  the  human  race  men  will  think 
it  incredible  that  there  should  have  been  centuries  in  which  it  was  the 
custom  to  measure  Christian  unity  by  identity  of  ecclesiastical  order  and 
polity  or  by  submission  to  rites  for  the  due  administration  of  which  one 
caste  only  had  letters  patent.  The  Old  Testament  is  advanced  enough  to 
teach  us  that  the  millennial  unity  is  to  be  created  by  the  free  Spirit  of  God, 
and  in  a  passage  of  culminating  sacredness  the  New  Testament  asserts 
that  Christian  unity  is  to  find  its  type  in  the  reciprocal  relation  of  the 
Father  and  the  Son.  Unless  we  materialize  the  eternal  spirit,  and  go  in 
for  anthropomorphisms  worthy  of  the  Mussulman,  the  Holy  Trinity  can 
never  stand  as  the  pattern  of  a  unity  which  is  begotten  only  through  sac- 
ramental acts  resting  for  their  validity  upon  historical  accidents.  Chris- 
tian unity,  like  the  coiuterpenetration  of  life  in  the  Father  and  the  Son, 
is  central  and  unseen  in  its  beginnings  as  the  very  springs  of  the  Godhead. 
Its  evolution  is  from  the  inward  to  the  outward,  as  the  economic  oneness 
of  the  Father  and  the  Son  rests  upon  an  essential  oneness  that  existed  be- 
fore the  worlds  were  made.  Subtle  sympathies  of  insight  and  affinities 
of  faith,  experience,  aspiration  give  rise  to  it,  that  are  as  impalpable  as  the 
light  that  no  man  can  approach  unto.  Christian  unity  is  the  mature  fru- 
ition of  infiuences  as  strictly  spiritual  as  those  which  blend  Father  and  Son 
into  indissoluble  oneness  of  love,  homage,  co-operation. 

That  the  unity  of  the  apostolic  Churches  did  not  rest  upon  a  common 
organization  is  the  conclusion  of  the  best  recent*  criticism  and  research. 
No  fixed  polity  is  enforced  by  either  precept  or  example  in  the  pages  of 
the  New  Testament.  The  organization  of  the  newly  evangelized  commu- 
nities varied  in  different  districts  and  among  Jews  and  Gentiles.  Exist- 
ing institutions  influenced  the  development  of  church  life,  and  the  ofii- 
cial  titles  of  those  who  administered  the  affairs  of  the  early  associations  of 
disciples  were  freely  borrowed  from  trade  guilds,  municipal  parliaments, 
and  synagogues.  These  questions  may  well  be  left  in  the  hands  of  the 
scholars  upon  whom  the  mantle  of  Hatch  and  Lightfoot  has  fallen.     We 


ESSAY    OF    KEY.    T.    G.    SELBY.  Ill 

accept  with  untroubled  confidence  the  principles  of  spiritual  independence 
enunciated  by  commentators  and  ecclesiastical  historians  whose  own  kin- 
ship is  with  one  of  the  most  sacerdotal  Churches  of  Christendom.  In  all 
probability  the  Church  of  the  future  will  be  more  nearly  homogeneous  in 
its  organization  than  the  Churches  planted  by  the  apostles.  The  working 
out  of  the  ideal  of  unity  by  the  eternal  spirit  of  peace  and  love  will  bring 
about  closer  assimilation,  more  intimate  copartnership  in  Christian  work 
than  has  been  achieved  in  the  past,  and  that,  too,  under  conditions  of 
freedom  that  would  have  startled  the  Middle  Ages  or  even  our  own.  A 
unity  is  the  ideal  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  the  logical  issue  of  which  will 
be  organic ;  but  we  have  no  more  right  to  cry  schism  and  to  ban  and  un- 
christianize  where  the  ideal  is  not  completely  realized  than  we  have  to  ex- 
communicate where  there  is  sincere  struggle  toward  some  other  unrealized 
ideal  of  the  Christian  life. 

Homogeneous  structure  does  not  always  imply  solid  confederation  of 
spiritual  force,  sympathy,  action.  There  may  be  coalescence  where 
there  is  internal  schism  of  the  bitterest  character.  Catholicity  is  not  what 
some  have  made  it — a  mere  question  of  skin.  There  may  be  physiological 
revolt  where  the  skin  is  seamless  and  undivided. 

"We  do  not  go  for  our  ideals  of  family  harmony  to  the  East  where  re- 
lated families  of  several  generations  live  under  the  same  roof,  and  a  son  at 
marriage  never  thinks  of  swarming  off  into  a  home  of  his  own.  If  groups 
of  families,  with  ever-growing  numbers  and  widening  interests,  are  forced 
under  one  roof,  you  will  have  a  compressed  air-chamber  full  of  dire  possi- 
bilities of  feud,  destruction,  warfare.  The  cave  of  Eolus  was  tranquillity 
itself  in  comparison  with  some  of  these  curious,  many-celled  Eastern  homes. 
A  common  roof  does  not  make  imity.  Colonize.  Be  free  to  differentiate. 
Let  each  family  have  its  own  environment  and  unity  will  be  realized,  for 
dispersed  brethren  and  kinsfolk  will  fall  back  upon  each  other  for  help 
and  sympathy  and  counsel,  and  a  gracious  harmony  will  be  attained  that 
was  impossible  when  different  temperaments  were  crushed  together  under 
the  same  roof.  Outward  separation  and  elbow-room  may  be  the  antece- 
dents of  a  fellowship  that  knows  no  jar.  We  must  first  learn  to  be  toler- 
ant, of  reasonable  diverseness,  and  vital  solidarity  will  come  in  due  time. 
A  unity  is  sometimes  paraded  for  our  admiration  and  acceptance  that  is 
in  no  sense  God-breathed  or  God-commended — the  unity  which  is  the  dis- 
tinctive product  of  an  age  of  ignorance ;  the  unity  which  is  the  invention 
of  official  pedagogy;  the  unity  which  is  the  achievement  of  coercive 
force. 

To  bring  into  some  kind  of  dumb  accord  the  so-called  judgments  of 
men  who  have  never  learned  to  think,  or  conceived  that  it  is  one  of  their 
inherent  privileges,  is  comparatively  easy.  It  has  been  the  dubious  dis- 
tinction of  the  Anglican  Church  to  keep  alive  in  the  English  village  to 
the  present  day  the  type  of  insensate  pagan  delineated  in  Tennyson's 
"  Northern  Farmer."  It  will  be  remembered  how  in  the  near  prospect  of 
death  the  old  heathen  of  the  Lincolnshire  fens  boasts  of  his  systematic  at- 
tendance at  church,  where  he  heard  the  parson  humming  away  like  a 


112  THE    CHRISTIAN    CHUKCH. 

buzzard-clock  over  his  head.  He  never  knew  what  the  parson  said,  but 
he  thought  he  said  what  he  ought  to  have  said.  A  continent  packed  with 
men  who  have  learned  the  art  of  deglutition  from  the  boa-constrictor  and 
compassed  parson  and  sermon  after  that  dull,  swinish  fashion  would  not 
justify  the  use  of  the  first  little  letter  in  the  series  that  goes  to  spell  cath- 
olicity. The  concord  that  rests  wpon  popular  ignorance  and,  insensibility  will 
yet  he  laughed  out  of  all  countenance.  Those  days  are  almost  gone.  The 
unity  symbolized  by  gagged  mouth  and  padlocked  book  and  unschooled 
rusticity  is  a  thing  of  the  past.  In  that  hour  of  quickening  and  en- 
lightenment, which  is  even  now  striking  on  all  continents,  it  will  be  im- 
possible to  maintain  unity  by  putting  the  brake  on  man's  culture,  the  bit 
in  his  teeth,  or  the  muzzle  in  his  jaws.  The  highest  qualities  of  knowl- 
edge and  the  most  exqviisite  accords  of  faith  and  affection  and  service  will 
arise  under  conditions  of  free  individual  judgment  and  possibly  after  the 
clash  of  antagonistic  thought — arise  only  through  the  help  and  inward  sug- 
gestion of  the  great  Spirit  of  truth. 

In  his  recent  presidential  address  before  the  British  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science  Dr.  Hufforins  asks,  ' '  How  has  it  come  about  that 
by  the  side  of  ageing  worlds  we  have  nebulae  in  a  comparatively  younger 
stage  ?  Have  any  of  them  received  their  birth  from  dark  suns  which  have 
collided  into  new  life  ?  During  the  short  historic  period  there  is  no 
record  of  such  an  event ;  still  it  would  seem  to  be  only  through  the  col- 
lision of  dark  suns,  of  which  the  number  must  be  increasing,  that  a  tem- 
porary rejuvenescence  of  the  heavens  is  possible,  and  by  such  ebbings 
and  flowings  of  stellar  life  that  the  inevitable  end  to  which  evolution  in 
its  apparently  uncompensated  progress  is  carrying  us  can  even  for  a  little 
be  delayed." 

The  speculation  of  science  is  an  experience  in  theology.  From  the 
clash  and  friction  and  competitive  struggle  of  religious  thought  have  come 
again  and  again  splendid  illuminations,  outbursting  truths  world-wide  in 
their  healing  dawn,  and  the  rejuvenescence  of  dark  and  dying  churches 
into  the  spirit  and  energy  and  saving  insight  of  Jesus  Christ.  Do  not  let 
us  bewail  the  fact  that  people  will  think,  and  think,  too,  behind  the  par- 
son's back  and  without  his  oversight  and  permission,  and  that  the  medi- 
aeval unity  of  faitli  which  was  founded  in  ignorance  is  passing  away.  Out 
of  the  freedom  and  independence  of  religious  thought  and  the  ferment  of 
controversy  and  the  very  impact  of  debate  God  will  bring  a  better  and 
a  more  enduring  accord  and  glorify  himself  as  the  true  source  of  unity. 

It  is  said  that  in  every  pair  of  legs  there  is  a  slight  inequality  which 
makes  men  walk  in  irregular  curves  when  they  are  blindfolded — an  object- 
lesson  of  our  inaptitude  for  spiritual  truth.  Say  some  of  our  counselors, 
"Keep  the  l)linkers  on  and  k't  the  people  join  hands,  and  put  a  bishop  at 
the  head  of  eac-h  file  and  a  pope  at  the  head  of  the  procession  to  guide 
them  all,  and  men  will  walk  in  straight  paths  and  present  a  beautiful 
picture  of  unity  and  order."  "Nay,"  says  one  who  is  both  "the  Father 
of  lights"  and  "  the  Father  of  our  spirits,"  "take  the  veil  away.  I  will 
put  the  lamp  of  fire  within  to  guide,  and  they  shall  not  stumble  or  wan- 


ESSAY    OF   KEV.    T.    G.    SELBY.  113 

der  into  crookedness. "  A  truce  to  official  pedagogy  and  leadership,  and 
let  the  spiritual  eye  correct  the  errors  of  the  feet ! 

There  is  a  unity  of  which  boot  and  screw  and  fetter  are  the  insignia 
that  is  the  direct  product  of  force.  That  can  scarcely  be  called  Christian. 
Can  God  approve  and  employ  the  unity  on  which  there  is  the  scar  of  rack, 
the  tooth-mark  of  torture,  or  the  black  smirch  of  persecuting  flame  ? 
Ecclesiastical  terrorism  can  never  contribute  a  solitary  atom  to  the  sujier- 
structure  of  true  catholicity.  In  one  of  the  midland  counties  of  England 
there  is  an  old  oak  more  than  a  thousand  years  old,  called  "the  Parlia- 
ment oak,"  from  the  tradition  that  King  John  once  held  an  assembly  of 
his  barons  under  its  branches.  It  was  a  vital  unity,  but  the  picturesque 
branches  are  no  longer  bound  into  one  by  the  sap  that  informs  the  whole, 
and  the  old  giant  has  scarcely  a  spray  of  foliage  left.  The  oak  is  drop- 
ping limb  from  limb,  and  is  held  together  by  staples  and  chains  and 
grappling-irons.  And  the  unity  of  faith  commended  to  us  from  some 
quarters  is  not  unlike  that.  It  does  not  si)ring  from  the  j)ossession  of  a 
common,  all-penetrating  life,  but  it  is  pieced  together  by  decree,  official 
dogma,  over-driven  argument,  state-enforced  sanction.  "We  dishonor  all 
the  potentialities  of  God's  Spirit  within  us  when  we  bring  hammer  and 
staple  and  chain  and  grappling- hook  into  play.  Divine  unity  is  the  up- 
rising of  the  sap  of  the  divine  life  in  man  and  in  societies  of  men,  and  not 
the  triumph  of  coercive  or  dialectic  force. 

By  a  slight  amount  of  pressure  it  is  possible  to  freeze  together  into  a 
consistent  lump  a  hundred  splinters  of  ice.  The  glacier  is  an  illustration 
of  chronic  schism  and  regelation  by  pressure,  for,  as  with  the  progressive 
and  conservative  elements  in  Churches,  the  central  portion  moves  more 
rapidly  than  the  sides,  and  a  hundred  cracks  appear  which  are  healed  at 
once  by  the  impact  of  the  mass  from  behind.  It  is  a  makeshift  unity  you 
get  in  this  way,  and  the  sun  laughs  at  the  arctic  irenicon.  Hour  l)y  hour 
he  dissolves  into  their  constituent  parts  tons  of  ice  as  readily  as  though 
they  were  snow-flakes.  And  then  the  sun  seems  to  say,  "I  will  show  you 
what  union  is,"  and  by  the  beneficence  of  his  shining  he  binds  a  hundred 
elements  into  the  indissoluble  oak  or  cedar.  The  imity  lasts  and  is  a 
foundation  of  strength  and  an  unwasting  well  of  fragrance  for  many  ages. 
Surely,  He  who  sits  in  the  heavens  with  the  promise  upon  his  lips,  "I 
will  give  them  all  one  heart  and  one  way,"  must  laugh  as  he  looks  upon 
our  Babel  imbecilities  in  trying  to  build  up  an  unreal  catholicity  by  soph- 
istry, assumption,  antiquated  logic,  and  coercion  direct  or  indirect, 
brutal  or  refined. 

A  Japanese  conjuror  will  take  a  cluster  of  tinsel  butterflies,  and  by  an 
adroit  and  rapid  use  of  the  fan  will  keep  them  floating  in  the  air  in  a 
formation  as  perfect  as  though  they  were  not  only  alive,  but  had  been 
drilled  to  keep  time  with  each  other  in  movement.  That  is  clever,  and 
we  wonder  at  the  expertness  of  the  performer. 

Men  gifted  in  ecclesiastical  statesmanship  by  cunning  of  hand  and  eye 
and  soft  diplomatic  wooings  and  coquetries  will  keep  together  a  few  races 
and  co-ordinate  their  movements  as  perfectly  as  though  the  harmony  were 


114  THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 

that  of  highly  organized  life.  But  the  consentaneous  movement  of  souls 
taught  by  the  infinite  Spirit  is  like  the  migration  of  birds  -which  gather 
in  uncounted  multitudes  for  the  trackless  pilgrimage  from  shore  to  shore 
and  keep  a  consummate  unity  of  fonnation  by  the  force  of  mighty,  mys- 
terious, unstumbling  instincts. 

The  Spirit  of  God  can  achieve  a  unity  which  will  dwarf  into  nothing- 
ness that  of  the  mitered  conjuror.  His  breath  gathers  men  into  one  and 
infuses  instincts,  affinities,  concords,  which  constitutes  them  a  well-mar- 
shaled host  in  their  flight  to  the  fairer  day.  The  most  exquisite  and  un- 
erring harmony  is  that  which  arises  when  the  Lord  of  hosts  himself  calls 
and  gathers  and  binds. 

Recent  changes  in  the  theology  of  the  Churches  seem  to  suggest  that 
we  occupy  a  2)ecidiar  vantage-ground  and  sudain  special  res2)onsibilities  for 
furtherhig  the  covfederation  of  Churches  near  akin  to  -?/«.  Is  it  our  glory 
or  our  reproach  that  within  recent  years  we  have  had  comparatively  few 
controversial  writers  who  have  been  thrusting  our  positions  upon  other 
Churches  ?  For  more  than  half  a  century  we  have  been  the  Quakers 
of  theology,  and  where  we  have  fought  it  lias  only  been  under  the  dire 
necessity  of  self-defense.  And  have  we  not  received  our  reward?  For  other 
Churclies  are  approximating  to  our  positions  with  singular  unanimity. 
The  different  branches  of  Presbyteriauism  on  both  sides  the  xltlantic 
make  no  secret  of  their  desire  to  Insert  into  the  Confession  of  Faith 
declarations  of  the  universal  love  of  God,  the  world-wide  efficacy  of  the 
atonement,  and  the  oi^eration  of  the  divine  Spirit  upon  the  human  heart 
every-where.  At  the  International  Congress  of  Congregationalists  in  the 
summer  of  this  year  Dr.  Condor  said  that  Congregationalists,  he  must 
allow,  were  coming  over  to  the  doctrine  of  universal  atonement  held  by 
their  Wesleyan  brethren.  It  would  have  been  beyond  our  power  to  argue 
the  successors  of  Rowland  Hill  and  Toplady  into  these  positions,  and  we 
must  recognize  in  such  signs  the  virtue  of  the  teaching  unction  from  God. 
Let  us  not  boast  of  the  theological  insight  of  our  fathers,  but  rather  be 
humbled  because  grace  has  been  given  us  to  learn  these  things  first.  And 
let  us  seek  to  foster  closer  intimacy  and  helpfulness  between  these  closely 
allied  communities.  We  are  coming  to  have  the  spirit  of  union  in  all  that 
is  geiToinal  to  our  work.  Is  it  too  much  to  say  that  the  time  is  near  when 
the  spirit  must  be  free  to  construct  for  itself  a  corporate  form  ?  If  it  be 
necessary  to  have  differently  constituted  Churches  to  meet  varieties  of 
temperament  and  training,  it  will  be  possible  at  least  to  minimize  church 
types  and  blend  not  a  few  closely  related  types. 

Let  us  promote  this  spirit  h/  healing,  at  the  earliest  possible  opportunity, 
our  own  separations  and  estrangements  as  Methodists.  We  can  never 
become  a  providential  force  in  the  reunion  of  evangelical  Christendom 
unless  we  first  close  up  our  own  ranks  and  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder. 
Let  us  go  from  this  gathering  with  the  steadfast  faith  in  our  hearts  that 
we  shall  see  a  united  Methodism.  Do  not  let  us  hurry  on  unreal  amalga- 
mations. Let  the  history  of  centuries  teach  us  to  keep  till  direct  and  in- 
direct pressure  out  of  the  field.     Never  re-discuss  the  past  or  try  to  judge 


ESSAY    OF    REV.    T.    G.    SELBY.  115 

the  men  who  led  on  either  side.  The  ghoulish  resurrectionist  who  digs 
up  what  is  best  forgotten  will  never  hasten  the  coming  of  the  millennium. 
Be  patient.  Keep  this  goal  in  view  and  ever  be  working  for  and  stretch- 
ing toward  it. 

It  is  sometimes  said,  ' '  We  have  such  different  traditions  and  histories, 
and  idiosyncrasies  have  grown  up  in  our  usage  and  legislation  that  forbid 
any  very  close  interfusion  of  work  and  life. "  Well,  there  are  more  idiosyn- 
crasies in  the  world  than  in  the  different  branches  of  Methodism,  and  we 
hope  to  assimilate  that.  "  O,  but  there  is  a  teudencj^  in  some  of  the 
Methodist  bodies  to  leave  the  theology  of  Wesley."  This  is  perhaps  the 
strongest  condemnation  of  our  present  subdivisions  that  could  be  for- 
mulated. It  may  be  we  have  forced  them  into  theological  company  not 
so  desirable  as  our  own.  The  moral  influence  of  the  re-united  mass  would 
have  an  attracting  power  that  would  more  than  neutralize  any  faint  tend- 
ency to  doctrinal  variation.  If  the  tendency  exists,  all  the  more  reason 
for  reunion.  First  let  us  seek  doctrinal  oneness,  and  "  all  other  things," 
including  ideal  polities  of  church  government,  "  shall  be  added  unto  us." 
In  our  defense  against  sacerdotalism  we  have  thankfully  accepted  the  re- 
search and  exegesis  of  learned  Episcopalians,  who  declare  that  no  form 
of  church  government  is  prescribed  in  the  New  Testament,  and  that 
church  institutions  took  their  names  from  existing  institutions  and  so- 
cieties whose  traditions  influenced  their  subsequent  development.  If  we 
accept  the  logic  in  self-vindication  against  the  claim  of  sacerdotalism  we 
must  accept  it  as  far  as  it  bears  upon  the  question  of  Methodist  reunion 
likewise. 

Let  us  at  least  aim  at  the  creation  of  a  common  Methodism  for  the 
mission  field.  In  the  empires  of  the  East,  Christian  communities,  infin- 
itesimally  small  as  they  are  in  comparison  with  the  paganism  that  environs 
them,  are  j'earning  for  a  closer  and  more  sj^mpathetic  attachment  to  each 
other,  "  O,  but  they  must  learn  to  live  in  a  sublime  isolation  only,  if 
need  be,  and  trust  in  God  and  not  in  visible  surroundings  and  confeder- 
acies." If  Christ  in  the  garden  yearned  for  the  presence  of  his  friends 
when  the  sharpest  crisis  of  his  history  was  at  hand,  we  surely  caimot  dis- 
regard the  solicitation  of  native  Churches  accepting  a  common  creed  for 
closer  confederation  with  each  other  in  the  dark,  stupendous,  and  possibly 
bloody  struggle  that  may  lie  before  them.  Let  us  be  content  to  bestow 
our  distinctive  teaching  and  our  fellowship,  and  then  let  all  native 
Churches  after  a  time  be  free  to  choose  and  develop  their  own  forms  of 
government  and  administration. 

"  But  there  are  serious  economical  difficulties  in  the  way  of  these  pleas- 
ant theories."  Then  let  us  not  multiply  such  difficulties  in  the  future, 
and  let  us  devise  as  speedy  a  method  as  possible  of  getting  rid  of  all  ex- 
isting difficulties  of  this  order.  Such  difficulties  are  only  secondary. 
There  were  economic  difficulties  in  the  path  of  those  to  whom  Christ 
said,  "  Sell  all  and  give;"  and  what  is  binding  upon  the  individual  dis- 
ciple is  binding  on  the  collective  fellowship.  Let  us  count  all  but  loss  so 
that  we  may  attune  ourselves  to  His  mind  who  prayed  in  the  most  solemn 


116  THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 

moment  of  destiny,  yes,  prayed  with  a  comprehensive  and  far-seeing  love 
that  embraces  us  who  are  here  to-day  and  all  whom  we  represent,  "that 
they  may  be  made  perfect  in  one." 

Rev.  A.  S.  Hunt,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
gave  the  following  appointed  address  : 

Mr.  President  and  Brethren  of  the  Ecumenical  Conference :  In  accord- 
ance with  the  wise  arrangements  of  the  Programme  Committee  we  have 
spent  one  day  in  considering  the  gracious  way  in  which,  as  a  denomina- 
tion, we  have  been  led.  If  we  have  been  in  danger  of  giving  expression 
to  thoughts  which  might  by  some  be  regarded  as  boastful,  I  trust  we  have 
thus  far  been  restrained  by  our  reverent  recognition  of  God's  hand  in  our 
history.  Nevertheless,  a  single  day  is  enough  for  the  consideration  of 
subjects  purely  denominational.  We  come  now  to  broader  themes  and 
devoutly  implore  the  divine  blessing,  that  we  may  set  our  faces  toward 
the  future  and  make  it,  in  all  respects,  better  than  the  past. 

It  seems  to  me,  sir,  that  the  followers  of  Christ  of  every  name  have 
occasion  to  deplore  the  fact  that  there  is  not  more  union — visible  union — 
among  them.  While  I  must  regard  the  union  of  all  Christians  in  a  sin- 
gle visible  organization  as  impracticable,  and  perhaps  undesirable,  we 
surely  ought  to  have  far  more  union  than  now  exists;  and  more  we  should 
have  if  at  the  outset  we  would  keep  clearly  in  mind  the  distinction  be- 
tween union  and  unity.  Never  since  the  Saviour  ascended  to  heaven 
have  so  many  Christians  of  various  names  earnestly  desired  to  learn  and 
exhibit  the  real  meaning  of  the  Redeemer's  intercessory  prayer. 

Let  us,  then,  distinctly  note  that  Christian  union  must  be  the  out- 
growth of  Christian  unity.  Still  further,  Christian  unity,  as  distinguished 
from  Christian  union,  has  various  phases  and  degrees.  There  is  a  kind 
of  unity  which  exists  between  two  or  more  believers  whose  tastes  and 
temperaments  are  similar.  Such  unity  may,  indeed,  be  Christian,  but  it 
grows  largely  out  of  natural  affinities.  Again,  we  may  have  a  kind  of 
unity  which  exists  between  believers  who  entertain  kindred  views  con- 
cerning doctrines  and  modes  of  worship  and  church  polity.  This  also  is 
Christian  unity  in  part,  but  it  is  not  wholly  so.  Once  more,  there  is  a 
unity  of  a  higher  and  richer  type  which  gives  a  subordinate  place  to  mat- 
ters of  taste  and  temperament,  to  modes  of  worship  and  forms  of  church 
polity,  and  to  minor  points  of  doctrine,  and  consists  in  the  blessed  fact 
that  believers  are  one  in  Christ  Jesus ;  for  we  are,  indeed,  the  body  of 
Christ  while  we  are  members  in  particular.  But,  sir,  there  is  something 
higher  still ;  and  here  I  must  crave  pardon  for  attempting  exposition  in 
the  presence  of  so  many  gifted  and  scholarly  expositors  of  God's  word. 
Do  I  misinterpret  the  petitions  of  the  Redeemer's  prayer  when  I  find  in 
them  something  deeper  and  richer  than  even  our  unity  in  Christ  ?  Let 
us  bear  in  mind  that  our  recognition  of  the  supernatural  in  religion  should 
not  cease  when  we  have  found  the  pardon  of  our  sins.  If  we  ever  need 
to  remember  the  power  of  the  supernatural  it  is  when  we  are  attempting 
to  master  this  question  of  Christian  unity.     Turning  to  the  Redeemer's 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    A.    S.    HUNT.  117 

prayer,  we  find  him  asking  "  that  they  may  all  be  one;  even  as  thou,  Fa- 
ther, art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  also  may  be  in  us."  The  Author- 
ized Version  reads:  "Maybe  one  in  us,"  but  the  Revised  Version  verj' 
properly  omits  the  word  one,  as  it  is  not  in  the  text  of  the  original.  That 
they  may  be  in  us;  that  they  may,  by  the  help  of  God's  grace,  apprehend 
the  unity  of  God,  and  dwell  in  that  unity.  We,  even  we,  may  be  en- 
compassed by  the  divine  unity.  When  we  enter  this  inner  shrine,  this 
holy  of  holies,  and  verily  dwell  in  God,  the  question  of  our  unity  with  all 
who  truly  love  Christ  finds  its  solution.  There  is  no  other  solution 
which  will  bear  all  tests  and  endure  forever.  Here  is  the  real  secret  of  all 
genuine  Christian  unity. 

And  now,  sir,  it  is  time  for  me  to  say  that  when  this  unity  is  appre- 
hended it  will  ever  be  seeking  to  express  itself  in  union.  If  we  each  and 
all  were  really  dwelling  in  God  it  would  be  easy  to  recognize  our  family 
relationship,  and  manifest  our  delight  in  each  other's  prosperity.  If  God 
is  my  Father  every  other  child  of  God  is  akin  to  me.  We  clasp  hands 
as  brothers,  knowing  full  well  as  we  do  so  that  we  give  fraternal  greet- 
ings to  many  whose  views  regarding  various  points  of  doctrine  and  polity 
are  not  in  accord  with  our  own.  If  occasion  requires  the  discussion  of  our 
divergent  opinions  we  can  confer  together,  not  only  without  bitterness, 
but  with  genuine  loving-kindness.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  such  a  com- 
parison of  views  is  often  fruitful  of  the  best  results,  while,  on  the  con- 
trary, the  history  of  the  Christian  centuries  affords  abundant  evidence  that 
little  good  has  ever  been  accomplished  by  cold,  unsympathetic  contro- 
versy. When  we  heartily  embrace  the  fact  that  we  have  one  Father  not 
a  few  difficulties  which  once  seemed  formidable  melt  away.  It  is  largely 
a  question  of  temperature. 

If  God  will  breathe  upon  us  this  spirit  of  unity  I  do  not  doul)t  that 
when  our  next  Ecumenical  Conference  shall  convene,  while  the  aggregate 
membership  of  the  Methodism  of  the  wide  world  will  be  largely  in- 
creased, the  delegates  assembled  will  not  represent  twenty-nine  different 
Methodist  organizations.  Surely,  it  must  be  right  for  us,  nay,  more,  it 
must  be  our  duty,  by  prayer  and  by  such  mutual  concessions  as  might  be 
made  without  compromising  either  truth  or  honor,  to  seek  for  so  much  of 
visible  union  as  is  the  legitimate  expression  of  real  Christian  unity.  We 
long  for  this.  Nothing  more  than  this  and  nothing  less.  May  our  heav- 
enly Father  in  mercy  grant  it  unto  us ! 

If  now  we  turn  to  consider  our  relations  with  other  branches  of  the 
Church  of  Christ,  an  immense  field  opens  before  us  which  we  have  not 
time  to  enter.  A  few  words  must  suffice.  In  a  recent  article  from  the 
pen  of  a  member  of  this  body  a  statement  is  made  to  the  effect  that  the 
formation  of  the  two  great  Bible  societies  of  England  and  America  has 
had  much  to  do  in  promoting  friendly  relations  among  Christians  of 
various  denominations.  This  is  unquestionably  true.  Holding,  as  I  do, 
official  relations  with  one  of  these  societies,  I  should  do  injustice  to  my 
feelings  and  prove  myself  disloyal  to  the  Master  if  I  failed  to  say  that 
in  moving  to  and  fro  in  all  parts  of  our  land,  among  Christians  of  other 


118  THE    CHRISTIAN    CHUKCH. 

denominations,  I  often  meet  the  most  delightful  "living  epistles.'" 
These  brethren  belonging  to  other  folds  of  the  one  flock  of  Christ 
heartily  hold  with  us  the- great  central  doctrines  concerning  sin,  and  the 
sinner's  only  Saviour.  Many  of  them,  especially  of  late,  in  marking  the 
centennial  of  John  Wesley's  death,  have  in  the  most  graceful  terms  ac- 
knowledged their  obligations  to  the  great  evangelical  revival  of  the  last 
century.  We  may  well  respond  by  confessing  our  obligations  to  them. 
They  perhaps  have  learned  from  us  how  to  make  their  worship  more 
gladsome,  and  we  would  do  well  to  temper  our  jubilant  ways  by  imitat- 
ing their  reverence  and  solemnitv  in  the  house  of  God.  Other  particulars 
occur  to  me  in  this  connection,  but  I  forbear,  God  be  praised  for  the 
many  strong  and  beautiful  characters  identified  with  other  branches  of 
the  C'hurch  of  Christ ! 

It  has  been  aftirmed  by  another  speaker  to-day  that  other  denomina- 
tions are  drawing  nearer  to  us  in  matters  of  belief.  However  this  may 
be,  I,  for  my  part,  cannot  think  we  are  very  near  the  time  when  the  doc- 
trinal difficulties,  for  instance,  which  separated  Wesley  and  Whitefield 
will  cease  to  exist.  Great  philosophical  points  are  involved,  and  all  good 
men  are  not  likely  to  see  eye  to  eye,  in  our  day,  concerning  the  best  way 
to  harmonize  the  sovereignty  of  God  and  the  freedom  of  the  human  will. 
If,  however,  as  loyal  followers  of  Wesley  we  will  accept  the  teachings  of 
his  great  discourse  on  "The  Catholic  Spirit"  all  will  be  well.  "  I  do 
not  mean,"  he  says,  "be  of  my  opinion.  You  need  not.  I  do  not  expect 
or  desire  it.  Neither  do  I  mean  I  will  be  of  your  opinion.  I  cannot.  It 
does  not  depend  on  my  choice.  Keep  you  your  opinion,  I  mine,  and  that 
as  steadily  as  ever;  but  if  thy  heart  be  as  my  heart  give  me  thy  hand." 

Again,  I  never  expect  to  see  the  day  when  some  of  the  best  of  men  will 
not  prefer  the  Presbyterian  or  the  Congregational  form  of  church  govern- 
ment. It  seems  clear  to  us  that  if  any  one  form  of  government  is  essential 
the  Head  of  the  Church  would  have  told  us.  Therefore  the  term,  ' '  His- 
toric Episcopate,"  of  which  we  have  heard  not  a  little  of  late,  must  needs 
receive  a  generous  interpretation  to  meet  with  universal  acceptance.  If, 
as  is  intimated  by  high  authority,  the  expression  means  simply  oversight, 
"locally  adapted  in  its  methods  and  administrations  to  varying  needs  " — 
such  oversight,  for  instance,  as  that  now  exercised  by  Thomas  Bowman 
and  Thomas  Bowman  Stephenson,  so  well  "adapted  to  our  varying 
needs,"  the  way  would  seem  to  be  open  for  some  advance  movement 
toward  the  visible  union  of  the  various  denominations.  Let  us  prayer- 
fully wait  to  learn  what  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  holds  in  reserve  for 
his  children. 

While  we  wait,  each  for  himself  must  see  to  it  that  he  is  really  dwell- 
ing in  God.  We  must  find  the  Father  and  abide  in  him.  We  will  pray, 
too,  that  believers  of  other  folds  may  do  likewise.  In  this  spirit  we  will 
all  move  forward,  singing  on  our  way  the  Calvinist's  ' '  Rock  of  Ages  " 
and  the  Methodist's  "Jesus,  Lover  of  My  Soul,"  until  our  vital  unity  shall 
have  full  time  to  find  outward  expression  in  such  forms  of  union  as  the 
Father  of  us  all  may  Vje  pleased  to  indicate. 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    THOMAS    MITCHELL.  119 

Finally,  whatever  may  be  in  store  for  the  Church  here  below,  we  shall 
in  the  near  future  be  gathered  in  the  Father's  house  above.  There,  ceas- 
ing to  know  in  part,  "  we  shall  know  even  as  we  are  known." 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Mitchell,  of  the  Primitive  Methodist 
Church,  delivered  the  following  appointed  address  : 

Mr.  Chairman :  To  attempt  definition  is  a  proverbially  perilous  task ; 
but  I  will  venture  to  define  the  Church  as  the  community  of  believers  in 
Christ,  the  company  of  those  who  trust  Christ  for  personal  salvation  and 
spiritual  guidance,  and  who  yield  to  Christ  cheerful  obedience  and  loj-al 
service.  This  is  a  definition  simple  enough  and  broad  enough  to  embrace 
all  candidates  for  Christian  discipleship  whose  credentials  carry  the  seal 
of  sincerity.  It  will  include  every  form  of  church  government — Episco- 
palian, Congregational,  or  Presbyterian;  all  forms  of  spiritual  worshij} 
from  the  simplest  to  the  most  ornate  ritual ;  all  creeds  which  recognize 
Christ  as  the  central  fact  and  force  of  spiritual  life.  The  unity  of  his 
Church  was  ardently  desired  and  prayed  for  by  our  Lord  in  the  most  sol- 
emn moment  of  his  earthly  life.  Such  unity  cannot  be  synonymous  with 
uniformity.  Uniformity  may  be  merely  mechanical ;  unity  must  be  vital. 
Unif  onnity  has  been  the  dream  of  enthusiasts ;  unity  has  been  the  lofty 
aim  of  the  purest  and  noblest  of  men.  In  nature  infinite  variety  of  man- 
ifestation and  method  is  combined  with  the  clearest  unity  of  jjrinciple 
and  purpose.  The  Bible  itself  has  a  varied  authorship,  and  great  diver- 
sity of  literary  form  and  matter ;  but  it  has  a  uniform  purpose  through- 
out. So  the  unity  of  the  Church  is  not  perfect  similarity  of  belief  or 
usage  or  ceremony  or  external  organization,  but  the  union  of  hearts  in  a 
common  spiritual  life,  in  common  loyalty  to  one  Master,  in  warmest  char- 
ity and  sympathy  with  each  other,  in  a  common  aim  and  effort  to  set  up 
truth  and  righteousness  in  the  earth.  It  is  the  unity  of  a  nation  which 
does  not  destroy,  but  preserves  its  individual  and  family  and  municipal 
life ;  and,  in  spite  of  great  variety  of  rank,  wealth,  or  intelligence,  is  yet 
one  in  its  corporate  life  and  characteristics.  It  is  the  unity  of  an  army  in 
which,  notwithstanding  vast  differences  of  weapons,  drill,  methods  of 
attack  or  defense,  the  heart  of  every  soldier  pulsates  in  complete  loyalty 
to  the  cause  and  the  Commander.  It  is  the  unity  of  a  family  in  which 
there  may  be  the  most  surprising  diversity  of  tastes,  aptitude,  or  tempera- 
ment, but  in  which  there  is  that  bond  of  kinship  and  love  and  trust  which 
combine  to  make  home.  It  is  the  unity  of  a  body  in  which  head,  hands, 
and  feet  are  all  dependent  on  each  other,  and  in  which  the  full  efiiciency 
of  each  member  is  essential  to  the  full  efficiency  of  every  other.  It  is  the 
unity  of  an  anthem  in  which  there  may  be  infinite  variety  of  swells  and 
cadences,  of  solo,  duet,  chorus,  but  all  are  made  to  contribiite  to  the  har- 
mony and  impressiveness  of  the  whole.  So  the  Church  is  a  unit  in  diver- 
sity. There  is  variety  of  manifestation,  but  there  is  one  spirit,  one 
character,  one  spiritual  quality  and  purpose. 

Manifestly  such  union  must  spring  from  within.     It  can  only  be  the 
outcome  of  the  Church's  own  life.     To  attempt  to  secure  it  by  external 


120  THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 

force,  by  the  suppression  of  individuality,  by  burning  heretics,  is  to  in- 
vite failure.  Such  methods  never  have  finally  succeeded,  and  never  ought. 
They  begin  at  the  wrong  place  and  employ  the  wrong  methods.  There 
are  forces  which  can  produce  unity,  but  they  spring  from  within  the 
Church  itself.  Complete  loyalty  to  Christ  in  each  member  and  Church 
will  give  it.  The  nearer  we  approach  to  Christ  the  nearer  we  must  come 
to  each  other,  just  as  the  radii  of  a  circle  approach  each  other  as  they  ap- 
proach the  center.  A  loftier  Christian  life,  a  larger,  fuller  enjoyment  of 
the  Spirit  of  Christ,  a  deeper  sympathy  with  the  purposes  of  his  kingdom, 
would  bind  all  Churches  in  one  glad,  common  brotherhood. 

We  need,  too,  more  fervent  charity  among  ourselves.  This  the  larger 
life  in  Christ  will  give.  How  much  we  have  in  common,  and  how  little 
ground  there  is  for  the  suspicions  with  which  we  occasionally  regard  each 
other !  We  love  the  same  Saviour,  we  sing  the  same  hymns,  and  we  ap- 
proach the  same  mercy-seat  ;  we  meet  at  the  bed  of  the  dying,  and  we 
anticipate  a  glorious  reunion  in  the  heavenly  home.  Recognition  of 
friends  in  heaven  is  a  problem  of  the  future ;  recognition  of  friends  on 
earth  is  a  practical  question  for  to-day.  Mutual  co-operation  will  unite 
us.  There  is  a  vast  field  of  religious  and  jihilanthropic  work  in  which 
all  can  join ;  there  are  pressing  schemes  of  social  and  moral  reform  that 
can  only  be  accomplished  by  the  concentrated  forces  at  our  command. 
The  drink  traflftc,  the  opium  traffic,  social  impurity  can  only  be  dealt  with 
by  a  united  Church. 

I  do  not  deny  that  the  various  denominations  of  Christendom  have 
served  many  useful  purposes.  They  may  have  stimulated  to  activity,  res- 
cued from  oblivion  some  truth  likely  to  be  forgotten,  or  emphasized  some 
needed  form  of  church  life  work ;  but  the  time  has  assuredly  come  when 
the  forces  of  the  Church  should  be  organized  and  united  for  that  supreme 
conflict  with  evil  which  is  already  on  us,  and  which  will  tax  our  utmost 
energies  in  the  immediate  future. 

But  has  this  theme  any  special  application  to  the  circumstances  in 
which  we  stand  to-day  ?  Does  it  utter  any  message  to  this  Conference 
of  the  Methodists  of  the  world  ?  Have  we  breaches  which  need  to  be 
healed,  divisions  which  call  for  reunion,  forces  which  are  competitive  and 
even  antagonistic  which  need  combination  and  concentration  to  give  full 
effect  to  their  Christly  mission  ?  The  Methodism  of  Canada  has  become 
one,  and,  we  are  told,  with  a  marked  accession  of  power  and  usefulness. 
Can  this  beneficent  process  be  carried  a  step  further  ?  Can  British  Meth- 
odism become  one,  and  in  its  union  bring  on  the  time  when  there  shall 
be  one  Methodism  throughout  the  world  ?  Two  urgent  questions  are  be- 
fore us.  Is  the  organic  imion  of  British  Methodism  desirable,  and  if  so, 
why  ?  Is  the  organic  vmion  of  British  Methodism  practicable,  and  if  so, 
how  ?  These  questions  embrace  the  vital  aspects  of  the  subject  as  it  pre- 
sents itself  to-day.  The  answer  to  the  first  question  must  be,  I  think,  in 
the  affirmative  by  a  vast  majority  of  the  most  devout  and  laborious  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Church.  A  united  Methodism  for  Great  Britain 
and  all  its  missions  is  a  magnificent  conception,  and  its  realization  would 


ADDRESS    OF  REV.    THOMAS    MITCHELL.  121 

be  a  splendid  triumph  of  wisdom  and  charity.  We  preach  the  same  doc- 
trine. Whatever  diversities  of  church  polity  may  prevail  among  us, 
whatever  variety  of  methods  we  may  employ,  one  theme  fills  our  pulpits — 
salvation  for  all  men,  through  faith  in  a  crucified  and  exalted  Christ, 
salvation  now,  and  salvation  to  the  uttermost  either  of  guilt  or  numbers 
or  time.  We  have  the  same  ministerial  itineracy,  more  or  less  rigid — a 
hard  and  fast  three  years  in  the  mother-Church  and  three  years  with  rea- 
sonable modifications  and  extensions  in  the  other  branches.  We  are  glad 
to  see  that  the  parent  is  learning  from  the  children,  and  is  contemplating 
some  relaxation  in  that  stern  and  unbending  law  of  three  years'  ministerial 
term  and  no  longer.  We  have  the  same  methods  for  the  culture  and  expres- 
sion of  s^jiritual  life — the  Methodist  class-meeting,  an  institution  of  price- 
less worth  for  the  building  uj)  of  Christian  character  and  the  training  of 
Christian  workers.  We  all  share  in  Wesley's  noble  missionary  creed, 
"  The  world  is  my  parish,"  and  we  want  to  send  the  Gospel  to  every  land. 
What  divides  us  ?  Some  small  point  of  church  polity,  sometimes  of  mi- 
croscopic proportions,  and  only  exalted  into  the  dignity  of  a  difference  by 
denominational  preference  or  prejudice.  And  whatever  differences  have 
existed  are  disappearing.  There  may  have  been  a  time  for  the  assertion, 
the  vigorous  assertion,  of  the  claim  of  the  laity  to  a  place  in  the  highest 
courts  of  the  Church.  This  claim  has  been  practically  conceded,  a  con- 
cession never  to  be  canceled,  and  it  only  requires  time  to  work  out  its 
own  complete  development. 

The  less  emphatic  assertion  of  points  of  difference  by  the  smaller 
branches,  and  the  spirit  of  conciliation  which  exists  in  the  parent 
Church,  its  responsiveness  to  the  reasonable  demands  of  its  own  people, 
have  a  message  for  us,  and  it  seems  to  be  this :  "  There  is  a  time  to  unite 
as  well  as  to  divide." 

There  are  seven  different  Methodist  Churches  reiiresented  here  as  com- 
ing from  England.  Does  not  this  divided  condition  of  affairs  demand 
some  change?  What  would  a  united  British  Methodism  do  for  us  ?  It 
would  effect  an  enormous  saving  of  toil,  time,  and  ti'easure  in  the  work- 
ing of  the  Church,  and  set  free  energies  and  resources  now  absorbed  in 
maintaining  feeble  and  rival  interests  for  the  worthier  task  of  Christian 
aggression.  It  would  terminate  the  reproach  of  division,  and  an  unini- 
tiated world  is  often  perplexed  to  know  what  divides  us. 

It  would  make  Methodists  brothers  in  fact  and  name  who  never  ought 
to  have  been  any  thing  else  but  brothers  in  heart.  It  would  neutralize 
the  painful  results  which  have  followed  past  controversy,  and  concen- 
trate and  develop  the  vast  jjowers  and  possibilities  of  the  Methodist 
Church  in  the  most  effective  way.  It  would  make  some  contribution, 
and  not  a  small  one,  to  the  realization  of  our  Lord's  tender  prayer  for  his 
disciples,  a  prayer  not  yet  fully  answered.  And  whatever  would  secure 
that  result  demands  the  thought  and  effort,  the  promjjt  thought  and 
effort,  of  those  who  can  in  any  measure  contribute  to  its  achievement. 

My  second  question  is:  Is  the  organic  union  of  British  Methodism 
practicable,  and  if  so,  how?  This  is  a  question  for  sanctified  ecclesiastical 
11 


122  THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 

Statesmanship,  and  tlds  is  scarcely  the  time  to  formulate  legislative  pro- 
posals ;  but  it  would  be  a  reflection  on  the  statesmansliip  of  Methodism 
to  affirm  that  where  there  is  so  much  in  common  among  us,  and  so  little 
to  divide,  an  organic  union  is  impossible.  Let  the  subject  be  approached 
with  the  tender  tones  of  Christ's  prayer  in  our  ears,  "  that  they  may  bo 
one  as  we  are ;  "  let  us  look  more  at  the  points  on  which  we  agree  than 
on  those  on  which  we  differ;  let  us  cherish  toward  each  other  a  larger 
measure  of  the  charity  which  thinketh  no  evil ;  let  us  be  ready  to  concede 
non-vital  points  for  the  sake  of  the  general  good,  and  have  a  holy  rivalry 
as  to  who  can  show  most  of  the  spirit  of  Christ;  let  us  have  these  condi- 
tions, and  the  day  cannot  be  far  distant  when  the  flag  of  Methodism  shall 
float  over  a  united  people ;  when  divisions  shall  be  at  an  end,  and  all 
past  controversy  forgotten  in  one  glad  and  triumphant  effort  to  make  the 
Methodism  of  the  future  the  mightiest  and  most  beneficent  force  for  the 
uplifting  of  humanity  and  the  honor  of  the  name  of  Christ  the  world  has 
ever  known. 

I  speak  for  myself  alone,  and  have  no  mandate  from  the  Church  to 
which  I  belong.  It  has  been  thought  that  in  the  grand  reunion  of  the 
coming  time  our  Church  would  be  the  last  to  share  in  the  great  fusion  of 
Methodist  life  which,  I  think,  must  come  sometime.  That,  I  think,  is 
mere  assumption.  It  is  said  we  are  strong,  far  away  the  strongest  of  the 
minor  Methodist  bodies— stronger  than  all  of  them  put  together.  We 
have  approaching  200,000  members,  £3,000,000  worth  of  trust  property, 
450,000  young  people  in  our  Sunday-schools,  and  as  we  think  a  splendid 
future  before  us.  It  may  be  that  we  shall  not  be  the  first  to  move,  but 
Primitive  Methodists  are  sensible  people,  and  I  may  venture  to  prophesy 
that  when  the  battalions  of  a  united  Methodism  move  on  as  a  leading 
force  to  the  conquest  of  the  world  for  Christ,  the  stalwarts  of  the  Primi- 
tive Methodist  contingent  will  not  be  found  apart  or  behind. 

Meanwhile  let  us  be  brothers  in  more  than  name.  Let  us  foster  rather 
than  force  the  great  movement.  The  times  are  trying,  problems  of  vast 
significance  and  far-reaching  issues  press  for  solution,  and  can  only  be 
solved  by  the  combined  intelligence  and  force  of  a  united  Church.  Let 
us  help  each  other  in  our  struggles  and  rejoice  in  each  other's  prosperity; 
and  it  may  be  that  sooner  than  some  think,  to  use  Mr.  Selby's  beautiful 
figure,  the  warm  sunshine  of  God's  love  and  presence  shall  melt  the  icy 
differences  which  now  divide  us,  and  fuse  the  sections  of  the  Methodist 
Church  into  one  grand  unit  of  power  and  blessing  to  mankind. 

The  liev.  C.  F.  Keid,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  introduced  the  discussion,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  I  stand  here  in  this  body  representing  one  hundred  and 
fifty  Methodist  missionaries,  who  form  that  wing  of  Methodism  which 
stands  eager  and  alert  at  important  points  in  China  that  we  may  win  that 
empire  for  (Jhrist. 

I  come  as  the  representative  of  those  one  hundred  and  fifty  Methodist 
missionaries,  and  I  ask  for  more  unity  among  the  Churches  who  send  us 
to  that  field.     A  year  ago  last  May  we  had  a  General  Conference  of  mis- 


GENERAL    REMAKXS.  123 

sionaries  at  Shanghai.  There  was  at  that  time  a  Methodist  reunion 
which  I  had  the  privilege  of  entertaining  at  my  house.  At  that  reunion 
over  seventy  Methodist  missionaries  formed  themselves  into  an  asso- 
ciation which  they  called  the  Methodist  Union  of  China.  Since  1847 
Methodism  has  been  operating  in  China.  It  now  numbers  six  bodies  of 
Methodists,  and  I  must  add  another  one — the  recent  addition  which  we 
have  had  from  our  Canadian  brethren.  These  seven  different  battalions  of 
Methodism  are  marching  up  and  down  the  great  empire  of  China,  cross- 
ing and  re-crossing,  without  any  concerted  movement  and  without  refer- 
ence to  the  objects  and  movements  of  each  other.  That  we  wish  to  have 
changed.  There  are  some  things  which  we  can  do  a  great  deal  better  by 
being  more  closely  united.  We  do  not  presume  at  this  time  to  ask  you 
for  an  organic  union,  either  on  the  mission  field  or  among  the  churches  at 
home.  That  will  come,  we  hope,  in  God's  good  time.  But  there  are 
some  things  that  we  do  want.  In  the  first  place,  we  want  a  common 
name  for  the  Methodist  Church  in  China,  so  that  when  our  members  go 
from  one  mission  to  another  they  may  find  themselves  at  home  and  may 
not  be  almost  as  strange  as  if  they  were  uniting  with  some  other  denomi- 
nation. We  wish  to  be  known  by  some  name  that  shall  designate  all  the 
Methodist  churches  of  China.  We  want  more  than  that.  We  want  a 
common  hymnal,  so  that  when  our  brothers  go  about  from  place  to  place, 
when  they  enter  a  Methodist  church  and  pick  uj)  a  hymn-book  they  will 
find  themselves  at  home  and  will  at  once  be  able  to  take  part  in  the  serv- 
ices. We  want  a  Methodist  Discipline  that  shall  be  common,  so  that  our 
Chinese  members  shall  all  be  under  the  same  system  of  government 
every-where.  We  want  a  periodical,  and  we  want  a  common  periodical. 
There  is  no  one  branch  of  Methodism  that  is  able  of  itself  to  sustain  a 
strong  periodical  there.  We  want  an  Advocate,  a  ]\Iethodist  Advocate 
that  shall  be  able  to  command  the  best  talent  of  all  and  the  interest  of 
every  missionary  there.  We  want  a  Sunday-school  literature.  Instead  of 
employing  six  or  seven  men  to  make  Sunday-school  literature  for  each 
separate  denomination  of  Methodism,  we  want  to  employ  one  man,  and 
the  very  best  man,  for  that  purpose.  We  want  one  great  Methodist  uni- 
versity where  we  may  raise  up  among  the  Chinese  men  who  shall  go  out 
from  its  walls  and  bring  back  victory  from  all  the  eighteen  provinces  of 
that  great  empire. 

It  is  an  office  of  the  heart  to  pump  its  blood  out  into  the  extremities 
of  the  body,  thus  giving  to  them  strength  and  efliciency.  We  at  the 
farthest  extremities  of  the  Church  say  to  this  great  heart  of  the  Church, 
give  us  your  blood,  give  us  pure  blood,  and  give  to  us  in  such  measure 
and  quality  as  will  enable  us  to  grasp  with  vigor,  and  to  deal  eificiently 
with,  the  great  problems  that  confront  us  on  the  mission  field. 

The  E-ev.  William  Nicholas,  D.D.,  of  the  Irish  Methodist 
Churcli,  made  the  following  remarks  : 

I  very  fully  sympathize  with  the  sentiments  that  have  been  expressed 
this  morning  so  far,  although  I  must  confess  that  the  matter  appears  to 
me  in  a  somewhat  different  aspect. 

Tbe  unity  of  the  Church  seems  to  me  to  be  contained  in  the  very  idea 
of  the  Church.  Who  constitute  the  true  Church  of  Christ  ?  All  those 
who  are  in  vital  connection  with  Christ.  Some  of  those  may  be  conscious 
of  that  connection;  that  is,  persons  who  have  been  converted  and  found 
pardon  by  faith  in  Christ.  Some  may  be  unconscious  of  that  connection, 
as  in  the  case  of  infants  who  may  not  be  able  and  who  are  not  able  to  ap- 
prehend Christ,  but  who  are  apprehended  by  Christ  and  are  really  hona 
fide  members  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  who  are  part  and  parcel  of  the 


124  THE    CHRISTIAN    CHUKCH. 

mystical  body  of  which  Christ  is  the  head.  Therefore,  the  unity  of  the 
Church  seems  to  me  to  be  an  existing  fact.  It  is  not  something  that  we 
should  be  exhorted  to.  When  we  say  there  ought  to  be  this  unity,  we 
have  a  right  to  say  there  is  this  imity. 

And  now,  as  there  is  this  real  unity  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  this  unity 
may  be  manifested  just  as  in  the  case  of  a  family.  You  may  have  a  fam- 
ily separated  by  internal  strife,  and  yet  there  is  a  very  real  natural  unity 
in  that  family.  All  the  members  constitute  one  family.  They  may  differ ; 
they  may  disagree ;  they  may  quarrel ;  but  they  are  still  members  of  the 
family.  So  is  it  among  Christians.  Every  real  Christian  is  of  the  same 
family  with  every  other  real  Christian;  and  although  they  may  be  called 
by  different  names,  and  although  one  may  refuse  to  recognize  another, 
that  does  not  alter  the  essential  fact  of  their  unity.  "  Ye  are  all  one  in 
Christ  Jesus,"  can  be  applied  to  all  those  who  have  vital  relationships 
with  Christ.  Therefore,  it  seems  to  me  that  there  should  l)e  insisted  upon 
a  manifestation  and  recognition  of  this  real  unity.  In  order  that  these 
two  things  might  be  carried  out  w^e  must  cultivate  a  good  deal  of  liber- 
ality ;  we  must  give  a  great  deal  of  freedom  to  thought.  We  have  no 
right  to  say:  "  We  will  unchurch  you  if  you  do  not  believe  in  every  ar- 
ticle of  our  creed."  We  must  give  liberty  of  thought;  John  Wesley  gave 
liberty  of  thought.  It  often  seems  to  me  that  instead  of  going  forward 
we  are  in  danger  of  going  backward  in  this  very  matter,  and  that  we  are 
disposed  to  insist  sometimes  more  than  we  ought  to  insist  upon  absolute 
agreement  in  matters  of  doctrine.  Then,  I  think,  we  ought  to  give  con- 
siderable freedom  in  matters  of  ritual.  I  do  not  think  we  have  a  right  to 
say  to  all  around  us :  "  Yovi  must  worship  in  precisely  the  form  in  which 
we  worship."  If  we  are  to  have  this  unity  recognized  and  manifested, 
there  must  be  liberty  of  thought  and  there  must  be  liberty  for  diversity  of 
taste  in  public  worship.  Tlien,  sir,  I  believe  with  these  two  ideas  im- 
pressed upon  the  Christian  public  by  an  inward  normal  growth,  union 
among  the  various  Churches,  possibly  a  confederation  of  many  Churches, 
and  then  an  organic  union  of  many  Churches,  will  ultimately  result.  I 
am  very  happy  to  be  able  to  tell  you  that  in  Ireland,  where  we  have  a 
great  deal  of  strife  of  different  kinds,  we  have,  practically  speaking,  but 
one  Methodist  Church.  I  was  not  much  in  favor  of  this  union  at  one 
time,  but  my  experience  since  the  union  of  the  two  principal  bodies  of 
Methodism  in  Ireland  has  led  me  to  change  my  opinion  entirely.  That 
union  has  worked  well  and  with  less  friction  than  any  body  could  have 
anticipated,  and  has  been  a  greater  success  than  the  most  sanguine  advo- 
cates of  the  union  expected. 

The  Rev.  Ralph  Abebcrombie,  M.A.,  of  the  United  Method- 
ist Free  Church,  continued  the  discussion,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President  and  Christian  Brethren :  As  a  member  of  the  Joint  Com- 
mittee appointed  by  the  Methodist  Free  Church  and  New  Connection 
Conferences  to  negotiate  terms  of  organic  union,  I  beg  to  say  that  though 
that  union  was  not  consummated,  the  meetings  of  the  Joint  Committee 
were  the  brightest  and  pleasantest  business  meetings  of  the  Church  I  ever 
attended,  and  afforded  a  happy  augury  of  a  successful  issue  in  a  not  dis- 
tant future.  We  have  no  right  to  expect  that  organic  union  will  be  ef- 
fected the  day  after  to-morrow.  "He  that  believeth  shall  not  make 
haste."  Measured  not  by  the  lives  of  individuals,  but  by  the  larger  life 
of  great  religious  communities,  the  movement  for  Methodist  union  is  still 
quite  a  juvenile  movement.  It  is  really  only  about  fifteen  years  old,  and 
in  these  narrow  limits  of  time  it  has  made  greater  progress  than  could  have 


GENERAL   EEMAKKS.  125 

been  reasonably  anticipated.  One  great  result  has  been  achieved — the 
unification  of  Canadian  Methodist  bodies.  It  will  go  down  to  posterity 
in  the  pages  of  ecclesiastical  history  that  Canada  took  the  lead  in  the 
practical  realization  of  Methodist  unity. 

The  Ecumenical  Conference  of  1881  did  much  to  spread  and  intensify 
the  spirit  of  union.  Union  for  a  number  of  years  has  been  a  sentiment. 
I  do  not  despise  sentiment  ;  but  we  ought  not  to  stay  forever  in  the  sen- 
timental stage.  We  ought  to  advance  beyond  the  position  of  the  Pan- 
Methodist  Conference  of  1881.  We  ought  at  this  Conference  to  do  some- 
thing practical  for  the  realization  of  Methodist  unity.  Can  we  not  ar- 
range for  a  day  of  universal  prayer  once  a  year  for  the  increase  of  the 
spirit  and  also  for  the  practical  embodiment  of  Christian  unity  ?  Can  we 
not  have  two  Conferences  meeting  half  way  between  the  Ecumenical 
Conferences,  one  representing  the  communities  of  the  Eastern  and  the 
other  those  of  the  Western  Section  ?  Can  we  not  have  a  permanent  com- 
mittee of  the  Ecumenical  Conference,  whose  object  shall  be,  in  a  judicious 
and  catholic  spirited  way,  to  take  note  of  and  to  promote  all  that  tends 
toward  Methodist  union  ? 

When  the  day  for  organic  union  comes  no  difficulties,  legal  or  other, 
will  be  able  to  prevent  it.  As  one  of  the  great  moral  poets  of  America 
has  said : 

"Nor  think  I  that  God's  world  will  fall  apart 
Because  we  tear  a  parchment  more  or  less." 

But  the  day  for  organic  union  has  not  yet  arrived.  Meanwhile,  let  us 
do  what  is  practicable.  Let  us  draw  nearer  to  each  other.  Let  us  pro- 
mote the  federation  of  Methodism.  Thus  shall  we  do  something  tangible 
and  effective  at  this  Conference  to  hasten  on  the  dawning  of  the  better 
and  brighter  day  for  all  Methodist  Churches  and,  through  them,  for  the 
entire  brotherhood  of  mankind. 

The  Eev.  William  Arthur,  M.A.,  of  the  Weslejan  Methodist 
Church,  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President:  I  do  not  know  that  I  shall  be  able  to  make  myself 
heard,  but  I  will  try.  I  remember  when  Charles  H.  Si)urgeon  was  a  very 
young  man,  and  I  had  never  seen  him,  but  I  had  heard  some  of  his  utter- 
ances and  had  read  a  great  deal  about  him,  I  was  in  company  with  some 
Baptist  ministers  and  heard  something  said  very  unfavorable  to  this  for- 
ward young  man.  I  said,  very  quietly:  "Well,  I  do  not  know  much 
about  it,  but  I  have  a  deep  impression  that  he  is  the  right  man  and  that 
God  means  to  make  great  use  of  him."  "O,"  said  an  eminent  Baptist 
minister,  "if  you  only  heard  how  he  anathematizes  your  AiTuiniauism." 
I  said :  ' '  That  will  never  trouble  me.  I  would  much  rather  have  a  man 
that  exalts  the  Master  and  anathematizes  my  Arminianism  than  a  man 
that  will  not  exalt  my  Lord  and  Avill  not  anathematize  anything."  That 
gives  you  a  hint  of  my  idea  of  unity,  that  where  the  substance  is  all  right 
the  diversity  does  not  amount  to  much.  Not  that  I  made  little  of  the 
difference  between  his  Calvinism  and  my  Arminianism.  The  lapse  of 
years  has  made  no  difference  in  my  Arminianism;  I  ask  not  if  it  has  made 
some  difference  in  his  Calvinism ;  but  I  know  that  he  has  exalted  my 
Master. 

On  one  occasion  the  late  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  who  was  well  known  as 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  ornaments  of  his  type  of  ecclesiasticism  in 
our  country,  speaking  with  a  great  desire  to  bring  about  what  he  thought 
would  be  a  most  desirable  thing — the  incorporation   of  the  Methodist 


126  THE   CHRISTIAN   CHURCH. 

Church  back  again  into  the  Church  of  England — said  tome:  "Would 
you  not  be  glad  to  preach  in  Lincoln  Cathedral?"  "  Well, "  I  said,  "I 
should  be  glad  to  preach  in  Lincoln  Cathedral,  and  I  should  be  glad  to 
preach  in  a  wheelbarrow." 

The  lirst  fact  illustrates  my  idea  of  unity  and  the  second  illustrates  my 
idea  of  uniformity. 

I  concur  in  every  word  that  I  have  heard  to-day  about  the  utter  delu- 
sion of  the  human  mind  when  it  accepts  uniformity  as  meaning  imity.  I 
hold,  and  have  said  again  and  again  in  ])rint  and  in  speech,  that  the  great 
enemy  of  unity  has  been  the  search  after  uniformity.  When  I,  in  that 
very  same  conversation,  quoted,  "One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,  one 
God  and  Father  of  all,"  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln  replied:  "St.  Cyprian 
added:  '  One  bishop.'  "  I  say  that  in  all  ihe  breaches  of  unity,  in  partic- 
ular St.  Cyprian  it  was  who  iirst  really  had  a  schism.  I  say  that  all  the 
breaches  of  unity  have  sprung  out  of  St.  Cyprian  or  St.  Somebody  adding 
something,  and  our  business  is  to  see  that  no  St.  Anybody  adds  any 
thing.  Let  us  take  what  the  Lord  has  given  us.  Let  us  take  what  we 
have  received  from  our  Father,  and  we  have  received  the  spirit  of  cath- 
olicity. The  man  who  would  say  to  this  or  that  brother :  He  who  is  no 
Methodist  is  not  as  good  as  we,  would  himself  be  no  Methodist.  The 
man  who  would  say  to  Dr.  Hunt  that  wherever  he  sees  a  type  of  Christian 
holiness  that  strikes  him  as  higher  than  that  of  many  of  his  Methodist 
brethren  that  he  ought  not  to  proiit  by  it  and  tell  us  of  it  would  be  no 
Methodist.  Our  duty  is  to  recognize  Christ's  mind  and  image  wherever 
Christ's  image  and  mind  are.  If  you  want  really  an  incorporation  of  the 
different  bodies  do  not  attempt  to  force  it.  It  is  not  a  thing  that  you 
can  make ;  it  must  grow.  And  grow  it  will  if  you  do  not  try  to  hurry  it. 
Unless  the  Methodists  here  are  made  of  a  different  material  from  the 
Methodists  as  I  have  known  them,  they  are  a  people  that  it  is  not  impos- 
sible to  lead,  but  they  are  a  people  that  it  is  impossible  to  drive.  You 
cannot  drive  them,  above  all,  if  you  crack  the  whip. 

The  Rev.  W.  B.  Lakk,  of  tlie  Bible  Christian  Church,  con- 
tinued the  discussion,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  I  rise  to  express  my  gratitude  to  the  reader  of  that  mag- 
nificent paper  this  morning,  and,  furthermore,  to  express  my  indebtedness 
to  Mr.  Arthur  for  that  beautiful  speech  which  he  has  just  uttered. 

I  was  very  much  surprised  to  hear  the  first  speaker  this  morning  say 
that  the  prayer  of  our  Lord  that  we  all  may  be  one  still  remains  to  be  an- 
swered. I  can  quite  believe  that  it  is  so  if  Christian  unity  is  of  human 
creation.  But  we  have  not  to  create  this  imity;  we  have  to  recognize  it 
and  to  act  accordingly.  Hitherto  we  have  failed  to  do  this,  and  that  is 
our  sin,  and  we  are  suffering  therefrom  to-day.  We  have  ignored  the  true 
Christian  unity,  and  we  have  gone  about  manufacturing  unities  of  our 
own,  such  as  unity  of  creed  and  unity  of  organization.  But  have  we 
succeeded  on  such  lines?  No;  and  we  never  shall  succeed,  because  the 
true  principle  of  Christian  unity  does  not  lie  in  these  things.  You  know 
that  Rome  has  a  unity  of  doctrine,  a  unity  of  organization,  and  a  unity  of 
polity,  but  what  has  Rome  sacrificed  to  secure  this  unity?  Why,  it  has 
sacrificed  freedom  of  thought  and  liberty  of  action.  Is  that  the  unity  that 
we  desire?  Is  that  the  unity  which  Jesus  Christ  promised  to  liis  Church? 
No;  Jesus  Christ  promised  that  there  should  be  one  flock,  not  one  fold. 
The  folds  may  be  many,  but  the  flock  is  one. 

The  human  body  consists  of  many  parts,  but  it  is  one  body,  and  its 
unity  is  secured  by  the  indwelling  of  the  one  spirit  and  the  operations 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  127 

of  a  common  life.  "In  my  Father's  house,"  says  the  Saviour,  "  are  many 
mansions,"  not  many  families.  Though  the  mansions  may  be  many,  the 
family  is  one.  Wherever  we  have  uuiou  with  the  Lord  Jesus  Chri.st,  there 
we  have  the  very  root  of  church  membership ;  and  I  contend  that  no 
Church  has  any  right  to  demand  for  the  fellowship  of  saints  any  more  than 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  demands  for  Christian  discipleshij). 

As  regards  the  union  of  Methodism  in  the  old  country,  there  are  many 
of  us  who  believe  that  we  are  ripe  for  such  a  union ;  and  if  we  are  not,  I  do 
not  see  any  thing  to  object  to  in  our  hastening  the  ripening  process.  Let 
us  do  what  we  can  to  bring  about  that  time  when  there  shall  be  but  one 
Methodist  Church  in  our  whole  country. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  work  to  be  done  for  our  country  which,  in  our 
opinion,  can  only  be  done  b}'  united  Methodism ;  but  if  this  union  is  ever 
brought  about  the  initiative  must  be  taken  by  the  British  Wesleyan 
Church.  Will  that  Church  rise  to  the  occasion?  She  has  a  grand  oppor- 
tunity, such  as  no  Church  has  ever  had  since  the  days  of  the  apostles. 
There  are  many  hearts  all  over  the  country  praying  that  she  may  rise  to 
the  o])portunity  and  take  the  initiative.  Will  she  do  it?  I  appeal  to  her 
in  the  name  of  our  common  founder,  of  our  common  Methodism,  and,  above 
all,  in  the  name  of  our  common  Lord.  Depend  upon  it,  that  the  united 
Methodist  Church  in  God's  hands  will  save  our  nation ! 

The  Rev.  J.  Swann  Withington,  of  the  United  Metliodist 
Free  Church,  made  the  followinoj  remarks : 

Mr.  President :  I  have  a  great  interest  in  this  question.  I  have  fought 
for  brotherly  love.  This  matter  has  been  brought  by  me  before  our  as- 
sembly year  after  year.  I  was  the  first  to  move  fraternal  greetings  in 
Methodism. 

We  are  all  greatly  obliged  to  Mr.  Selby  for  his  paper,  elegant  in  dic- 
tion, forcible  in  appeal,  apposite  in  illustration.  We  all  believe  in  Chris- 
tian unity,  but  we  also  believe  in  the  manifestations  and  verifications  of 
its  blessings.  We  have  an  instance  of  Christian  union  complete  and  sat- 
isfactory in  the  Churches  of  Canada.  A  successful  union  has  been  made 
there,  and  a  prolific  union ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  if  a  similar  union 
should  take  place  with  reference  to  the  memberships  of  the  other  Churches 
that  we  would  have  similar  results.  The  result  is  before  us.  In  Canada, 
the  land  of  Canaan  of  Methodism,  it  has  been  successful,  and  they  have 
given  us  a  striking  illustration  of  imion  Methodism. 

Several  years  ago,  as  an  editor,  I  used  the  expression,  "  The  United 
States  of  Methodism."  I  think  it  possible  for  us  to  have  such  a  state  of 
things,  if  each  Church  and  if  each  connection  should  have  the  privilege  of 
retaining  some  of  its  peculiarities — peculiarities  to  which  some  of  the 
brethren  are  fondly  attached;  to  retain  some  of  their  peculiarities,  and  at 
the  same  time  to  have  a  central  Conference  every  four  or  six  years.  Then 
at  last  I  suppose  we  would,  by  common  consent  and  brotherly  love,  come 
to  a  fusion,  and  that  there  would  finally  be  a  union  of  all  the  Methodist 
Churches.  It  has  been  stated  that  we  are  one  in  doctrine.  There  is  no 
heterodoxy.  We  speak  out  distinctly  and  unmistakably  the  doctrines 
which  came  from  the  lips  of  John  Wesley,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  congratu- 
lation that  in  a  body  of  Churches  so  large  and  influential  there  is  the  same 
utterance  with  reference  to  doctrines.  Why  should  there  not  be  more  of 
imity  in  Methodism? 

It  is  well  to  manifest  in  every  possible  way  that  we  are  one  in  Christ 
Jesus.  Let  it  be  seen,  let  it  be  felt,  let  it  be  spoken,  and  in  this  way  we 
shall  lead  forward  the  great  charge  we  have  in  hand. 


128  THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 

The  Rev.  E.  E.  Hoss,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  said : 

Mr.  President :  I  shall  not  undertake  to  say  any  thing  at  all  with  refer- 
ence to  the  condition  of  things  in  Great  Britain,  but  I  have  long  ago 
formed  my  opinion  upon  the  subjects  with  which  I  am  acquainted.  It  is 
my  distinct  and  deliberate  conviction  that  our  Methodist  denominational 
divisions  in  America  have  been  a  great  advantage  to  us.  It  is  not  my 
habit,  Mr.  President,  to  feel  one  thing  in  my  heart  and  speak  another 
thing  with  my  lips.  An  organic  unity  of  the  different  branches  of  Method- 
ism in  America  is  a  problem  which,  if  not  impossible  of  solution,  is  at 
least  one  of  tremendous  difficulty.  Leaving  all  other  questions  and  all 
other  considerations  out  of  view,  the  size  of  the  Methodist  family  in  this 
country  makes  the  problem  of  organic  imity  one  of  great  difficulty.  I 
have  room  enough  in  my  heart  for  all  of  my  brethren  and  sisters  and  their 
children,  but  I  have  not  room  enough  for  them  in  my  house.  Any  Church 
has  the  right  to  maintain  its  distinct  denominational  existence  as  long  as 
it  stands  for  some  vital  aspect  of  Christian  truth  or  some  important  feat- 
ure of  ecclesiastical  econoniy,  or  as  long  as  its  existence  is  determined  and 
required  by  external  circumstances  of  the  need  and  binding  effect,  of 
which  it  itself  must  be  the  judge. 

All  movements  toward  unity  must  proceed  upon  the  supposition  of  the 
absolute  Christian  equality  of  all  the  parties  concerned.  The  size  of  the 
Church  does  not  entitle  it  to  any  special  consideration.  The  smaller 
bodies  are  equally  to  be  consulted,  and  their  opinions  to  have  equal  weight 
according  to  their  worth.  And  then,  if  unity  is  to  be  secured,  the  differ- 
ent Churches  must  at  once  and  forever  stop  their  maneuvering  for  position 
as  against  one  another.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  stand  in  my  place  here  and 
say  that  when  any  Methodist  denomination  goes  into  a  little  village  in 
which  there  is  already  a  Methodist  church  of  another  denomination,  and 
builds  a  house  and  sends  a  pastor,  it  makes  it  absolutely  unnecessary  for 
the  devil  to  be  personally  present  in  that  village. 

I  belong,  Mr.  President,  to  one  of  the  border  Conferences,  and  I  know 
what  I  am  speaking  about.  I  do  not  for  one  single  moment  think  that  the 
Church  of  which  I  am  a  member  has  been  utterly  faultless  in  this  matter, 
nor  would  I  dare  to  say  that  other  Methodist  denominations  have  been 
utterly  faultless.  We  have  all  been  wrong.  We  ought  to  stoj)  our 
nonsense  and  our  unchristian  conduct. 

If,  by  and  by,  an  external  organic  unity  comes,  all  right,  let  it  come ; 
but  there  is  no  immediate  prospect  of  it,  and  if  I  ever  see  it  at  all  I  expect 
to  see  it  from  the  heights  of  heaven. 


'&^ 


The  Rev.  William  Gibson,  B.A.,  of  the  "Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President  and  Friends :  There  is  one  thought  that  is  burning  in  my 
soul  this  morning,  and  I  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  it.  I  do  not  agree 
with  what  the  last  speaker  has  said.  I  believe  that  the  union  of  the  dif- 
ferent sections  of  Methodism  is  not  far  away  from  us.  It  seems  but  a  short 
period  of  time  between  the  last  Ecumenical  Conference  and  this.  During 
this  period  this  union  has  come  in  Canada.  Why  may  it  not  come  to  us 
between  this  and  the  next  Ecumenical  Conference  ?  I  have  a  great  hope 
that  it  will. 

The  thing  which  I  wish  especially  to  say  is  that  Ave  as  Methodists  are  a 
missionary  Church  if  we  are  any  thing,  and  if  there  is  one  subject  that 
ought  to  be  treated  as  the  foremost  by  this  Ecumenical  Conference,  it  is 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  129 

the  great  subject  of  missions.  The  Methodists  of  all  sections  ought  to  unite  in 
saying  that  they  will  join  as  one  for  the  conversion  of  the  world  to  Christ; 
and  that  for  this  end  they  will  unite  their  forces.  I  know  that  there  are 
difficulties  in  the  way  as  to  financial  arrangements,  etc.,  but  why  should 
there  not  be  unity  of  action  among  Methodist  bodies  upon  the  mission 
field  ?  I  look  upon  it  as  one  of  the  blessed  results  of  this  Ecumenical 
Council  that  we  shall  come  nearer  to  becoming  one  grand  missionary  organi- 
zation for  winning  the  world. 

Mr.  Thomas  Lawrence,  of  tlie  Primitive  Methodist  Church, 
concluded  the  discussion,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  So  far  as  I  can  gauge  the  opinion  of  this  great  Ecumen- 
ical Conference  we  are  one  in  the  desire  for  Methodist  union.  Can  no 
practical  suggestions  be  made  by  which  this  grand  consummation  can  be 
expedited?  It  has  been  said  that  the  outcome  of  the  first  Ecumenical  Con- 
ference was  union  in  Canada.  If  the  Ecumenical  Conference  held  ten 
years  ago  helped  to  bring  about  Methodist  union  in  Canada,  may  we  not 
readily  expect  that  our  deliberations  here  to-day,  and  throughout  the  suc- 
ceeding days  of  our  Conference,  will  produce  a  like  effect  ? 

My  suggestion  is  that  arrangements  should  be  made  for  more  frequent  fra- 
ternal intercourse  between  the  various  sections  of  the  Methodist  Church, both, 
on  this  and  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  I  think  it  would  be  a  good 
thing  if  there  was  an  exchange  of  pulpits  in  England,  particularly  between 
the  larger  and  smaller  Churches  in  Methodism.  I  see  no  reason  why  that 
should  not  be  done. 

The  last  speaker  has  said  that  we  ought  to  have  a  united  missionary 
policy.  Would  it  not  be  possible  to  establish  a  united  Methodist  mission 
board  in  England,  so  that  they  might  consider  the  fields  of  labor,  and 
which  fields  should  be  entered  by  one  Church  and  which  by  another? 

Then  could  there  not  be  a  fusion  of  interest  without  organic  union  ?  I 
believe  I  am  right  in  saying  that  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church  some 
time  since  made  advances  to  the  Bible  Christian  Church  with  reference  to 
a  withdrawal  on  their  part  from  certain  districts  where  they  were  weak  and 
we  were  strong,  and  that  we  would  give  up  a  quid  pro  quo  by  withdraw- 
ing from  certain  other  districts  where  they  were  strong  and  we  were  weak. 
Would  not  that  be  one  practical  solution  of  this  question? 

The  Secretary  requested  that  the  various  speakers  correct  the 
type-written  copies  of  their  addresses,  stating  that  the  accuracy 
of  the  printed  volume  depended  upon  compliance  with  this 
direction. 

The  session  was  closed  with  the  doxology  and  the  benediction. 


130  THE   CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 


SECOND  SESSION. 


The  Conference  opened  at  2:30  P.  M.,  the  Rev.  Bishop  H. 
W.  Warren,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
presiding.  The  devotional  services  were  conducted  by  F.  F. 
Jewell,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

The  Rev.  A.  Coke  Smith,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  South,  read  the  following  essay  on  "  Christian 
Co-operation  : " 

The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  is  essentially  oue  iu  all  ages  and  places. 
The  deposit  of  truth,  the  basis  of  faith,  and  the  source  of  spiritual  life  are 
the  same.  By  the  same  Spirit  all  are  purified  and  sealed,  and  under  his 
guidance  all  are  working  to  the  same  end.  This  may  consist  with  much 
variety  iu  the  non-essentials  of  creed  and  practice  in  the  individual  and 
the  denomination.  Unitj^  is  not  sameness,  and  the  highest  unity  in  pur- 
poses so  far  reaching  as  those  of  the  Gospel  requires  the  greatest  variety 
of  endowment  and  work,  and  a  mobility  in  form  that  can  adapt  itself  to 
its  ever-changing  environment,  and  speak  in  word  and  deed  to  each  age 
and  nation  in  its  own  tongue.  But  while  this  is  true  it  must  be  acknowl- 
edged that  much  that  is  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  unity  and  catho- 
licity has  appeared  in  the  history  of  the  Church,  and  much  still  remains. 
The  misunderstandings,  divisions,  and  strifes  in  the  Church  have  pre- 
sented a  sad  spectacle,  and  have  given  great  occasion  to  the  enemies  of 
the  cross  to  blaspheme.  "I  am  of  Paul;  I,  of  Apollos;  I,  of  Cephas; 
and  I  of  Christ,"  have  been  the  discordant  cries  of  a  divided  Israel.  In 
what  could  this  result  but  in  alienations,  strifes,  divisions,  and  fratricidal 
wars?  Amid  these  shameful  contentions  the  commission  under  which 
the  Church  existed,  and  for  the  accomplishment  of  which  alone  it  was  es- 
tablished, Avas  long  forgotten.  It  is  well  that  the  power  of  propaga- 
tion is  in  large  measure  denied  a  contentious  and  uncharitable  Chris- 
tianity, and  the  vast  regions  yet  unevangelized  are  the  marks  of  our  shame. 
Christendom  is  only  nominally  Christian,  the  majority  having  no  saving 
knowledge  of  Christ. 

There  may  be  as  yet  little  if  any  unmixed  good  in  the  world;  there  is 
no  unmixed  evil.  God  is  iu  nature  and  providence  working  continually 
toward  the  good.  He  allows  the  evils  which  may  be  inwrought  into  the 
institutions  of  real  life  to  work  themselves  out  to  sight  in  consequences 
which  will  lead  to  their  elimination.  The  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth 
century  was  the  protest  of  individual  right  against  the  usurpation  and 
tyranny  of  an  ecclesiastical  hierarchy  which  claimed  authority  over  the 
thought  and  conscience  and  conduct,  making  the  Church  every  thing  and 
the  individual  nothing.  This  great  movement  proceeded  upon  the  right 
of  the  individual's  oi)lnion  iu  matters  of  religion.  The  emphasis  was  on 
the  individual.  The  individual  conscience,  enlightened  by  the  word  of  God, 
was  to  be  the  guide  of  the  life.     The  spirit  of  intolerance,  however,  was 


ESSAY  OF  KEY.  A.  COKE  SMITH.  131 

not  exorcised  from  the  Protestant  Vjody,  but  soon  manifested  itself  in  at- 
tempts to  enforce  comformity  to  creeds  and  forms  of  worship.  But  the 
right  of  protest  had  been  taught,  and  it  was  exercised.  Of  course,  it  suf- 
fered abuse.  Matters  indifferent  were  elevated  into  essentials,  and  sects 
and  denominations  arose  upon  insignificant  issues.  The  blame  for  divisions 
among  Christians  is  largely  distributed,  and  no  stone  will  be  cast  if  only 
the  blameless  may  throw  it. 

But  the  truth  which  underlies  all  these  divisions  is  that  taught  by  our 
Lord,  the  responsibility  of  the  individual  in  the  matter  of  salvation  and 
his  consequent  right  to  freedom  in  worship  and  in  the  conduct  of  life.  It 
has  taken  long  for  the  Church  to  learn  this  lesson  of  the  worth  and  con- 
sequent rights  of  the  individual  soul,  and  its  superiority  in  the  sight  of  God 
over  the  Church  itself  considered  merely  as  an  organization.  But  the 
lesson  when  learned  is  worth  the  time  and  pains  of  its  teaching.  With 
God  a  thousand  years  are  as  one  day.  He  does  not  force  issues.  A  great 
principle  is  allowed  ages  to  work  itself  out;  but  when  it  has  been  wrought 
out  into  the  forms  of  human  life  then  one  day  is  with  the  Lord  as  a  thou- 
sand years,  and  results  which  would  seem  to  require  centuries  for  their 
attainment  are  wrought  out  in  a  day.  Let  us  hope  that  the  days  of  prepa- 
ration and  waiting,  of  misunderstanding  and  contention,  are  over,  and 
there  will  be  crowded  into  a  day  of  glorious  harvest  the  results  of  a  thou- 
sand years  of  pain  and  toil. 

The  call  for  closer  union  among  the  Churches  and  for  co-operation  in 
all  Christian  work  coming  up  from  all  directions  is  significant.  A  con- 
scious need  is  a  prophecy  of  provision  and  satisfaction.  If  in  the  past 
the  worth  of  the  individual  has  been  taught,  we  seem  now  to  be  at  the 
dawn  of  the  day  of  organization  and  combination.  Combinations  which 
ignore  or  degrade  the  individual  can  be  no  more ;  they  have  had  their 
day  and  are  gone  forever.  The  Church  is  not  a  crystallization  of  lifeless  par- 
ticles which  obey  without  will,  but  it  is  a  vital  organism,  instinct  with  per- 
sonal life,  a  "body  fitly  joined  together  and  compacted  by  that  which  every 
joint  supplieth,  according  to  the  effectual  working  in  the  measure  of  every 
part,  [making]  increase  of  the  body  unto  the  edifying  of  itself  in  love." 

This  movement  of  the  Christian  bodies  toward  each  other  is  not  a  spurt 
of  enthusiasm  or  a  dream  of  visionaries.  The  call  for  closer  union  is  not 
from  one,  but  from  the  many.  It  comes  backed  by  reason  and  conscience 
and  the  word  of  God.  It  is  the  uttering  of  the  answer  to  the  sacrificial 
prayer  of  our  Lord  that  his  people  might  be  one.  Springing  from  such  a 
source,  and  enforced  by  conscience  and  the  word  of  God,  it  has  in  it  the 
guaranty  of  success.  One  indication  of  the  high  origin  and  right  issue  of 
this  movement  is  that  it  has  no  plans.  The  breath  of  the  Spirit  has 
blown  upon  the  scattered  multitudes  and  there  is  a  movement  toward  each 
other.  It  is  not  a  human  impulse,  but  a  divine  constraining,  and  methods 
are  left  to  circumstances  and  the  demands  of  the  hour.  There  is  more 
concern  for  results  than  for  methods.  There  is  certainly  no  purpose  to 
attempt  the  organic  unity  of  all  the  Churches.  Such  could  only  be  in 
name  and  never  in  fact.     Geography   and    climate,    race,  temperament, 


132  THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH.  ' 

political  institutions,  tlie  special  needs  of  special  times,  all  forbid  the  ef- 
fort at  uniformity  in  government  and  forms  of  worship  did  not  common 
sense  declare  such  uniformity  unnecessary.  One  result,  let  us  hope,  of 
the  contentions  of  the  past  is  the  settlement  of  the  fact  that  no  form  of 
ecclesiastical  government  has  divine  sanction  to  the  exclusion  of  every 
other,  and  that  the  manner  of  the  administration  of  the  ordinances  of  the 
Church  must  be  left  to  the  good  sense  and  piety  of  those  who  administer 
them.  New  methods  and  new  forms  are  continually  demanded  by  new 
circumstances  and  opportunities.  There  must  of  necessity  be  mobility 
and  adaptability  in  all  the  outward  forms  of  government,  civil  and  eccle- 
siastical, to  keep  pace  with  the  advancing  movements  of  our  humanity  as 
it  responds  to  the  impulse  of  God's  great  purposes.  This  fact  the  intel- 
lect and  conscience  of  Christendom  appreciate  and  acknowledge ;  and  the 
better  to  meet  the  calls  of  divine  providence,  as  expressed  in  the  needs  of 
the  hour,  co-operation  among  Christians  of  all  names  is  demanded.  The 
day  has  come  for  consolidation.  It  is  a  time  for  gigantic  enterprises. 
The  hand  is  not  less  daring  than  the  mind.  There  is  combination  and 
accumulation  of  power  to  make  real  what  the  mind  dares  to  conceive. 
And  there  is  rapid  movement.  The  dreams  of  yesterday  are  surpassed  by 
the  achievements  of  to-day.  In  the  industrial  world  to-day's  needs  are 
the  measure  of  to-morrow's  work.  Shall  the  Church  be  behind  ?  Is  she 
not  the  appointed  leader  of  men  ?  Is  this  comity  among  men  and  nations 
not  the  result  of  the  teachings  of  her  Lord  and  of  the  Gospel  she  pro- 
claims ?  Will  the  Church  refuse  to  follow  the  precepts  she  has  taught, 
and  decline  to  practice  what  she  has  urged  on  others  ?  It  cannot  be. 
The  fullness  of  the  times  has  come,  and  the  Church,  one  in  heart  and  pur- 
pose, must  move  to  the  command  of  our  conquering  King ;  and  at  the 
victorious  shout  of  God's  united  hosts  the  walls  of  fortified  evil  will  fall 
down  and  the  world  be  redeemed  for  Christ. 

In  order  to  effective  co-operation  the  spirit  of  intolerance,  which  has 
been  the  casus  divisionis  in  the  past,  must  be  cast  aside  and  the  equal 
rights  and  privileges  of  all  God's  people  recognized.  This  recognition 
must  be  real  and  not  formal.  The  latter  is  no  new  thing.  We  have  long 
been  accustomed  to  call  each  other  brethren,  and  periodically  to  display 
our  brotherly  love  in  formal  declarations  of  fraternity  and  the  eloquent 
speeches  of  our  most  distinguished  orators,  and  then  go  back  to  live  as 
before,  each  contending:  against  the  other.  These  declarations  of  brother- 
liness  are  either  the  honest  sentiments  of  our  hearts  or  hypocritical  at- 
tempts to  deceive.  If  the  former,  let  us  sjjeak  in  action  what  now  we  do 
in  word.     If  the  latter,  let  us  have  no  more  of  them. 

Nor  does  this  recognition  of  the  ecclesiastical  equality  of  other  denom- 
inations mean  the  abatement  of  love  or  zeal  for  our  own.  Must  a  man 
defame  or  injure  his  neighbor's  family  in  order  to  be  true  to  his  own  ? 
Must  he  regard  his  wife  and  children  as  better  than  all  others  to  be  loyal 
to  them  ?  For  him  they  should  be  first  of  all  and  best  beloved;  but  why 
try  to  force  his  judgment  upon  others  ?  It  may  be  said  that  to  hold  such 
broad  views  as  to  the  Church  would  require  a  high  state  of  grace  and 


ESSAY    OF   REV.   A.    COKE    SMITH.  133 

laro-e  information  among  the  people ;  and  that  while  it  may  be  attained 
to  by  few,  it  will  take  long  for  the  masses  to  reach  it.  Alas!  it  must  in 
candor  be  acknowledged  that  the  leaders  are  responsible  for  the  bicker- 
ings and  differences  which  have  disgraced  the  Church.  The  masses  are 
nearer  union  of  heart  and  sentiment  to-day  than  the  few ;  the  laity  more 
unanimous  for  Christian  co-operation  than  the  clergy.  Let  the  preachers 
of  the  Gospel  move  to  each  other's  aid,  let  them  show  a  desire  to  form  a 
league  offensive  and  defensive  with  every  other  servant  of  God,  and  they 
will  find  the  laity  with  them.  With  the  people  the  great  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity alone  have  weight,  and  they  stand  ready  to  work  for  the  further- 
ance of  the  kingdom  with  any  and  all  who  are  loyal  to  the  King.  Let 
the  equality  of  all  believers  in  Christ  be  acknowledged,  and  questions  of 
modes  of  worship  or  of  government,  of  origin  or  age,  and  matters  of  local 
or  temporary  interest  be  put  in  the  background,  and  the  first  step  toward 
genuine  Christian  co-operation  has  been  taken. 

Certain  organizations  and  plans  of  labor  are  peculiarly  fitted  to  accom- 
plish particular  kinds  of  work.  Peculiarities  of  time,  place,  circum- 
stances, or  persons  render  work  under  certain  forms  more  effective  than 
under  others.  Ethnological  differences,  national  laws  and  customs,  pe- 
culiarities of  location  and  climate  affect  and  modify  language  and  all  ex- 
pressions of  thought.  So  that  while  the  spirit  of  piety  may  be  every- 
where and  at  all  times  the  same,  the  forms  of  its  expression  appearing  in 
modes  of  government  and  worship  will  be  different.  Episcopacy  or  Pres- 
byterianism,  Congregational  or  connectional  government,  a  settled  or 
itinerant  pastorate,  or  any  other  denominational  peculiarity,  may  be  de- 
manded for  the  most  efficient  work,  and  it  would  be  criminal  to  attempt 
to  enforce  another.  And  why  should  the  attempt  be  made?  The  organic 
union  of  all  the  Churches  and  the  adoption  of  like  forms  in  worship  and 
government  would  prevent  the  adjustment  of  the  Church  to  circumstances 
and  hinder  the  advancement  of  the  Gospel. 

Consultation  and  adoption  of  plans  for  co-operative  work  will  follow 
the  recognition  of  equality  among  Christians  and  mutual  respect  for  each 
other's  gifts  and  lal)ors.  Attempts  at  co-operation  not  founded  upon  mu- 
tual respect  and  brotherly  love  will  prove  abortive.  Without  consulta- 
tion and  mutual  understanding  there  will  be  confusion  and  conflict.  The 
plan  or  extent  of  such  conferences  for  the  adjustment  of  work  it  is  not 
designed  to  suggest.  As  already  said,  no  such  plan  has  been  formulated ; 
but  the  need  of  better  understanding  has  been  felt.  This  Conference  is 
a  response  to  this  sense  of  need.  The  co-operative  union  desiderated 
may  follow  the  process  usual  in  nature — bringing  into  closer  relations 
those  located  near  each  other,  massing  those  nearest  alike  into  larger  bod- 
ies, and  the  inter-correlation  of  these  into  an  ecclesiastical  cosmos,  one  in 
purpose  and  effect,  but  differing,  as  members  of  the  body,  in  form  and 
function.  We  need  not  concern  ourselves  as  to  how  the  final  issue  may 
be  reached,  nor  need  we  hold  back  and  refuse  to  move  till  we  are  sure  of 
results.  The  call  of  God  voices  itself  in  the  present  need,  and  the  meas- 
ure of  duty  is  the  present  opportunity. 


134  THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH, 

The  work  iu  nominally  Christian  lands  demands  the  closer  union  of  the 
Churches  and  united  effort  for  reaching  the  unsaved  multitudes  who  are 
without  God  and  without  hope  in  the  world.  Christian  comity  and  co- 
operation would  at  once  remove  a  great  barrier  to  the  success  of  the 
truth  in  that  it  would  challenge  the  respect  of  the  world  by  the  exhibi- 
tion in  practical  form  of  brotherly  love,  instead  of  as  now  exciting  its  sneer 
by  envious  strifes  and  jealousies.  That  our  differences  have  driven  many 
away  from  the  Church  may  not  be  denied.  Earnest  men,  men  with  great 
questions  stirring  the  depths  of  their  natures,  men  with  hearts  longing 
for  peace  and  rest,  have  turned  away  from  the  Church  in  despair  when 
they  have  seen  those  who  profess  to  love  bite  and  devour  one  another. 
Without  the  respect  of  men  the  Church  can  never  reach  their  hearts  or 
win  their  service:  and  a  contentious  and  uncharitable  Church  cannot 
command  the  respect  of  men.  It  is  no  unreasonable  demand  that  is  made 
of  the  Church.  It  is  not  expected  that  all  should  think  alike.  Honest 
divergencies  in  matters  of  doctrine  while  holding  Christ  the  head  would 
be  looked  upon  as  natural.  Differences  in  administrations  would  not  of- 
fend. But  in  the  midst  of  diversities  of  opinion  and  practice  it  is  ex- 
pected and  demanded  that  there  should  be  unity  of  heart  and  purpose  so 
real  as  to  fill  the  hands  as  well  as  the  lips,  and  cast  over  all  our  inter- 
course the  glow  of  a  fervent  charity. 

Co-operation  in  Christian  work  is  needed  to  reach  the  unevangelized 
masses  of  Christendom.  We  have  a  heathenism  in  our  midst  as  dense 
and  hopeless  as  that  in  China  or  the  Soudan.  Dark  places  full  of  the  habi- 
tations of  cruelty  and  breeding-places  of  vice  and  crime  blot  oin-  great  cities. 
In  the  face  of  such  facts  it  is  criminal  for  the  Churches  to  stand  apart. 
The  instinct  of  self-preservation  calls  for  the  adoption  of  the  most  effective 
means  for  the  defense  of  the  truth  on  which  our  civilization  is  built  and 
without  which  it  must  inevitably  perish.  But  more ;  the  constraining 
love  of  Christ  and  the  fearful  exposure  of  men  to  the  ruin  of  sin  should  lead 
us  to  demand  the  quickest  and  most  efficacious  Avay  to  reach  and  save  them. 
That  the  means  heretofore  adopted  by  the  Church  have  not  been  sufficient 
needs  not  to  be  argued.  We  have  had,  and  still  have,  splendid  churches, 
elegant  music,  eloquent  preaching,  imposing  ritual,  fervent  prayers,  and 
hearty  songs,  and  yet  the  great  multitudes  have  not  been  reached,  and 
never  will  be  by  such  means  alone.  In  rural  districts  the  destitution  is 
not  so  great  and  can  be  more  easily  supplied.  But  the  trend  of  popu- 
lation is  toward  the  cities.  Hence  our  cities  furnish  the  great  strategic 
points  for  evangelistic  movements.  And  here  where  the  greatest  strength 
is  needed  the  Church  is  weakest.  Here,  too,  is  the  possibility  of  greatest 
strength.  The  Churches  are  nearer  together,  the  forces  may  be  easily 
massed,  the  ground  to  be  occupied  is  well  defined  and  within  easy  reach. 
Where  danger  is  greatest  there  our  strength  should  be,  and  may  be  great- 
est if  we  do  not  consume  it  in  fraternal  strife  or  waste  it  in  divided  and 
useless  labor.  Multitudes  in  sight  of  our  churches  are  as  ignorant  of 
God  as  though  born  in  the  heart  of  Africa,  and  much  more  hostile  to  the 
Gospel.     In  these  neglected  and  neglecting  multitudes  are  born  and  fos- 


ESSAY    OF   KEV.   A.    COKE    SMITH.  135 

tered  those  socialistic  and  anarchic  doctrines  which  are  a  menace  to  our 
civil  peace  and  a  disgrace  to  our  Christian  age.  Here  sin  in  numberless 
and  nameless  forms  imbrutes  the  heart  and  deforms  the  life.  The  Church 
is  the  only  power  that  can  reach  these  evils  and  destroy  them.  The  State 
cannot  do  it.  Repressive  measures  may  keep  down  the  blaze  for  awhile, 
but  cannot  put  out  the  smoldering  fires  underneath.  From  the  very 
measures  which  civil  power  uses  to  crush  evil  new  evils  spring.  To  the 
Gospel  alone  the  world  must  look  for  the  destruction  of  evil  and  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  truth ;  and  for  the  Gospel  the  world  must  look  to  the 
Church.  ' '  The  Church — the  one  Church  of  the  one  Christ,  having  one 
body  though  many  members,  and  each  member  adjusted  to  every  other — 
should  in  love  for  him  and  for  man  give  itself  in  Christ-like  spirit  and 
according  to  wise  methods  to  these  Gentiles  of  our  own  Judea."*  To 
carry  the  Gospel  to  these  multitudes  there  must  be  co-operation.  No  one 
Church  can  do  it,  and  all  the  CHiurches  together  cannot  do  it  if  they 
work  not  in  concert.  It  is  not  churchly  zeal  that  is  needed  for  this  work, 
but  a  burning  love  for  Christ  and  man.  The  only  proper  incentive  to  ef- 
fort is  sympathy  with  the  great  world-plans  of  our  divine  Lord.  There 
is  an  inspiration  in  the  consciousness  of  unison  with  all  the  children  of 
God  which  the  narrow  zeal  for  Church  or  creed  can  never  equal.  There 
is  an  enlargement  of  soul  which  comes  from  sympathy  with  Christ  in  his 
love  for  man  which  brings  all  into  the  fellowship  of  its  love  and  into 
the  participation  of  its  laljors;  and  when  this  is  felt  by  the  Church  at 
large  it  will  draw  all  together  into  the  fellowship  of  labor,  sacrifice,  and 
suffering,  and  insure  the  speedy  victory  of  the  truth. 

Individual  effort  has  done  much.  In  the  days  of  the  Church's  infancy 
and  weakness  God  came  wonderfully  to  the  aid  of  the  few  scattered  ones 
who  bore  the  message  of  truth  to  men.  But  these  days  of  weakness  are 
passed  and  the  time  of  strength  has  come.  God  will  not  do  by  extraordi- 
nary means  what  can  be  accomplished  in  ordinary  ways  •,  and  if  we  have 
that  now  by  which  the  work  assigned  us  may  be  done,  he  will  make  no 
further  provision  for  it.  But  in  the  divided  state  of  the  Church  this 
work  cannot  be  done.  It  could  not  be  done  were  there  division  without 
hostility.  Let  any  single  church  in  one  of  our  cities  attempt  to  supply 
the  destitution  around  it  and  the  vastness  of  the  work  at  once  appalls  the 
heart  and  paralyzes  effort.  A  few  attempts  are  made,  and  the  results 
appear  so  insignificant,  the  Sanballats  and  Tobiahs  discourage  and  sneer, 
and  the  church  lapses  into  inactivity  born  of  a  sense  of  helplessness  from 
which  it  can  hardly  be  again  aroused. 

But  this  desultory  warfare  against  evil,  disheartening  amidst  the  indif- 
ference of  fellow-Christians,  becomes  hopeless  amidst  their  hostility. 
Attempts  by  individual  churches  to  reach  the  destitute  are  resented  by 
others  as  efforts  not  for  Christ  and  humanity,  but  for  churchly  glory. 
The  evils  of  sin  in  many  cases  can  be  better  tolerated  than  the  success  of 
a  rival  Church.     These  things  are  not  pleasant  to  contemplate,  and  it  may 

.  *  The  Working  Church,  Thwin^,  p.  124. 


136  THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 

appear  ungracious  to  say  them,  but  they  are  true,  as  witnessed,  alas !  by 
too  many  facts.  Is  there  not  brotherly  love  enough  in  the  Church  to 
exorcise  this  miserable  spirit  of  jealousy  and  strife? 

If  the  territory  in  our  cities  and  country  places  could  be  parceled  out 
among  the  Churches,  and  each  held  responsible  for  all  Christian  work 
within  its  2)arish,  much  friction  and  waste  would  be  avoided.  This  is 
not  possible  now.  Churches  of  different  denominations  are  often  located 
in  close  proximity  to  each  other,  because  of  the  convenience  and  general 
fitness  of  the  locality  for  houses  of  worship.  But  this  does  not  prevent 
union  of  effort  in  carrying  the  Gospel  to  all.  It  has  been  done,  it  may 
be  done  every-where.  The  destitution  of  our  land  may  be  provided  for, 
the  dark  places  flooded  with  light,  and  the  peace  and  joy  of  the  Gospel 
borne  to  millions  now  strangers  to  God's  grace.  For  the  accomplish- 
ment of  such  results  can  we  not  hold  our  differences  in  abeyance,  have 
our  peculiar  faith  to  ourselves  before  God,  and  emphasizing  our  agreement 
upon  the  essentials  of  salvation,  unite  our  hands  in  rescuing  from  sin  and 
death  those  for  whom  Christ  died? 

The  Church  was  designed  not  only  for  an  evangelizing  agency,  but  for 
a  conserving  power  in  the  world.  It  is  likened  to  leaven  and  to  salt. 
It  has  propagating  and  preserving  power.  If  co-operation  is  necessary 
for  the  propagation  of  the  truth,  it  is  equally  so  for  the  conservation  of 
the  good  which  it  brings  to  society.  Salvation  by  faith  is  an  individual 
work,  but  the  benefits  accruing  are  shared  by  society  in  all  departments 
from  the  family  to  the  State.  The  Church  is  not  a  political  organization, 
and  it  should  be  always  separate  from  the  State  in  government  and  con- 
trol ;  but  that  Church  which  does  not  affect  for  good  the  politics  of  the 
State  in  which  it  exists,  nor  influence  legislation  toward  righteousness  and 
purity,  has  failed  of  its  mission  and  has  little  right  to  live.  The  Church 
of  Christ  may  not  engage  in  political  strife  for  place  and  power  or 
bedraggle  herself  in  the  slime  of  partisan  contentions.  The  power 
which  she  wields  is  a  moral  power,  and  her  influence  by  that  means  more 
potent  and  pervasive.  But  in  order  to  exercise  this  power  and  meet  her 
obligations  to  God  and  mankind,  it  is  necessary  for  the  Church  with  one 
voice  to  speak  out  the  truth  in  denunciation  of  evil  and  in  encourage- 
ment of  righteousness.  There  are  stupendous  evils  to  be  destroyed  be- 
fore the  Gospel  has  accomplished  her  mission  in  the  world.  One  by  one 
evils  great  in  power  and  hoary  with  age,  "buttressed  by  thrones  and 
precedents  stronger  than  thrones,"  have  been  swept  away  before  the 
steady  advances  of  the  truth ;  and  it  has  only  been  when  the  Church,  like 
faithful  Nathan,  has  gone  to  the  source  of  governmental  power  whence 
the  evil  sprang  and  charged  it  home  upon  the  evil-doer  that  the  work 
has  been  done.  There  is  need  for  the  Church  to-day  to  speak  in  no  un- 
certain tones  of  the  monster  evils  which  disgrace  our  age  The  desecra- 
tion of  the  Christian  Sabbath;  the  loose  divorce  laws  which  strike  at  the 
sacredness  of  the  marital  relation  and  destroy  the  family;  the  unholy 
passion  for  gain  which  tramples  on  right  and  virtue  and  gaml)les  with 
the  bread  of  the  poor;  and,  above  all,  that  blackest  in  the  catalogue  of 


ESSAY  OF  KEV.  A.  COKE  SMITH.  137 

evils — cruel  and  remorseless  as  hell — the  legalized  traffic  in  intoxicating 
liquors — all  these  and  their  accompanying  evils  must  be  destroyed,  Car- 
thago delenda  eat !  To  whom  is  the  world  to  look  for  this  work?  To  the 
Church  alone ;  and  a  united  Church,  united  against  wrong  and  for  the 
right,  would  soon  accomplish  the  glorious  result. 

Through  the  Church  have  come  all  those  charitable  and  philanthropic 
institutions  which  look  to  the  amelioration  of  human  sufferinsr  and  min- 
istering  of  human  need.  Much  has  been  done,  much  remains  still  to  be 
done.  What  a  cry  of  need  goes  uj)  to  God  from  Christian  lands !  Our 
benefactions  withheld  or  misdirected  condemn  us  before  the  bar  of  God. 
The  Church  moves  to  the  work  of  blessing  with  halting  step  and  divided 
purpose.  The  greatest  efficiency  cannot  thus  be  attained.  There  must 
be  concert  of  action  or  the  vast  resources  now  sacrificed  to  this  miserable 
spirit  of  pride  and  contention  will  cry  for  vengeance  against  us.  We 
spend  thousands  of  our  hardly  gathered  means  for  aiding  the  poor  in 
superiJuous  buildings  and  expensive  management,  because  each  denom- 
ination must  have  its  own  institution.  We  need  to  combine  for  larger 
results  and  greater  efficiency.  Were  all  our  poverty-stricken  asylums, 
homes,  and  hospitals  sold  out  and  the  money  jjut  into  one  fund,  and  insti- 
tutions, Chi-istian  without  being  sectarian,  wisely  located  and  efficiently 
managed,  a  hundred  per  cent,  more  of  good  would  be  realized  by  those 
in  whose  interest  they  have  been  ostensibly  established.  I  say  ostensibly, 
for  it  is  to  be  feared  that  too  often  the  needy  are  forgotten  in  denomina- 
tional pride  and  desire  for  display. 

The  interests  of  Christian  education  suffer  likewise  from  our  divisions, 
and  call  for  co-operation  among  us.  The  work  of  education  the  Church 
cannot  ignore.  What  the  State  may  do  cannot  discharge  the  obligations 
of  the  Church.  Even  in  our  public  schools  there  is  call  for  united  action 
among  all  Christians  to  save  them  from  infidelity  and  Jesuitism.  In  our 
church  schools  there  is  shown  the  same  folly  and  sin  of  rivalry  which 
we  see  elsewhere.  In  a  State  where  no  one  denomination  is  able  to 
build  and  endow  an  institution  of  learning  such  as  is  needed,  but  where 
if  all  would  unite  on  one  it  could  be  done  and  done  efficiently,  we  find 
each  one  trying  to  build  its  own  school,  appealing  to  church  loyalty  for 
patronage  and  support,  and,  alas !  in  too  many  instances  making  preten- 
sions which  are  false  in  fact  and  pernicious  in  their  influences.  Why 
should  such  a  policy  continue  ?  While  we  thus  contend  against  each 
other  parties  indifferent  or  hostile  to  our  Christianity  step  in  and  do 
what  we  fail  to  do,  not  from  inability,  but  for  want  of  brotherly  love  and 
confidence. 

But  little  need  be  said  of  the  need  of  co-operation  in  foreign  mission- 
ary work.  The  Missionary  Conference  in  London  in  1888  spoke  in  no 
uncertain  tones  on  this  subject.  The  call  for  comity  and  co-operation 
comes  up  from  all  our  mission  fields.  This  cannot  be  abroad  till  it  first 
obtains  at  home,  for  our  policy  at  home  must  govern  in  our  dependencies 
abroad.  Division  here  means  division  there;  co-operation  here,  co-opera- 
tion there.  There  is  still  opi^ortunity  for  amendment  in  this  work.  The 
12 


138  THE   CHRISTIAN    CHUKCH. 

tnbes  may  meet  and  parcel  out  tlie  land.  Where  there  are  successful 
mission  stations  already  planted,  if  our  missionaries  are  encouraged  by 
the  action  of  the  Church  at  home  they,  in  the  face  of  heathen  opposition, 
■will  find  a  basis  of  cordial  co-operation  which  will  greatly  aid  them  in 
the  stupendous  work  which  they  have  undertaken.  There  as  well  as  at 
home  there  would  be  a  vast  saving  of  expense  as  well  as  increase  of 
efficiency  were  Christians  of  all  names  to  unite  in  wise  measures  of  evan- 
gelization looking  to  the  salvation  of  souls  rather  than  the  upbuilding  of 
some  particular  Church. 

In  addition  to  all  this  there  would  come  vast  advantage  to  the  individ- 
ual members  of  the  Church  in  vitalizing  their  piety  by  active  employ- 
ment in  Christian  work  and  in  broadening  their  views  of  the  Church 
and  her  mission.  Too  many  of  our  people  mean  by  the  Church  the  con- 
gregation to  which  they  belong  or  the  denomination  with  which  they  are 
connected.  Their  vision  is  circumscribed  and  their  symjmthies  con- 
tracted. It  is  difficult  to  rouse  them  to  any  sense  of  want  otherwheres 
when  their  local  church  is  meeting  the  necessities  of  its  existence.  No 
great  sense  of  the  world's  want  can  come  to  a  soul  till  that  want  is 
looked  at  as  it  is.  No  adequate  sense  of  responsibility  can  come  to  a 
soul  until  the  greatness  of  the  work  to  be  done  is  seen  and  appreciated. 
AVhcn  the  Church  of  Christ  as  one,  though  having  many  members,  faces 
the  problem  of  the  world's  salvation,  and  the  eyes  of  all  are  given  to 
each  with  which  to  see  the  world's  need,  and  the  ears  of  all  are  given  to 
each  with  which  to  hear  the  world's  wail  of  suffering  and  cry  for  help, 
then  will  there  be  that  response  in  enthusiastic  devotion,  personal  con- 
secration, and  willing  offering  which  shall  bear  as  on  the  wings  of  light 
the  glad  story  of  salvation  to  every  creature. 

The  Rev.  William  Eedfekn,  of  the  United  Free  Methodist 
Church,  then  delivered  the  following  appointed  address : 

Mr.  President :  So  far  as  the  old  country  is  concerned,  this  question  of 
Christian  co-operation  is  no  longer  an  academical  question,  but  already 
ripe  and  ready  for  practical  settlement.  During  the  last  few  months,  by 
a  singular  coincidence,  we  have  had  a  remarkable  series  of  ecumenical 
councils  in  London — international  parliaments  of  the  Churches— Angli- 
can, Presbyterian,  and  Congregational,  all  related  to  the  question  now 
imder  consideration.  Nor  can  we  altogether  dissociate  this  gathering 
from  the  remarkable  meetings  held  last  March  in  connection  with  the 
centenary  of  the  death  of  our  great  founder,  John  Wesley.  What  do 
those  religious  demonstrations  mean  ?  They  indicate  that  there  is  a  very 
wide-spread  desire  on  the  part  of  good  men  and  good  women  not  only  for 
imity,  but  for  some  sort  of  practical  co-operation.  The  fact  is  that  hon- 
est minds  are  getting  thoroughly  tired  of  the  aimless  and  sentimental  talk 
about  unity,  which  is  only  like  the  bleating  of  lambs.  They  are  posi- 
tively eager  to  know  how  they  may  come  nearer  together — nearer  to- 
gether for  spiritual  union,  nearer  together  for  philanthropic  effort,  and 
nearer  together  for  evangelical  work. 


ADDRESS    OF   REV.    WILLIAM   REDFEKN.  139 

There  are  two  reservations  which  must  be  borne  in  mind  by  us  for  the 
sake  of  lucidity.  One  is  that  we  are  not  here  to  enter  any  protest  against 
the  existence  of  denominations.  So  far  as  I  am  concerned,  I  have  very 
little  sympathy  with  the  outcry  against  deuominationalism.  I  hold  that 
the  great  communities  of  Protestantism  have  abundantly  proved  their 
right  to  be.  They  were  born  of  great  convictions  which  we  cannot  afford 
to  disparage ;  and  they  have  given  the  religious  life  of  Christendom  an  in- 
tensity, a  richness,  a  flexibility,  and  a  tenacity  which  could  not  have  been 
obtained  by  any  outward  imiformity. 

The  second  reservation  is  that  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  overlook  the  co- 
operation, conscious  or  unconscious,  which  has  existed  in  days  gone  by. 
In  the  very  largest  sense  of  the  word  I  believe  in  the  communion  of 
saints.  ' '  The  good  and  the  devout, "  says  the  great  "William  Penn,  the 
Quaker,  "  are  all  of  one  religion."  The  fact  is  that  the  leaders  of  the 
sacramental  hosts  of  God's  elect,  alive  or  dead,  have  been  as  comrades  in 
the  service  of  Jesus  Christ.  John  Wesley,  Cardinal  Newman,  General 
Booth,  and  David  Livingstone  have  all  been  friends  and  brothers  and 
comrades,  working  together  with  each  other  and  for  each  other.  How- 
ever little  or  however  much  they  might  covet  the  honor  of  being  fellow- 
laborers,  they  could  not  but  be  working  together  in  the  service  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

Take  our  historical  theology  and  our  hymns.  Our  theology,  although 
formulated  by  trained  thinkers,  is  the  outgrowth  of  the  accumulated  ex- 
perience of  all  the  saints  in  all  ages.  There  we  find  church  co-operation. 
And  as  for  our  hymns,  we  sing  with  the  greatest  delight  the  hymns  of 
Romanists  and  of  Unitarians  and  of  Calvinists  and  of  Quakers  and  of 
Plymouth  Brethren.  In  fact,  wherever  we  find  tracings  of  the  work  of 
Jesus  Christ,  whether  it  be  in  the  conversion  of  souls  or  in  the  healing  of 
the  wounds  of  the  downtrodden  or  in  the  leavening  of  society  or  in  the 
producing  of  distinctive  Christian  character  or  in  the  making  of  nations — 
wherever  we  trace  the  influence  and  the  power  of  Jesus  Christ  we  flnd 
that  good  men  have  been  working  together. 

But  now,  Mr.  President,  a  golden  opportunity  has  arrived.  "We  all 
feel  that  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  is  entering  upon  a  new  era.  The 
three  arch  factors  of  disunion — sectarian  bigotry,  the  temper  of  the  doc- 
trinaire, and  ecclesiastical  pedantry — blessed  be  God,  are  fast  dying  out. 
The  living  Christ  of  Nazareth  and  Calvary  was  never  more  manifestly  in 
the  midst  of  his  people.  The  inspiration  of  the  Churches  was  never  so 
pure  and  strong  as  to-day.  Their  ideals  were  never  so  high.  Their  sym- 
pathy with  the  people  was  never  so  intimate  and  real.  Their  perils  were 
never  so  serious  nor  their  problems  so  momentous.  And  all  these  forces 
are  compelling  the  Churches  to  think  how  they  may  come  nearer  together. 
They  are  making  this  question  of  church  co-oiieration  to  be  not  only  prac- 
ticable, but  also  inevitable. 

But  now  the  question  comes,  "How  shall  the  spirit  of  co-operation  be 
embodied  ? "  In  what  direction  shall  it  advance  ?  There  are  three  direc- 
tions that  have  already  been  suggested  in  the  valuable  paper  to  which  we 


140  THE   CHRISTIAN   CHURCH. 

have  been  listening.  First  of  all,  there  is  the  direction  of  foreign  mis- 
sions. I  was  delighted  this  morning  in  the  paper  and  discussion  on 
church  unity  to  hear  the  opinions  of  missionary  experts.  I  hope  that  not 
the  least  result  of  this  Ecumenical  Conference  will  be  that  in  our  mission- 
ary work  we  shall  be  inclined  to  approach  toward  some  sort  of  missionary 
co-operation — one  board  of  directors,  one  periodical,  one  designation,  and 
one  predominant  policy. 

But  there  are  two  other  directions  about  which  I  have  some  knowledge. 
The  first  is  evangelism.  We  have  all  been  told,  and  we  have  learned  it 
from  experience,  that  the  great  problem  of  the  Churches  of  England  is 
how  to  deal  with  the  great  centers  of  population.  In  the  city  where  I 
live  (Bristol)  we  have  practically  decided  already  upon  a  scheme  in  which 
all  the  Non-conformist  ministers  of  the  city  will  take  part,  dividing  the  city 
into  districts,  visiting  from  house  to  house,  carrying  on  spiritual  agencies, 
not  for  the  benefit  of  this  or  that  Church,  but  for  the  improvement  of  the 
people  at  large.  What  applies  to  the  towns  applies  equally  to  the  vil- 
lages. 

I  am  sometimes  disj^osed  to  think,  indeed,  that  the  severest  and  the 
most  trying  of  church  problems  in  the  future  will  be  how  to  capture  the 
villages.  The  power  of  sacerdotalism  in  England  is  more  and  more 
threatening.  There  are  hundreds  and  thousands  of  rural  parishes  in  En- 
gland in  which  the  high-church  priest,  poisoned  with  the  notion  of  holy 
orders,  is  making  it  his  avowed  aim  to  close  the  dissenting  chapel.  The 
Dissenters  are  timid  simply  because  they  are  disorganized  and  disunited, 
and  the  only  cure  for  this  Non-conformist  timidity  is  to  have  some  sort 
of  federation  of  the  Churches. 

The  other  question  to  be  noticed  is  that  of  social  morality.  In  this 
day  of  democracy,  for  the  Churches  to  refuse  to  condemn  social  immoral- 
ities is  to  be  entirely  untrue  to  Him  who  pi-eached  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount.  What  could  the  Christian  people  of  England  and  America  not  do 
if  only  they  were  true  to  their  convictions  and  thoroughly  organized !  They 
could  speak  with  a  power  quite  invincible.  They  could  go  into  the  dens 
of  iniquity  with  an  authority  like  that  of  the  Master  when  he  turned  the 
money-changers  out  of  the  temple.  In  fact,  if  all  the  Christian  men  and 
women  were  to  utilize  the  force  that  is  in  them,  and  speak  with  un- 
daunted courage,  they  could,  probably  before  the  twentieth  century  is 
born,  close  every  drink-shop,  they  covild  sweep  away  every  sweater's  den, 
and  forbid  tlie  selfish  accumulation  of  riches  and  unbridled  enjoyment  of 
luxury.  As  for  the  crime  of  war,  they  could  put  a  stop  to  its  perjjetra- 
tion  once  for  all;  and  they  could  make  it  impossible  for  any  man  of  im- 
morality ever  to  sit  in  our  political  legislatures. 

Very  seriously  and  earnestly  I  will  now,  with  your  permission,  Mr. 
President,  ask  whether  in  this  Ecumenical  Conference  there  cannot  be 
suggested  and  discussed  some  sort  of  federation  of  the  Methodist 
Churches  ?  This  morning  we  had  a  very  valuable  discussion  on  the  sub- 
ject of  Methodist  imion ;  but  Methodist  union,  I  fear,  is  to  some  extent 
only  a  beautiful  ideal,  although  the  stream  of  tendency  is  drifting  us  along, 


ADDRESS    OF   KEV.    T.    J.    OGBUEN.  141 

and  may  make  the  ideal  very  shortly  to  be  actualized.  But  Methodist 
federation,  I  respectfully  submit,  is  not  an  ideal.  It  may  take  place  here 
and  now.     It  is  within  ranges  which  are  practicable. 

I  do  not  forget  the  influence  which  was  extended  over  England,  and 
especially  over  the  different  Methodist  bodies,  last  March  in  connection 
with  the  centenary  movement. 

The  spirit  of  our  Conference  in  the  discussion  this  morning  evinced 
that  the  happy  influence  still  abides.  Why  should  it  not  find  immediate 
and  suitable  expression?  I  will  not  offer  arguments,  because  there  is 
really  not  much  to  argue  about.  Let  the  sentiment  of  catholic  and  broth- 
erly Methodism  be  strong,  and  the  holy  stream  will  quickly  clear  all  diffi- 
culties out  of  the  w^ay.  This  is  no  time  for  Methodism  to  be  affected  by 
prudential  calculations.  Methodism,  strong  in  faith  and  giving  glory  to 
God,  can  afford  to  trust  to  her  divinest  instincts.  She  never  mounts  so 
high  as  when  she  knows  not  whither  she  is  going.  And,  I  say,  in  this 
Ecumenical  Conference,  where  we  represent  a  world-wide  Methodism, 
where  we  feel  so  intensely  the  beating  of  the  great  Methodist  heart,  where 
we  can  rejoice  in  the  oneness  of  our  evangelical  faith  which  abides  under- 
neath all  our  manifoldness  of  working,  and  where  we  can  realize  so  vivid- 
ly the  enormous  influence  that  Methodism  may  exert  over  the  future  of 
mankind — in  this  Conference,  I  say,  we  ought  to  initiate  some  system  of 
federation  that  will  make  Methodism  the  mightiest  community  in  the 
world. 

May  I  not,  then,  submit  to  Dr.  Stephenson,  the  President  of  the  Wes- 
leyan  Conference,  and  one  of  the  most  catholic  minds  in  Christendom, 
that  if  he  will  place  himself  in  communication  with  the  presidents  of  the 
other  Methodist  bodies,  and  with  the  leaders  of  our  Methodist  world,  and 
by  their  co-operation  will  initiate  some  step  toward  federation,  he  will 
make  his  presidential  year  the  most  memorable  year  since  the  time  of 
John  Wesley  ? 

The  Eev.  T.  J.  Ogburn,  of  tlie  Methodist  Protestant  Church, 
gave  tlie  following  appointed-address  : 

Mr.  President  and  Brethren :  By  Christian  co-operation  we  do  not  mean 
the  organic  unity  of  the  Christian  Church.  It  is  rather  the  concrete  expres- 
sion of  the  Church's  invisible  but  real  spiritual  unity.  It  is  a  practical 
unity;  the  best  unity  possible  at  present,  and  the  easiest  and  speediest 
stepping-stone  to  that  ideal  organic  unity  for  which  so  many  have  hoped 
and  prayed,  as  yet  in  vain.  It  implies  the  working  together  in  the  essen- 
tials of  religion  of  those  who  believe  apart  in  its  non-essentials.  Euodias 
and  Syntiche  were  not  "  of  the  same  mind  in  the  Lord,"  but  they  both 
"labored  with  Paul  in  the  Gospel."  It  is  the  different  beliefs  in  the 
realms  of  theory  and  speculation,  blending  into  one  harmonious  faith  as 
they  rise  into  the  higher  realm  of  the  practical.  It  contains  "  the  prom- 
ise and  potency  "  of  the  visible  oneness  of  the  universal  Church,  and  must 
ever  remain  the  highest  form  of  its  manifestation. 

Christian  co-operafion  I  take  to  be  the  co-operation  of  Christians  as 


142  THE    CHRISTIAN    CHUKCH. 

Christians  in  Christian  enterprises,  especially  the  great  enterprise  Christ 
came  to  inaugurate  and  left  to  his  Church  to  complete,  namely,  the  estab- 
lishment and  perpetuity  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  world  for  the 
world's  salvation.  This  co-operation  is  essential  (1)  to  the  development 
of  this  kingdom  and  (2)  to  the  accomplishment  of  its  God-appointed  mis- 
sion. 

1.  The  perfect  development  of  any  organized  body  is  impossible  with- 
out the  co-operation  of  its  various  members,  the  work  of  each  contribut- 
ing to  the  good  of  all.  The  Church  is  a  vital  spiritual  organism.  "For 
we,  being  many,  are  one  body  in  Christ,  and  every  one  members  one  of 
another."  The  members  are  as  truly  united  to  one  another  to  form  the 
body  as  the  body  is  to  Christ,  the  head.  And  the  unity  of  this  body  is 
declared  clearly  and  positively  in  striking  connection  with  the  unity  of 
God.  "There  is  one  body  and  one  Spirit,  even  as  ye  are  called  in  one 
hope  of  your  calling ;  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,  one  God  and  Fa- 
ther of  all,  who  is  above  all,  and  through  all,  and  in  you  all."  This  is  the 
unitj'  of  the  Christian  faith. 

Then  follow  the  different  gifts — personal  endowments  for  personal 
work:  "But  unto  every  one  of  us  is  given  grace  according  to  the  meas- 
ure of  the  gift  of  Christ.  And  he  gave  some,  apostles;  and  some,  proph- 
ets; and  some,  evangelists;  and  some,  pastors  and  teachers."  And  all 
these  gifts  are  to  be  used  by  the  members  for  one  another,  and  by  all 
for  the  common  good.  "As  every  man  hath  received  the  gift,  even  so 
minister  the  same  one  to  another,  as  good  stewards  of  the  manifold  grace  of 
God."  The  more  grace  he  has  the  more  let  him  minister.  For  of  this 
body,  composed  of  working  members  only,  Christ  is  the  only  head. 
"  One  is  your  Master,  even  Christ,  and  all  ye  are  brethren."  In  this  body 
politic  there  are  no  "  separate  and  independent  sovereignties."  No  mem- 
ber can,  by  any  gifts  and  grace  of  God,  nor  by  the  election  of  his  brethren, 
be  made  a  "lord  over  God's  heritage."  Superior  talent  is  not  designed 
to  separate  its  possessor  from  the  inferior  masses,  but  to  link  him  more 
closely  to  them  in  the  loving  fellowship  of  superior  service.  "  He  that  is 
great  among  you  let  him  be  your  servant ;  even  as  the  Sou  of  man  came 
not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for 
many."  In  this  kingdom  of  love  helpful  service,  and  not  authority,  is  the 
responsibility  greatness  imposes.  Special  gifts  are  for  special  service, 
and  no  extraordinary  endowment  releases  any  one  from  the  ordinary  ob- 
ligation to  labor ;  while  nothing  more  obliterates  gift  distinctions,  and 
yet  more  distinguishes  gifts,  than  this  fellowship  in  the  use  of  them  and 
their  consecration  to  the  common  good. 

Thus  far  we  have  considered  Christian  co-operation  as  affecting  the 
Church,  as  develojjing  this  kingdom — that  co-operation  in  which  the 
members  "  by  love  serve  one  another,"  the  employment  of  gifts  "for  the 
perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  for  the  edifying  of 
the  body  of  Christ,  till  we  all  come  in  the  unity  of  the  faith  and  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of 
the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ,  from  whom  the  whole  body  fitly 


ADDRESS    OF    KEV.    T.    J.    OGBURN.  143 

joined  together  and  compacted  by  that  which  every  joint  supplieth,  ac- 
cording to  the  effectual  working  in  the  measure  of  every  part,  maketh 
increase  of  the  body  unto  the  edifying  of  itself  in  love." 

But  God  has  in  every  good  thing  a  purpose  beyond  that  thing.  All 
instrumentality  is  but  a  means,  and  not  the  end  in  itself.  Machinery  is  to 
be  judged,  not  by  tlie  adjustment  of  its  varied  parts,  but  by  its  product. 
So  an  editied  and  perfect  Church  is  not  the  ultimate  design.  Such 
a  Church  is  God's  great  salvation  agency— a  candle,  not  bushel-covered 
nor  self-illumining,  but  giving  "  light  to  all  that  are  in  the  house." 
"Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world."  Tlie  Church  is  salt,  not  to  preserve 
itself.  "  Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth."  The  Master  prayed  for  the  one- 
ness of  all  believers,  "  that  the  world  might  believe  that  the  Father  had 
sent  him."     A  Church  merely  self-sustaining  is  self -decaying. 

Light  must  shine  or  go  out.  Salt  exerting  no  savor  is  good  for  noth- 
ing. "  To  the  Church  has  God  intrusted  the  deposit  and  monopoly  of  his 
saving  grace."  "  The  Church  has  God  made  the  custodian  of  his  evan- 
"•elizino-  light."  "To  us  hath  he  committed  the  ministry  of  reconcil- 
iation." The  word  of  life  is  materialized  in  printer's  ink  and  embodied 
in  a  living  ministry.  The  power  of  God  unto  salvation  is  placed  in  our 
weak  hands,  and  heaven's  richest  treasure  had  in  earthen  vessels.  The 
isles  wait  for  his  law  until  the  Church  shall  carry  it  to  them,  and  those  in 
darkness  will  see  no  light  until  the  Church  shall  flash  it  upon  them  from 
the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  Truly  ours  is  a  great  work  ;  the  darling  proj- 
ect of  the  Father's  heart,  the  world's  salvation  ;  a  work  so  large  and 
glorious  as  to  merit  and  demand  the  combined  energies  of  the  whole 
Church  of  God. 

"  We  work  for  souls  for  whom  the  Lord 

Did  heavenly  bliss  forego ; 
For  souls  that  must  forever  live 
In  raptures  or  in  woe." 

The  salvation  of  one  poor  heathen  afar  oflE  on  some  lonely  isle  were  worth 
the  missionary  possibilities  of  the  whole  Church.  Not  an  angel  is  there 
who  would  not  gladly  fly  out  from  heaven  to  carry  him  the  good  tidings. 

Intelligent,  well-planned  Christian  co-operation  in  gospel  countries 
would  prevent  the  over-crowding  of  churches  and  the  over-lapping  of 
church  work  in  some  communities,  and  the  lack  of  both  in  others.  Under 
such  economy  the  Gospel  would  be  preached  "  in  the  regions  beyond," 
"where  Christ  is  not  named,"  rather  than  to  the  gospel-hardened  in 
church-burdened  communities.  So  Christ  is  preached,  and  by  whomso- 
ever preached  we  should  rejoice,  and  not  "consider  as  mission  ground 
every  field  unoccupied  by  our  denomination."  How  displeasing  to  Him 
who  would  not  have  even  the  fragments  lost  must  be  the  present  useless 
waste  of  untold  energy  and  millions  of  money — attributable,  must  I  say, 
to  sectarianism.  How  it  must  grieve  him  to  see  ministers  crowding  one 
another,  and  preaching  to  handfuls  in  costly  churches  overshadowing  one 
another,  while  whole  races  have  never  heard  the  word.  To  see  denom- 
inations struffcrlintr  hard  for  standing-room,  while  in  the  broad,  open  field 


144  THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 

of  the  world  are  millions  of  square  miles  untrodden  by  the  beautiful  feet 
of  Him  that  bringeth  good  tidings.  Let  Christian  co-operation  displace 
denominational  antagonisms.     Let  every  one  work  where  needed  most. 

The  Church  is  an  army,  waging  war  against  sin.     We  fight  a  common 
foe  whose  forces  are  united.     As  far  as  their  selfish  natures  permit  them 
our  enemies  co-operate.      "  They  have  made  a  covenant  with  death,  and 
with  hell  they  are  at  agreement."     The  most  discordant  elements  are  har- 
monized.    The  conflicting  phases  of  infidelity  combine  against  the  faith. 
"  Pilate  and  Herod  are  made  friends."     Petty  differences  are  forgotten  in 
their  hostility  to  Christ.      "Against  the  holy  child  Jesus  both  Herod  and 
Pilate,  with  the  Gentiles  and  the  people  of  Israel,  were  gathered  together." 
Impelled  by  their  intense  hatred  to  Christ  to  unite  against  him,  should 
not  our  love  bind  us  into  a  stronger  union  for  him  ?     Says  Mr.  Spurgeon : 
"What  can  individual  men  do  in  a  great  crusade?     We  are  associated 
with  all  the  people  of  the  Lord."     If  the  enemies  of  temperance,  in  utter 
disregard  of  party  affiliations,  so  co-operate  as  to  secure  legislation  favor- 
able to  the  nefarious  liquor  traffic,  why  cannot  the  four  millions  of  Chris- 
tian voters  in  these  United  States  co-operate?     Is  not  the  saloon  united 
stronger  than  the  Church  divided?     God  help  us  to  combine  to  "wipe 
away  this  blistering  curse  from  the  face  of  our  civilization !  "     A  full  dis- 
cussion of  this  subject  would  compass  the  question,  Is  not  the  present 
non-denominational  co-operative  spirit  an  unhealthy  and  extreme  reaction 
against  former  sectarian  exclusiveness;  and  whether  it  is  possible  to  be 
antidenominational    without    being    antichurch,    and    so   antichrist ian  ? 
If  the  Church  is  to  us  the  only  complete  and  visible  embodiment  and 
practical  expression  of  Christianity,  and  God's  appointed  agency  for  the 
salvation  of  men,  then  just  how  far  may  members  go  outside  the  Church 
to  do  her  work  ?     Is  there  not  danger  in  their  revolt  against  mere  Chris- 
tianity that  men  array  themselves  against  real  Christianity  ?     Has  church 
loyalty  come  to  be  a  crime  ?     Are  positive  doctrinal  convictions  to  be  de- 
spised?    Is  it  unimportant  what  a  man  believes  or  teaches,  so  he  be  only 
a  worker?     These  questions  are  suggested  by  the  fact  that  thousands  of 
men  and  millions  of  money  belong  to  co-operative  organizations  whose 
attitude  toward  the  Church  is  sometimes  uncertain.     The  compromising 
policy  of  some  Christians,  who  would  come  down  out  of  the  Church  to 
secure  the  money  and  influence  of  those  who  hate  her  to  do  her  legitimate 
work,  is,  it  seems  to  me,  to  be  condemned.      "The  Church,"  says  Dr. 
H.  H.  Wells,  "  is  honey-combed  with  societies  for  doing  the  very  work 
that  the  Church  of  God  ought  to  do.  .  .   .  The  tendency  to  supplant  the 
Church  of  Christ  with  some  organized,  some  human  society  is  one  of  the 
evils  of  our  times."     If  such  a  tendency  exist,  and  if  it  be  an  evil,  may 
not  the  Church  be  justly  held  responsible  for  it?     Is  it  not  the  product 
of  her  mistaken  policy?     Has  she  not  left  undone  something  she  ought  to 
have  done?     Says  Dr.  Josiah  Strong:  "The  Church  should  always  have 
been  the  first  to  recognize  and  relieve  human  needs  and  right  human 
wrongs.     But  with  a  narrow  understanding  of  her  mission  she  has  sat 
with  folded  hands  while  a  thousand  organizations  have  sprung  up  at  her 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    JAMES    LE    HURAY.  145 

side  to  do  her  proper  work.  The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  the  charity  organizations,  are  all 
doing  the  proper  work  of  the  Church.  ...  All  these  organizations 
draw  their  life,  their  inspiration,  and  most  of  their  members  from  the 
Church;  but  their  success  is  not  her  success,  .  .  .  and  some  of  them 
contribute  little  or  nothing  to  her  upbuilding."  The  Church  must 
be  forward  in  all  ministries  of  good  to  the  souls  and  bodies  of  men. 
All  moral  reforms  should  "begin  at  God's  sanctuary."  Her  vast  and 
comprehensive  benevolence  should  monopolize  every  righteous  enter- 
prise in  the  world,  and  give  full  scope  to  all  her  activities,  thus  re- 
moving all  occasion  for  outside  organization.  Constitute  the  whole 
Church  of  Christ  one  grand  missionary  society,  charity  society,  moral  re- 
form society,  international  peace  society,  temperance  society — an  organ- 
ization for  every  good  word  and  work ;  a  great  universal  salvation  so- 
ciety, with  all  that  salvation  means — then  must  all  her  members  co-operate 
along  church  lines,  and  in  her  name  and  to  her  credit.     Then 

"For  her  our  tears  should  fall, 

For  her  our  prayers  ascend ; 
To  her  our  toils  and  cares  be  given 

Till  toils  and  cares  shall  end." 

At  a  recent  revival-meeting  in  North  Carolina  the  preacher's  urgent  en- 
treaty to  the  sinner  to  "  come  to  Jesus  "  was  taken  up  by  the  congrega- 
tion, voices  here  and  there  crying,  "Come,  come,  come!"  and  several 
young  men,  coming,  found  Christ. 

"Still  let  the  Spirit  cry 

In  all  his  children,  '  Come ! '  " 

Let  the  bride,  the  Church,  with  united  voice  echo  the  Spirit's  call,  and 
cry  to  a  lost  world,  "  Come !  "  "  Thy  watchmen  shall  lift  up  the  voice, 
with  the  voice  together  shall  they  sing ;  for  they  shall  see,  eye  to  eye,  when 
the  Lord  shall  bring  again  Zion." 

The  Eev.  James  Le  Huray,  of  the  Methodist  New  Connex- 
ion Church,  gave  the  following  appointed  address  : 

Mr.  President :  Almost  every  thing  about  us  exemplifies  and  enforces 
the  power  and  preciousness  of  co-operation.  It  is  one  of  nature's  di- 
vinely appointed  laws.  She  has  encompassed  man  with  beneficent  forces— 
the  sunshine  to  ripen  his  corn ;  the  wind  to  waft  his  ships ;  and  the 
water  to  turn  his  wheels.  By  co-operation  he  can  make  all  these  his  ser- 
vants and  constrain  them  to  do  for  him  what  he  cannot  do  for  himself. 
Ignoring  this  law,  he  remains  poor  and  powerless ;  by  acknowledging  and 
acting  upon  it,  he  becomes  almost  omnipotent.  Nature  stands  at  his  back. 
She  pours  through  him  the  tides  of  her  strength ;  she  makes  all  things 
possible  to  him.  No  man  in  his  own  strength  could  push  the  train  over 
the  metals,  however  resolutely  he  put  his  shoulder  to  the  wheel ;  but  let 
the  driver  touch  the  lever  and  at  once  the  greatest  elemental  forces  of 


146  THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 

nature  become  his  vassals,  and  carry  him  and  his  stupenduous  load  easily 
and  swiftly  along.  Thus  to  unite  with  nature's  forces  is  man's  special 
function.  He  alone  consciously  does  it,  as  whatever  is  done  by  any  other 
creature  is  done  without  volition.  And  this  volition,  acting  through  co- 
operation, marks  the  highest  human  wisdom. 

Co-operation  is  also  an  instinct  of  himian  life ;  a  law  encompassing  our 
being  which  we  can  no  more  fling  off  than  we  can  the  all-embracing  at- 
mosphere ;  a  genial,  gracious  bond  which  vinites  all  hearts  with  a  cement 
wliich  no  acid  can  dissolve.  ]\Ien  as  naturally  draw  to  one  another  as 
rain-drops  mingle.  Without  co-operation  there  covild  be  no  substantial 
advance  in  civilization,  for  "art  is  long  and  time  is  fleeting."  No  human 
being,  unassisted,  could  produce  the  comforts  enjoyed  by  the  barest  life 
in  the  humblest  cottage.  We  all  live  through  others  and  are  dependent 
on  their  ministries.  An  independent  man,  therefore,  is  an  impossibility. 
And  every  generous  nature  feels  that  vinless  he  gives  back  to  the  world  as 
much  service  as  he  takes  from  it  he  is  a  delinquent — a  drone  instead  of  a 
working  bee  in  the  busy  hive  of  human  life.  Is  it  not  largely  to  the  ig- 
noring of  this  instinct  that  we  owe  many  of  the  most  cruel  and  "  crying 
evils"  of  our  times — the  "rocks  ahead"  which  our  political  Cassandras 
see  and  sigh  over  ? 

Where  shall  we  find  the  cure  for  the  maladies  which  afflict  modern  so- 
ciety, gathering  about  it  like  doom  in  its  pride  of  wealth  and  its  heyday 
of  material  triumph — that  deep,  dark  gulf  which  separates  class  from 
class,  the  unequal  distribution  of  wealth;  the  sickening  contrast  between 
the  palace  homes  and  the  pauper  warrens  which  almost  touch  each  other 
in  our  cities;  the  chronic  warfare  between  capital  and  labor,  capital  deal- 
ing blows  on  labor  with  its  weapon  of  lock-outs,  and  labor  retaliating  by 
strikes  ?  In  what  shall  we  flnd  the  solution  of  all  these  painful  and  press- 
ing social  problems?  Why,  surely,  in  the  one  word  "co-operation," 
with  the  vmderstanding  that  it  have  Christ  for  its  center  and  Christian 
principle  as  its  constraining  motive.  Accept  the  term  in  this  its  best  and 
broadest  sense,  and  we  believe  you  will  find  in  it  the  only  and  all-sufRcient 
cure  for  the  cankers  which  are  eating  into  and  threatening  to  eat  out  the 
heart  of  our  national  life.  Mutual  sympathy  and  service  would  bind 
men's  hearts  together  with  ties  so  tender  and  sensitive  that,  like  the 
chords  of  a  well-arranged  instrument,  all  would  vibrate  at  the  touch  of 
one ;  each  would  feel  his  neighbor's  care  and  share  his  brother's  burden. 
Macaulay's  dream  of  Rome  in  her  palmiest  days  would  be  realized. 

"  Then  none  was  for  a  party; 

Then  all  were  for  the  State ; 
Then  the  great  man  helped  the  poor  man, 

And  the  poor  man  loved  the  great ; 
Then  lands  were  fairly  ])ortioned. 

Then  spoils  were  fairly  sold ; 
The  Romans  lived  like  brothers, 

In  the  brave  days  of  old." 

We  find  this  law  of  co-operation  equally  potent  in  the  spiritual  realm. 


ADDRESS    OF   KEV.    JAMES    LE    HUEAT.  147 

There  are  powers  of  grace  as  well  as  of  nature ;  infinite  divine  forces  ade- 
quate and  available  on  the  same  condition  for  all  Christian  work.  And 
by  co-operating  with  these  forces  man  becomes  pre-eminently  a  "co- 
worker wdth  God."  Clothed  with  this  power  of  living  union  with  a  liv- 
ing God  the  apostles  went  forth  to  conquer  the  world,  and  though  the 
work  was  a  stupendous  one  it  was  not  beyond  their  ability.  Their  own 
arm  was  weak,  but  it  was  rendered  omnipotent  by  being  linked  with  di- 
vine strength.  God  went  out  with  them  from  Jerusalem  and  in  them 
from  the  upper  chamber.  He  flamed  on  Peter's  earnest  lip,  he  argued  in 
Paul's  philosophic  brain,  throbbed  in  every  pulsation  of  John's  loving 
heart,  and  shone  in  Stephen's  face  when  it  shone  like  the  face  of  an 
angel.  Every-where  the  energy  of  the  divine  Spirit  gave  effect  to  their 
word;  with  God  on  .their  side  they  were  more  than  a  match  for  their 
countless  and  combined  foes.  And  through  prayer  we,  too,  may  become 
endued  with  apostolic  power — power  with  God,  and  through  God  with 
men  and  things  all  the  world  over.  Through  prayer  the  flinty  rock  has 
gushed  forth  in  living  streams;  the  sea  has  rolled  back  to  provide  a  way 
of  escape  for  the  oppressed;  the  sevenfold  heated  furnace  has  lost  its 
power  to  burn ;  and  the  lions  have  crouched  harmless  as  lambs  at  the  feet 
of  their  intended  prey.  Hence,  that  we  may  obtain  this  power  we  are 
exhorted  to  co-operate  in  prayer.  "  If  two  of  you  shall  agree  on  earth  as 
touching  any  thing  that  they  shall  ask,  it  shall  be  done  for  them  of  my 
Father  which  is  in  heaven."  It  was  the  united  supplication  of  the  Church 
that  brought  down  the  power  of  Pentecost;  "  when  they  had  prayed  the 
place  was  shaken,  and  they  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost."  It  was 
while  a  cottage  prayer- meeting  was  being  held  that  fetters  snapped  and 
prison  doors  unlocked,  and  an  angel  hand  led  Peter  forth  to  light  and 
liberty.  And  it  was  while  Peter  and  Cornelius,  all  unknow^n  to  each  other, 
were  praying  that  the  set  time  for  the  Gentiles  to  be  personally  admitted 
into  the  CImrch  arrived.  Their  prayers  joined  and  entered  heaven  to- 
gether, just  as  streams  that  start  miles  apart  mingle  their  waters  at  last 
and  fall  united  into  the  sea. 

From  these  great  and  primary  analogies  we  see  what  a  large  justifica- 
tion there  is  for  Christian  co-operation.  In  nature  and  grace  we  unite 
with  divine  forces.  By  Christian  co-operation  w^e  unite  with  human 
forces,  and  this  union  of  human  forces  with  divine  aid,  and  with  a  divine 
aim,  constitutes  the  highest  wisdom  of  the  Church.  In  Christian  as  in 
other  work  union  is  strength,  and  separation,  which  is  the  daughter  of 
dissension,  becomes  in  turn  the  mother  of  weakness.  Too  much  and  too 
often  has  the  Church  been  hampered  and  hindered  by  the  jealousies  and 
bitterness  of  her  own  members.  Professedly  brethren  in  the  Lord,  yet 
not  seldom  they  have  appeared  to  the  w^orld  as  a  rabble  of  rival  sects, 
each  impressed  with  its  own  excellencies  and  its  neighbor's  defects. 

Power  wanted  for  Christian  service  has  been  wasted  in  sectarian  com- 
petition. Surely  the  eye  can  look  on  no  sadder  sight  to-day  than  places 
where  men  and  money  are  being  lavished,  not  that  Christ  may  win  souls, 
but  that  sects  may  gain  proselytes. 


148  THE    CHRISTIAN    CHUKCH. 

One  feels  more  inclined  to  weep  than  laugh  over  the  story  told  by  Dr. 
Gladden  at  the  London  International  Council,  of  "how  away  in  the  far 
West,  fifty  miles  from  anywhere,  a  surveyor  got  off  the  train  to  stake 
out  a  new  town.  After  driving  four  stakes  he  went  away  to  lunch  by  a 
spring.  When  he  came  back,  lo!  there  sat  a  church  extension  agent  on 
each  of  the  stakes — a  Baptist  on  one,  a  Presbyterian  on  another,  a  Meth- 
odist on  a  third,  and  a  Congregationalist  on  the  last.  They  had  all 
come  to  locate  churches  in  the  new  town,"  Only  a  playful  way  this  of 
portraying  a  sad  reality  all  too  common  in  the  old  land  as  in  the  new. 
Who  among  us  does  not  know  of  small  villages  in  which  four  men  are 
doing  the  work  which  one  could  do,  ay,  and  do  better  than  the  four? 
As  though  four  heavy  cannon  had  been  placed  in  position,  loaded  to  the 
muzzle,  for  the  purpose  of  blowing  to  atoms  a  child's  windmill,  or  a 
great  river  turned  from  its  course  in  order  that  it  might  grind  the  corn 
which  should  supply  a  single  baker's  oven !  Is  it  not  a  shameful  and 
sinful  thing  that  such  a  waste  of  mental  and  moral  power  should  be 
going  on  in  our  midst  for  the  honor  of  denominational  names  and  to  the 
injurj^  of  human  spirits,  narrowing  them  down  into  ecclesiastical  flies  and 
gnats  when  they  are  capable  of  being  lions  for  strength  and  eagles  for 
power  of  vision?  It  is  such  facts  as  these  which  make  sectional  names 
discordant  and  jarring  in  men's  ears — as  the  bugle  tones  of  battle  rather 
than  the  sweet  harmonies  of  the  sanctuary. 

Sometimes  it  is  said  we  are  regiments  in  one  army.  All  the  greater 
the  pity  then  that  we  are  not  more  thoroughly  united  in  appearance  and 
before  the  world.  Actually  we  misrepresent  ourselves.  We  convey  to 
those  seeking  to  divide  us  the  impression  that  we  are  not  as  much  in 
union  as  is  the  fact.  We  magnify  our  surface  differences  and  minimize 
our  deeper  unities.  We  may  secretly  entertain  good  feelings  toward  one 
another,  but  the  world  generally  sees  nothing  of  this.  What  it  sees  is 
that  every  purpose  which  touches  the  higher  interests  of  mankind  is  seized 
on  at  once  by  our  jealous  sectarianism  and  becomes  a  matter  of  discord. 
Keble  has  asked  if  the  passions  raging  in  the  breast  of  a  man  of  kindly 
appearance  could  be  seen  openly,  "  who  would  not  shun  the  dreary,  un- 
couth place  ? " 

But  the  dreary,  uncouth  place  of  our  denominational  strife  lies  open  to 
all  the  world ;  and  who  can  say  how  much  of  the  skepticism  of  earnest 
minds  and  how  much  also  of  the  alienation  of  the  multitude  is  due  to  our 
perverse  divisions  ?  Do  not  let  us  be  misunderstood  here.  We  are  not 
sighing  after  a  vain  agreement  on  all  points,  an  organic  union  of  all  de- 
nominations of  the  Christian  Church.  Such  union  will,  we  believe,  be 
practicable  and  probable  among  Methodists  in  the  near  future,  but  it  is 
questionable  whether  it  will  ever  be  possible,  even  if  desirable,  among  all 
the  disciples  of  Christ. 

Denominations  are  the  product  of  intellectual  difference.  You  cannot 
run  thoughts  in  the  same  molds  as  those  in  which  you  make  leaden 
bullets.  Different  temperaments  and  idiosyncrasies  cannot  be  thus  fused. 
Uniformity  is  no  more  a  law  of  grace  than  it  is  of  natiu-e.     You  can  no 


ADDRESS  OF  KEV.  JAMES  LE  HUEAY.  149 

more  make  men  worship  alike  or  think  alike  on  matters  which  are  not 
essential  to  salvation  than  you  can  make  them  wear  the  same  expression 
of  face  or  speak  in  the  same  tone  of  voice,  for  there  are  as  great  natural 
differences  in  the  minds  as  in  the  bodies  of  men. 

Hence  probably  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  we  shall  need,  and  we 
shall  have,  the  Congregationalists  and  the  Presbyterians  with  their  broad 
culture  and  their  convincing  logic ;  the  Methodists  with  their  fine  enthu- 
siasm and  their  impassioned  eloquence;  the  Episcopalians  with  their 
sublime  liturgies  and  chants;  and  the  Baptists  with  their  manly  inde- 
pendence and  tenacious  devotion  to  principle.  Separate  in  organization, 
all  these  honest,  earnest  seekers  after  God  are  one  in  heart.  Distinct  as 
the  colors  of  the  rainbow,  they  are  one  as  the  pure  white  light  in  which 
those  colors  combine.  The  mount  of  truth  has  many  paths ;  those  who 
are  ascending  it  by  different  Avays  look  too  often  upon  each  other  with 
coldness  and  suspicion ;  but  they  will  all  be  led  onward  and  upward  by 
the  Spirit  till  at  last  they  find  themselves  standing  side  by  side  before  the 
throne  of  the  Eternal. 

In  the  meantime  let  us  not  be  unduly  dejiressed  by  our  differences. 
Denominationalism,  rightly  viewed,  is  no  more  an  evil  than  regiments  and 
battalions  in  an  army  are  an  evil.  It  is  not  division,  but  orderly  arrange- 
ment— aggregation,  like  seeking  like — family  likeness  asserting  itself  on  a 
broader  scale.  In  this  sense  it  contributes  to  order  and  may  tend  to 
make  co-operation  all  the  easier.  While  as  separate  bodies  we  have  our 
distinctive  work  to  do,  we  may  as  different  divisions  of  one  great  army 
move  forward  with  harmonious  step,  seeking  by  means  of  our  various 
differences  to  supply  each  other's  defects  in  dealing  with  the  sins  and 
sorrows  of  the  world. 

Remembering  that  the  Church's  commission  is  to  carry  the  Gospel,  not 
church  government,  to  the  people,  let  us  act  in  loving  concert  not  only  in 
mission  fields  abroad,  but  where  sectarian  strife  has  been  most  bitter  and 
baneful  at  home.  We  shall  never  as  Christians  understand  or  love  each 
other  as  we  ought  until  we  come  closer  together  and,  as  co-workers  in 
the  Master's  vineyard,  forget  in  sympathetic  labor  those  sectional  names 
which,  like  old  monuments  from  Nineveh  and  mummies  from  Egj'pt, 
are  very  interesting  for  historical  museums,  but  of  no  great  account  else- 
where. 

Every  thing  which  looks  toward  this  consummation  is  a  morning  beam 
of  the  millennial  glory ;  a  long  step  taken  toward  an  effective  answer  to 
our  Saviour's  high-priestly  prayer  for  the  visible  oneness  of  his  disciples 
on  the  earth.  When  Wesley  said,  "I  desire  to  have  a  league  offensive 
and  defensive  with  every  soldier  of  Christ,"  he  expressed  what  must  be 
the  relation  of  the  Churches  before  the  incoming  of  the  new  earth  and 
heaven. 

It  is  recorded  in  French  history  that  when  Napoleon  was  an  exile  in 
Elba  there  still  remained  in  Paris  thousands  secretly  devoted  to  his  cause 
and  desiring  his  restoration.  They  constituted  a  large  secret  organization, 
making  no  noise  or  public  demonstration,  but  whenever  they  met  on  the 


150  THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 

Boulevards  and  wished  to  recognize  each  other  they  brought  out  from 
their  pockets  a  tiny  bronze  statue  of  the  emperor,  and,  whispering  the 
name  of  Napoleon,  quietly  passed  on  to  labor  for  the  re-establishment  of 
the  empire.  So  surely  in  the  good  time  coming  the  disciples  of  all  de- 
nominations will  draw  nigh  to  each  other,  and  with  true  Christian  sym- 
pathy grasp  each  the  hand  of  the  other,  whisper  the  magic  name  of 
Jesus,  and  then  jDass  on  with  one  sjairit  to  extend  his  blessed  empire  of 
love. 

And  by  such  affectionate  co-operation  not  only  shall  the  Master's  cause 
be  served,  but  the  disciple's  own  spirit  be  enriched.  He  will  be  cheered 
with  the  blossoms  in  every  garden  of  the  Lord,  and  gather  fruit  from  all 
his  brethren's  labors.  This  is  the  wise  way  of  putting  our  brethren  under 
tribute — having  a  heart  so  open  and  sympathies  so  broad  that  we  shall 
receive  some  help  from  all.  We  shall  be  the  richer  and  they  none  the 
poorer ;  nay,  such  open  sympathy  and  sensibility  to  all  Christian  influ- 
ences will  make  us  more  helpful  in  turn  to  all.  We  shall  feel  that  we 
are  members  of  one  body,  each  given  to  all  by  the  loving  care  of  Christ, 
and  all  ready  to  serve  each  for  his  dear  sake. 

Christians,  like  wheat,  grow  best  and  strongest  together.  If  you  scat- 
ter the  grain  thinly  over  the  field,  it  will  start  well  at  first,  but  weeds  will 
soon  spring  up  and  choke  it.  The  slender  stalk  growing  alone  is  easily 
broken  down  by  wind  and  rain,  and  you  may  scarcely  hope  for  any  in- 
crease.    But  if  the  grain  stands  close  each  stalk  helps  to  sustain  the  other. 

"Like  the  wheat  should  Christians  be. 

Side  by  side  and  hand  to  hand ; 
In  the  eye  true  sympathy, 

In  the  heart  the  '  new  command.' 

"Strong  in  union,  strong  in  love, 

In  one  brave,  unbroken  line, 
Born  of  God  and  blessed  above, 

Moves  the  Church  with  strength  divine." 

The  Rev.  Hugh  Price  Hughes,  M.A.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Metli- 
odist  Cliurch,  began  tlie  general  discussion,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President:  I  wish  to  say  but  a  few  words  on  this  question.  I  have 
been  permitted  to  take  part  in  the  inaugural  meetings  of  a  new  move- 
ment which  has  been  started  in  Portsmouth,  Leamington,  Ashton-under- 
Tyne,  London,  and  other  places,  where  all  the  free  evangelical  Churches 
are  already  banded  together  for  a  united  attack  upon  the  seven  great 
social  evils — intemi:)erance,  lust,  gambling,  ignorance,  crime,  pauperism, 
and  war.  We  have  already  had  sufficient  evidence  that  if  all  the  free* 
evangelical  Churches,  to  say  nothing  of  the  others,  whom  we  would 
heartily  welcome  if  they  would  join  us,  are  prepared  to  get  together  on 
any  one  of  the  seven  great  questions  I  have  named,  they  are  practically 
irresistible. 

With  respect  to  Methodists  co-operating  with  one  another,  I  am  con- 
vinced that  the  only  kind  of  eifective  co-operation  for  them  is  organic 
union.  Something  has  been  said  here  about  four  branches  of  Methodism 
struggling  for  existence  in  a  small  village  where  one  could  do  the  work, 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  151 

but  the  question  is,  "Who  is  to  withdraw  ? "  Until  we  have  enough  re- 
ligion to  suppress  our  differences  at  head-quarters  we  cannot  expect  vil- 
lagers to  do  so. 

There  is  no  Methodist  preacher  who  of  recent  years  has  talked  to  so 
many  Wesleyan  Methodists  in  England  as  I  have.  On  a  thousand  plat- 
forms before  vast  audiences  I  have  pleaded  in  favor  of  Methodist  union. 
That  proposal  has  always  been  received  with  hearty  applause  in  every 
part  of  England.  I  am  quite  sure  that  the  masses  of  our  people  favor  it. 
I  remember  that  some  years  ago  one  of  your  bishops  came  to  my  country 
— he  is  listening  to  me  now.  I  asked  him,  "When  will  there  be  a  re- 
union between  the  Methodist  Church,  North,  and  the  Methodist  Church, 
South  ?  "  He  said :  "As  soon  as  we  have  had  a  few  prominent  funerals." 
1  believe  that  that  reply  is  of  universal  application.  I  am  not  at  all  sure 
that  these  funerals  have  not  already  taken  place  on  both  sides  of  the  At- 
lantic. I  am  confident  that  the  union  sentiment  grows  and  spreads  con- 
tinually. In  the  meantime  I  am  personally  prepared  to  respond  most 
heartily  to  the  Christian  appeals  that  have  been  made  this  morning  to 
those  of  us  who  belong  to  the  parent  Church  of  Methodism.  Let  us  do 
any  thing  and  every  thing  which  tends  to  union. 

The  Rev.  T.  G.  Williams,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
Canada,  made  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President :  I  have  listened  with  a  great  deal  of  pleasure  and  atten- 
tion to  the  papers  and  addresses  which  have  been  delivered  here  to-day. 
It  has  given  me  great  delight  to  hear  the  discussions  of  this  morning  and 
afternoon,  which  were  intimately  connected  with  each  other.  In  1876 
the  Presbyterian  Churches  of  Canada  united  and  formed  one  Presbyterian 
Church.  There  were  principles,  or  prejudices  which  were  mistaken  for 
principles,  to  be  overcome,  for  Scotchmen  can  easily  find  principles  and 
tenaciously  adhere  to  them.  But  they  were  overcome,  and  Presbyterian- 
ism  in  Canada  became  one.  In  1883,  encouraged  by  the  example  of  the 
Presbyterians  and  the  blessings  which  followed  the  union  of  the  Wesley- 
an Methodist  and  New  Connection  Churches  in  1874,  the  remaining  Meth- 
odist Churches  of  Canada  submerged  their  prejudices  and  formed  one 
great  Methodist  Church  for  the  Dominion — great  because  of  the  preju- 
dices uprooted,  principles  embodied,  and  the  successes  attained.  The 
lesson  thus  taught  by  union  was  not  lost  on  the  Methodist  and  Presbyte- 
rian Churches.  Soon  the  opportunity  was  afforded  to  use  the  strength 
attained  by  union.  The  "Canada  Temperance  Act,"  popularly  known 
as  the  Scott  Act — known  in  England  as  the  Local  Option  Law — was  sub- 
mitted to  the  constituencies  of  Canada,  and  I  am  warranted  in  saying  that 
it  was  by  the  united  energy  of  tlie  two  Churches — the  Methodist  and  the 
Presbyterian — that  the  act  became  law  in  a  large  majority  of  the  counties 
in  the  Dominion  of  Canada.  Profiting  again  by  this  same  lesson,  the 
Churches  organized  a  plan  for  the  conservation  of  their  energies  in  mis- 
sion fields,  which  plan  has  been  sanctioned  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Presbyterians  and  the  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Church  in 
Canada. 

The  speeches  of  to-day  have  brought  to  my  mind  the  discussions  to 
which  we  listened  when  this  question  of  union  was  under  consideration 
by  the  Methodist  Churches  of  Canada.  The  same  reasons  for  and  the 
same  objections  against  it  were  vigorously  presented  and  sustained  by 
earnest  argument ;  but  the  union  sentiment  prevailed,  and  the  Methodism 
of  Canada  now  is  one  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  The  successes 
which  have  followed  have  gloriously  vindicated  the  wisdom  of  the  decis- 


152  THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 

ion  at  wMcli,  under  divine  guidance,  we  were  able  to  arrive.  The 
Churches  referred  to — tlie  Presbj'terian  and  the  Methodist — by  the  union 
of  their  different  branches,  thereby  husbanded  their  resources  and  in- 
creased their  efiiciency,  and  as  the  result  were  ready  for  closer  co-opera- 
tive work  than  previously.  This  is  significant,  that  they  closed  up  their 
own  ranks  before  they  attempted  united  efforts  with  other  Churches. 

And  in  view  of  the  enthusiasm  with  which  the  sentiment  embodied  in 
the  addresses  on  union  and  co-operation  has  met,  I  would  suggest  re- 
spectfully to  our  brethren  in  America  and  our  friends  from  the  old  land 
that  they  first  heal  the  breaches  existing  in  their  own  Methodist  ranks, 
and  then  seek  a  wider  and  grander  co-operation  with  other  evangelical 
Churches  in  the  work  of  advancing  the  Redeemer's  kingdom.  With  the 
union  of  all  the  Methodist  Churches  of  America  what  iniquity  could  they 
not  overthrow !  And  with  one  united  Methodism  in  England,  concentrat- 
ing all  its  energies  on  the  destixiction  of  evil,  God  only  knows  the  mag- 
nificent moral  results  which  would  be  attained ! 

The  Kev.  J.  C.  Hartzell,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  continued  the  discussion,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President:  I  rejoice  greatly  in  all  that  has  been  said  about  the 
essential  unity  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  also  in  every  indication  tending 
toward  closer  union  among  different  branches  of  Methodism ;  but  I  arise 
to  call  the  attention  of  this  great  Ecumenical  Conference  to  the  marvelous 
results  of  Christian  work  during  the  past  twenty-five  years  in  the  southern 
section  of  the  United  States.  Twenty-five  years  ago  four  millions  of 
emancipated  people  of  one  race  and  twelve  millions  of  another  race  just 
out  of  a  great  civil  and  military  revolution  presented  a  demand  for 
Christian  endeavor  unequaled  in  the  annals  of  modern  civilization.  The 
Southern  churches  themselves  have  achieved  wonders;  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  has  grown  from  half  a  million  to  one  million 
and  a  quarter  members ;  the  African  Methodist  and  the  African  Methodist 
Zion  Churches  have  had  marvelous  development.  In  addition  to  this  the 
North,  through  her  churches  and  benevolent  organizations,  has  taken  at 
least  twenty-five  millions  of  dollars  into  the  South  for  the  maintenance  of 
the  Christian  ministry,  the  building  of  churches,  and  the  establishment  of 
institutions  for  Christian  learning.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
alone  has  built  over  five  thousand  new  churches  in  those  sixteen  Southern 
States,  and  has  established  forty-one  institutions  of  learning,  in  which 
there  were  last  year  three  hundred  and  thirty  teachers,  and  over  nine 
thousand  students.  Questions  of  organic  union  have  not  been  discussed; 
it  has  been  rather  a  question  of  earnest  work,  and  in  this  there  has  been 
great  progress.  This  work  has  been  carried  forward  in  the  midst  of  great 
racial,  social,  and  political  problems.  The  result  has  been  a  marvelous 
demonstration  of  the  essential  unity  of  Christ's  Church  not  only  in  organ- 
ization, but  also  in  widely  separated  differences  among  her  people  touching 
social  and  political  problems  affecting  every  part  of  society. 

The  Eev.  Bishop  O.  P.  Fitzgerald,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist 

Episcopal  Church,  South,  said  : 

Mr.  President :  Leaving  San  Francisco  on  last  Wednesday  morning,  I 
first  passed  through  three  hundred  miles  of  garden  vineyards  and  or- 
chards, the  roses  in  bloom,  the  raisin-grapes  drying  and  sweetening  in  the 
.sunshine,  the  prunes,  plums,  pears,  and  peaches  hanging  in  alliterated 
lusciousness  and  beauty  from  the  heavy-laden  trees  in  that  land  of  bright- 


GENERAL    EEMARKS.  153 

ness  and  fruitfulness  which  is  also  the  land  of  promise,  for  Methodism, 
in  alliance  with  other  evangelical  forces  at  work  there,  proposes  to 
take  possession  in  the  name  of  Him  whose  right  it  is  to  reign  in  all  lands 
and  throughout  all  ages.  Then  I  passed  through  five  hundred  miles  of 
snow — snow  on  the  Sierras,  snow  on  the  Wasatch  ranges,  snow  on  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  snow  all  around,  snow  coming  down  in  the  middle. 
Then  I  came  on  and  on,  through  leagues  and  leagues  of  prairie  on  which 
countless  herds  of  cattle  were  grazing,  and  many  millions  of  American 
pigs  getting  ready  for  a  visit  to  Chicago — a  place  somewhere  out  West  of 
which,  despite  the  morbid  modesty  of  its  citizens,  some  of  you  may  have 
heard.  Then  I  rode  into  Chicago  itself,  of  whose  greatness  I  was  an  eye 
and  ear  witness.  I  had  intended  to  go  on  to  New  York — a  city  in  which 
the  science  of  municipal  government  is  carried  to  almost  perfection  on 
certain  lines,  and  where  every  thing  good  and  every  thing  bad  in  our 
national  life  may  be  found  in  concentrated  form ;  but  I  stopped  here  at 
Washington,  where  America,  as  it  were,  takes  the  Ecumenical  Conference 
of  the  people  called  Methodists  to  its  heart  in  its  capital  city.  On  this 
long  journey  across  the  continent  one  of  the  many  things  that  struck  me 
with  wonder  was  the  mixed  railroad  trains — cars  from  St.  Paul  and  from 
Fort  Worth,  from  Pittsburg  and  from  Atlanta,  from  Council  Bluffs  and 
from  Louisville,  from  Santa  Fe  and  Memphis,  from  San  Francisco  and 
from  St.  Louis,  from  Kansas  City  and  from  Nashville,  and  from  Chicago 
to  Duluth,  and  from  I  know  not  how  many  other  places,  all  on  one  track, 
drawn  by  one  engine,  and  headed  for  the  same  destination.  These  mixed 
trains,  it  seemed  to  me,  symbolized  the  new  and  happier  era  of  Christian 
unity  which  has  dawned.  Our  Churches  are  getting  happily  and  har- 
moniously mixed,  the  several  branches  of  Methodism  are  coupling  together 
their  trains,  all  moving  on  the  same  evangelical  line,  the  Holy  Ghost  the 
propelling  power  of  the  whole. 

In  1886,  on  a  given  day,  all  the  railroads  of  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica were  brought  to  the 'same  standard— all  except  a  few  narrow-gauge 
lines  that  lead  to  nowhere  in  particular.  The  change  produced  a  little 
inconvenience  at  the  first,  but  in  a  very  short  time  all  concerned  realized 
the  vast  benefit  accruing  to  trade  and  travel.  The  broad-gauge  religious 
bodies,  of  which  Methodism  is  one,  and  one  of  the  chiefest,  are  coming 
to  the  same  standard.  And  when  we  get  a  freshly  formulated  Arminian 
Confession  of  Faith,  why  may  not  all  come  to  the  one  standard  of  a  uni- 
versal atonement,  faith  'in  the  present  tense,  pardon  in  the  present  tense, 
the  consciousness  in  the  present  tense,  a  new  heart  and  a  new  life,  and 
then  take  an  air-line  for  the  millennium? 

The  Rev.  E.  L.  Southgate,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  made  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President  and  Brethren :  From  my  persistent  effort  to  secure  the 
floor  you  might  suspect  that  some  Presbyterian  endowed  with  the  grace 
of  final  appearance  had  slipped  in  among  you  unawares.  Sir,  I  have 
been  waiting  for  an  opportunity  like  this  for  about  a  quarter  of  a  cent- 
ury. I  have  been  waiting  twenty-five  years  for  an  opportunity  like 
this  to  say  some  things  for  the  glory  of  my  God  and  the  advancement  of 
the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 

♦  In  an  article  in  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica  on  Edward  Gibbon,  I  re- 
member reading  something  like  this :  that  almost  all  philosophic  thinkers 
are  now  agreed  that  whatever  else  Christianity  may  mean,  it  means  for 
mankind  a  higher  conception  of  truth  and  a  nobler  conception  of  duty 
than  the  world  ever  knew  without  it. 
13 


154  THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 

And  so  it  seems  to  me  to-day  that  there  is  just  one  point  that  we  need 
to  consider  in  this  connection.  "We  are  in  possession  of  that  inestimable 
treasure,  the  truth,  that  is  superior  to  all  treasures  that  the  world  has  ever 
possessed.  "We  ought,  therefore,  to  be  able  to  give  a  higher  example  of 
moral  conduct;  and  so  it  seems  to  me  that  the  first  thing  to  be  considered 
to-day  is  not  plans  of  co-operation,  but  co-operation  itself.  "We  should 
not  stop  to  inquire  as  to  whether  any  given  denomination  will  co-operate 
with  us  at  any  given  point  or  any  particular  church  in  any  particular 
locality.  But  we  should  work  with  might  and  main  to  put  ourselves  in 
line  with  all  who  are  seeking  to  glorify  God  by  doing  good  to  men.  I 
remember  to  have  seen  this  statement  in  regard  to  the  illustrious  Duke 
of  "Wellington:  That  at  one  time  when  in  India,  through  various  arts  he 
was  supplanted  in  an  important  command  when  he  had  the  promise  of 
securing  rich  laurels.  The  officer  who  succeeded  him  was  thrown  into  a 
position  of  peculiar  danger,  and  disaster  seemed  certain.  There  was  in 
the  heart  of  that  great  man,  Arthur  "Wellesley,  something  higher  than 
mere  personal  considerations,  and  not  waiting  for  orders  he  moved  with 
his  remaining  troops  to  the  support  of  his  brother  oflicer,  and  aided  him 
to  the  achievement  of  victory.  So  I  say  that  we  should  enlarge  our 
hearts  to  help  our  brother  and  leave  the  plans  of  co-operation  to  the 
divine  guidance  and  overruling.  We  should  co-operate  witli  our  whole 
soul  and  mind  and  strength  with  every  man  and  with  every  church 
that  is  seeking  to  advance  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ. 

"We  find  this  significant  exhortation  given  to  us  by  the  apostle  Paul :  _' '  Look 
not  every  man  on  his  own  things,  but  every  man  also  on  the  things  of 
others."  And  while  it  is  an  imperative  law  that  every  man  shall  attend  to  his 
own  business,  he  has  an  immediate  interest  in  and  connection  with  his 
brother's  business,  when  that  business  is  the  business  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

Now  it  occurs  to  me  that  the  organic  union  so  emphatically  proposed 
by  some  of  the  brethren  might  prove  to  be  a  merely  outward  relation. 
The  true  union  is  a  union  that  is  based  upon  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
and  that  has  for  its  working  plan  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  Paul's  First 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians. 

If  we  seek  ourselves  to  draw  near  to  God  and  enter  into  the  holy  of 
holies,  there  to  claim  fellowship  with  God;  then  if  we  will  take  that 
great  law  of  love,  the  law  that  leads  us  to  prefer  one  another  in  honor, 
the  law  that  leads  us  to  charitable  judgments,  the  law  that  puts  aside 
suspicion,  the  law  that  gives  every  man  the  benefit  of  every  doubt  with 
respect  to  the  motive  that  governs  his  actions — then  shall_  we  find  that 
there  shall  be  a  genuine  and  a  practical  co-operation  that  will  do  more  to 
further  the  common  cause  than  any  thing  else,  and  that  will  hasten  the 
kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  to  its  millennial  consum- 
mation. 

Tlie  Kev.  A.  B.  Leonard,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  continued  the  discussion,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President:  I  believe,  sir,  that  we  have  already  a  very  large  amount 
of  co-operation— co-operation  among  Methodist  denominations,  co- 
operation with  other  evangelical  denominations — and  I  believe  that  we 
have  all  the  co-operation  that  we  can  expect  until  conditions  are 
changed. 

In  order  that  we  may  have  co-operation,  we  must  be  able  to  stand 
somewhat  upon  the  same  plane,  and  as  long  as  we  occupy  different  planes 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  155 

and  move  in  different  spheres,  we  will  find  that  onr  effort  at  co-operation 
is  somewhat  embarrassed.  Our  very  denominationalism  itself  is  an  em- 
barrassment to  co-operation.  Somebody  on  the  other  side  of  the  house, 
I  think,  struck  the  key-note  when  he  referred  to  the  village  with  its 
several  churches,  and  raised  the  question  as  to  which  one  of  these  denom- 
inations was  ready  to  withdraw.  Every  denomination  is  jealous  of  its  own 
position,  and  that  in  some  sense  is  a  source  of  strength.  At  the  same 
time  it  is  sometimes  a  source  of  embarrassment  to  our  practical  co-opera- 
tion. If  we  can  remove  some  of  these  denominations — if  we  can  find  some 
way  in  which  we  can  relieve  the  community  of  denominations  that  are 
regarded  as  unnecessary — we  will  very  greatly  facilitate  Christian  co-op- 
eration. 

Then  again,  we  are  embarrassed  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  we  are  not  yet 
free  from  our  caste  prejudices,  even  here  in  the  United  States.  Just  as 
long  as  caste  prejudices  control  our  minds  and  ovu-  actions  we  will  em- 
barrass co-operation.  We  must  have  a  sentiment  toward  each  other  that 
does  not  make  distinction  upon  the  ground  of  race  or  color  or  previous 
condition  of  servitude.  While  we  have  prejudices  upon  those  lines  we 
shall  find  it  very  difficult  to  co-operate.  We  must  reach  the  point  where 
we  will  look  upon  men  as  one  in  Christ  Jesus,  no  matter  what  may  be  the 
color  of  their  skin,  no  matter  what  their  condition ;  and  as  long  as  these 
caste  prejudices  prevail  we  shall  find  embarrassment  in  co-operation.  Let 
us  get  rid  of  that,  and  then  we  will  come  to  a  point  where  we  can  co- 
operate more  readily. 

Then  again,  another  difficulty  in  the  way  of  co-operation  is  the  differ- 
ence between  capital  and  labor.  We  have  in  our  pews  very  often  men 
who  control  large  sums  of  money,  and  they  are  not  always  willing  to  use 
it  for  the  good  of  humanity  and  for  the  glory  of  God ;  and  we  find  it  very 
difficult  to  cause  these  men  to  fall  into  line  on  co-operation  that  will  benefit 
those  who  need  to  be  lifted  up  from  the  lower  levels  of  society.  Until 
we  reach  the  point  where  a  man  is  a  man  in  the  Church  of  God,  whether 
he  has  a  lean  purse  or  a  fat  purse,  we  are  not  in  very  good  condition  for 
co-operation. 

Then  the  reason  why  we  do  not  co-operate  for  the  purpose  of  wiping 
out  that  great  evil  the  rum  traffic  is  because  we  are  not  on  a  plane  where 
we  can  co-operate.  I  undertake  to  say,  Mr.  Chainnan,  that  our  struggles 
for  constitutional  prohibition  in  these  United  States  have  been  defeated 
by  Christian  votes.  I  make  the  declaration  broadly,  that  the  reason  why 
we  do  not  wipe  the  saloon  out  of  America  is  because  professing  Chris- 
tians do  not  stand  on  the  same  plane.  When  it  comes  to  a  battle  on  this 
line  there  are  not  a  few  who  fall  into  line  and  fight  with  those  who  are  in 
favor  of  legalizing  the  saloon  business. 

The  Rev.  William  Akthtjb,  M.A.,  of  the  "Wesleyan  Meth- 
odist Church,  made  the  following  remarks : 

Mr.  President :  I  believe  that  I  was  born  under  the  physical  necessity, 
or  something  else,  of  asking,  "What  does  it  mean?  "  I  never  get  on  com- 
fortably with  a  word  until  I  have  said  to  it,    "  What  do  you  mean? " 

I  remember  during  the  revolutionary  period  of  1848,  and  the  years  pre- 
ceding it,  in  Paris  I  was  constantly  hearing  of  competition  and  co-oper- 
ation and  co-operation  and  competition  as  being  the  two  things  that  were 
mutually  destructive  one  of  the  other,  and  equally  of  labor  and  capital  and 
capital  and  labor,  until  I  came  to  conclude,  well,  the  only  way  to  have 
peace  between  these  enemies  is  to  get  rid  of  one  or  the  other;  kill  either 
capital  or  labor,  and  then  you  will  have  peace.     But  I  found  every  one 


156  THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 

said,  "  If  you  kill  oue  you  kill  the  other."     And  so  it  was  yvith.  compe- 
tition and  co-operation. 

When  the  Cunard  Company  was  in  almost  absolute  possession  of  the 
Atlantic,  no  doubt  it  felt  it  a  very  hard  thing  that  the  White  Star  or  some 
other  company  began  competition.  That  company  was  competing  with 
the  Cunarders,  but  at  the  same  time  it  was  co-operating  with  you,  Bishop 
Warren — with  you  and  also  with  me. 

And  so  in  regard  to  this  question  now  before  us  for  consideration. 
Let  us  take  care.  I  want  co-operation,  but  I  believe  that  we  are  not 
to  wait  for  union  to  commence  co-operation ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  that 
one  of  the  best  roads  to  union  is  .co-operation.  But  take  care;  there 
is  one  thing  that  must  be  held  sacred.  That  is  liberty.  Liberty!  I 
have  more  faith  in  that  than  in  all  of  your  rules  and  all  of  your  predeter- 
minations, 

I  have  seen  in  my  own  history  several  attempts  at  co-operation  which 
began  with  the  best-meant  restrictions  of  liberty  that  possibly  could  be. 
The  Methodists  were  to  withdraw  from  Samoa  and  to  go  upon  this  side 
of  a  line  to  Fiji,  and  the  Congregationalists  were  not  to  go  on  that  side 
of  the  line,  but  to  go  to  Samoa.  Better  intentions  never  existed  than  led 
to  that  arrangement  between  John  Williams  and  our  committee  ;  but 
more  contentions  sprang  out  of  it  than  out  of  all  the  so-called  competition 
that  ever  had  taken  place  in  the  South  Seas. 

So  I  have  seen  the  same  thing  attempted  again  and  again  and  again, 
and  you  will  never  get  co-operation  with  any  satisfaction  if  you  begin  by 
restricting  the  liberties  of  any  body.  You  are  founded  upon  the  same 
principle  of  conviction.  The  modern  principle  is  to  have  some  respect 
for  doubt,  but  great  intolerance  toward  conviction.  Now,  our  Churehes 
are  all  the  fruit  of  deep  conviction.  As  to  co-operation  and  competition, 
while  I  have  no  doubt  the  competition  of  Primitive  Methodism  was  often 
a  disadvantage  to  us  Wesleyans  in  England,  it  was  not  a  disadvantage  to 
the  Church  of  God. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  the  competition  of  the  Salvation  Army  is  a  great 
disadvantage  to  the  Methodists  and  different  denominations  in  different 
places ;  but  is  it  not  co-operation  with  the  whole  for  the  salvation  of  the 
world?     You  may  be  competing  with  one  and  co-operating  with  many. 

Let  us  therefore  take  care.  Press  for  co-operation.  Press  toward 
union.  Co-operation  is  much  easier  in  a  high  and  general  sphere  than  in 
a  local  one.  Aim  at  co-operation  in  general  first,  then  at  co-operation  in 
particulars.  You  will  not  get  co-operation  in  villages  until  you  get  or- 
ganic union,  and  do  not  despise  these  poor,  narrow  people  in  the  village, 
the  old  women  and  the  old  men. 

The  Rev.  J.  C.  Embrt,  D.D.,  of  the  African  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  addressed  the  Conference,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  I  was  desirous  of  saying  something  this  morning  on  the 
splendid  theory  of  church  unity  and  union ;  but  I  am  one  of  those  who 
are  somewhat  of  the  same  temperament  with  my  brother  who  spoke  a  few 
moments  ago — timidity — and  I  cannot  stand  the  rush  very  well. 

I  remember  when  we  were  in  London  in  1881,  at  our  general  gathering, 
that  venerable  man  Dr.  Osborn  told  vis  this,  that  in  his  pvizzle  as  to  what 
was  best  to  say  to  the  Conference  at  the  opening  session  he  consulted  with 
a  very  excellent  lady,  made  her  his  oracle,  and  she  advised  him  to  repeat 
the  memorable  words  of  Mr.  Wesley :  "What  hath  God  wrought? "  "So 
far,  very  well,"  said  Mr.  Osborn.  "What  next?"  He  said  she  studied  a 
moment,  and  then  she  added :  ' '  Well,  let  me  see.     What  will  he  do  for  us 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  157 

if  we  do  not  hinder  him  ?  "  I  have  never  forgotten  that  saying  of  the 
venerable  Dr.  Osborn ;  and  so,  my  friends,  I  rise  in  my  remarks  to  ob- 
serve that  our  Ahnighty  Father  is  working  out  for  us  even  greater  things 
in  the  near  future  than  he  has  done  in  the  past  if  we  do  not  interpose 
hinderances,  or,  perhaps,  better  still,  if  we  withdraw  our  hinderances. 

Now,  Dr.  Hartzell  a  moment  ago  was  speaking  of  what  had  been 
wrought  with  respect  to  the  emancipated  millions  in  the  South  during 
the  last  twenty-live  years.  We  are  witnesses  to  the  success  and  the 
joyful  work  wrought  by  the  various  denominations  of  Christians  among 
the  free  people  of  the  South — our  race.  We  rejoice  in  the  progress 
made 'and  the  good  work  done,  and  yet  we  are  constrained  to  say  in 
this  presence  that  we  believe  we  know  that  a  great  deal  more  might 
have  been  done  if  this  principle  of  co-operation  had  prevailed.  There 
has  been  every  thing  else  but  co-operation  in  the  work  of  rehabil- 
itating the  Church  among  the  colored  people  of  our  Southern  States. 
Our  councils  have  been  divided  in  that  behalf  from  the  beginning, 
and  we  can  but  pray  and  hope  that  the  sentiments  uttered  at  this 
Conference  may  be  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  for  us  with  respect  to 
their  work. 

There  was  a  thought  prevalent  among  us  right  after  our  unhappy  strife 
that  this  great  Methodist  Church,  the  mother  of  us  all  in  America,  would 
kindly  consent  to  afford  some  of  her  boundless  resources  to  her  weaker 
sisters  of  African  descent  to  carry  on  the  work  of  organizing  societies 
and  building  up  Methodism  among  our  people  of  the  South.  And  there 
were  those  prominent  in  place  and  influence  in  the  Church  who  thought 
well  of  the  idea.  But  for  some  reason  or  other  they  soon  changed  their 
notion,  and  no  more  was  heard  of  it. 

And  then  it  must  be  said,  also,  that  that  most  excellent  Church,  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  our  senior  sister  Methodist  branch, 
was  disposed  to  co-operate  with  us  in  the  matter  of  transferring  her  col- 
ored membership  to  our  Church.  In  many  instances  it  was  happily  done, 
but  in  the  process  of  time,  somehow  or  other,  she  changed  her  mind,  and 
so  it  is  we  are  found  to  have  almost  the  same  babel  of  confusion  in  col- 
ored Methodism  in  America  that  we  have  among  our  fairer  brethren. 

There  is  no  reason  for  division  among  us  but  the  common  one  that  may 
be  found  every-where — human  pride  and  human  vanity ;  and  the  sugges- 
tion of  our  eloquent  and  gifted  brother,  that  the  remark  had  been  made 
to  him  by  one  in  the  mother-country  that  there  was  needing  in  America 
a  few  prominent  funerals,  has  been  the  uppermost  thought  in  our  minds 
for  a  long  time.  But  somehow,  providentially,  prominent  funerals  among 
us  come  slowly. 

D.  Allison,  LL.D.,  of  the  Metliodist  Church,  Canada,  con- 
tinned  the  discussion  in  the  following  remarks : 

Mr.  President:  I  believe  that  Mr.  Hughes  was  largely  correct  in  the 
remarks  he  made  a  few  moments  ago  on  the  subject  of  this  discussion. 
If  it  is  desired  that  the  various  religious  denominations,  standing  entirely 
apart  from  one  another  in  their  history  and  their  conditions,  should  co- 
operate, certainly  the  co-operation  of  tliose  who  belong  to  one  Church, 
who  are  under  one  ecclesiastical  organization,  ought  to  be  more  effective 
and  beneficent. 

I  do  not  desire  to  prove  that  simple  declaration.  It  carries  its  own 
demonstration  with  it.  It  has  been  said  here  that  we  are  dealing  very 
largely  with  the  sentimental,  with  the  ideal,  with  that  which  is  a  mere 
dream.     We  should  also  consider  the  practical  side  of  this  question,  and 


158  THE  CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 

for  a  moment  or  two,  if  you  please,  I  would  like  to  call  your  attention 
thereto. 

I  venture  to  obtrude  my  humble  personality  upon  you  as  an  individual 
■who,  in  the  course  of  a  not  very  long  life,  has  belonged  to  live  entirely  dis- 
tinct Churches. 

I  was  born  and  baptized — and  I  shall  ever  regard  this  as  a  great  priv- 
ilege— I  was  born  and  baptized  in  that  Jerusalem  from  above  who  is  the 
mother  of  us  all.  In  my  early  manhood  it  pleased  the  parent  connection — 
the  British  Wesleyan  Conference — to  set  off  the  IVIethodism  of  eastern 
British  North  America  as  a  family  by  itself.  As  a  school-boy  I  well  remem- 
ber Dr.  Beecham,  the  agent  Avho  was  sent  over  to  attend  to  this  business, 
as  he  pronounced  his  benediction  in  a  most  fatherly  and  loving  manner 
upon  us.  Shortly  after  that  I  spent  three  or  four  years  as  a  student  in  tlie 
Wesleyan  University  at  Middletown,  and  during  those  years  I  had  the 
honor  of  being  an  accredited  member  of  the  great  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  Years  after,  in  1875,  the  spirit  of  grace  and  unity  was  so  poured 
out  from  on  high  on  the  Wesleyan  Conferences  of  Canada,  East  and  West, 
and  on  the  New  Connection  Conference,  as  to  bring  these  bodies  together 
in  absolute  unity,  not  only  of  spirit,  but  of  organization,  as  the  Methodist 
Church  of  Canada. 

The  intimation  has  been  given  that  our  Methodist  union  in  Canada  was 
the  direct  product  of  the  great  Ecumenical  Conference  of  1881.  But  the 
first  Canadian  Methodist  union,  as  will  thus  be  seen,  was  effected  several 
years  before  that  Conference  convened  in  London. 

Nine  years  after,  in  the  year  1883,  we  had  a  further  pouring  out  of  this 
spirit  of  union  and  charity  upon  us,  which  brought  into  one  body  and 
welded  together  as  one  compact  unit  and  entity  the  present  Methodist 
Church  located  in  Canada,  including  the  Methodist  Church  of  Canada, 
first  organized  in  1874,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Canada,  the 
Primitive  Methodist  Church  of  Canada,  and  the  Bible  Christian  Church 
of  Canada — all  those  names  have  gone,  and  we  are  now  known  as  the 
Methodist  Church  in  Canada. 

Now,  I  say — and  I  am  prepared  to  prove  it — that  in  aggressive  power, 
in  defensive  power,  when  the  time  shall  come  for  us  to  defend  any  thing 
that  we  hold  sacred,  the  power  of  the  Methodist  Church  in  Canada  is  im- 
mensely greater  than  was  the  power  of  the  parts  in  their  separate  state. 
It  has  been  quadrupled  by  the  union. 

If  any  one  asks  for  the  human  secret  or  explanation  of  the  welding  to- 
gether of  these  elements  of  a  long  divided  Methodism,  it  is  to  be  found 
in  the  fact  that  each  was  led  to  look  less  on  the  infinitesimal  idiosyncra- 
sies of  his  own  little  system,  and  more  on  the  grand  essentials  which  were 
held  by  all.  My  heart  sympathizes  with  the  yearning  for  further  and 
more  wide-spread  unifications  so  manifestly  present  in  this  assembly. 

The  Eev.  J.  M.  King,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  addressed  the  Conference,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President  and  Brethren :  While  I  am  on  the  platform  as  Secretary 
from  the  necessities  of  the  case,  I  am  a  meml)er  of  the  Conference  and 
want  the  privileges  of  the  Conference  in  an  occasional  speech. 

I  am  interested  in  this  subject  of  Christian  co-oi)eration,  and  I  want  to 
inject  a  single  thought  that  seems  to  me  has  not  been  sufficiently  empha- 
sized in  tlie  discussion  this  afternoon.  As  large  as  we  are  in  all  the 
branches  of  our  common  Methodism,  yet  we  must  not  forget  we  are 
not  the  only  Christian  Church  in  the  world.  I  want  to  make  a  plea  an 
instant  for  that  broader  co-operation  between  Christians  of  every  faith,  of 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  159 

every  denomination.  It  will  make  us,  as  Methodists,  a  great  deal  broader 
to  come  in  contact  in  co-operation  with  other  Churches. 

The  distinctive  differences  between  us  and  even  the  Calvinistic  branches 
of  the  Christian  Church  are  very  narrow  in  these  modern  times.  They 
have  the  same  aggressive  evangelistic  forces  that  we  have,  and  in  many  a 
place— not  only  in  the  smaller  towns,  but  in  the  cities— we  could  econo- 
mize our  forces  and  save  an  immense  waste  of  Christian  energy  by  not 
crossing  each  other's  lines. 

Much  has  been  accomplished  in  this  land  under  what  is  called  the  new 
advance  movement  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance— a  wondrous  work  for 
good  and  Christiauity,  where  by  family  to  family  visitation,  co-operating 
not  as  Churches,  but  as  individual  Christians  of  different  creeds,  they  are 
making  sure  that  the  Gospel  is  carried  to  every  home.  That  is  practical 
co-operation,  and  I  pray  God  that  Methodism  in  this  land  and  in  all  lands 
will  always  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  every  one  who  wants  to  ad- 
vance the  kingdom  of  Christ  in  definite  work  among  the  people. 

I  will  not  attempt  to  speak  for  the  other  side,  because  I  do  not  know 
their  opinions.  It  seems  to  me  that  we  need  a  greater  willingness  on  the 
part  of  Methodism  in  our  great  centers  of  population  to  co-operate  with 
the  great  undenominational  benevolences.  God  help  us  to  crowd  into 
places  where,  by  standing  heart  to  heart,  we  may  advance  the  interests  of 
co-operation. 

The  Rev.  T.  B.  Stephenson,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Wesleyan 
Methodist  Church,  made  the  following  remarks : 

I  would  not  have  intruded  myself  upon  the  meeting  to-day  but  for  the 
personal  appeal  which  has  been  addressed  to  me,  to  which  it  seems  court- 
eous I  should  make  some  reply. 

You  have  in  this  country  a  quality  of  which  we  do  not  hear  so  much 
abroad,  but  which  we  hope  we  have,  to  some  extent  at  least.  It  is  called 
"level-headeduess,"  and  it  appears  to  me  that  we  want  a  little  of  it  in 
this  matter,  for  it  is  very  valuable  in  an  enthusiastic  meeting  like  this, 
where  Ave  all  love  each  other  and  are  ready  to  fall  upon  each  other's  neck. 
Those  who  have  to  do  with  the  administration  of  church  affairs  are  per- 
fectly aware  that  there  are  practical  questions  in  reference  to  this  matter 
of  co-operation  which  demand  the  most  patient  consideration. 

The  question  of  finance  is  a  very  ugly  one,  not  at  all  very  poetical,  but 
one  which  cannot  be  overlooked.  There  are  also  many  questions  of  a  con- 
stitutional character  to  which  it  is  necessary  to  give  our  attention.  _  I  am 
constrained  to  say  that  I  do  not  think  the  whole  question  of  union  re- 
solves itself  into  a  question  of  a  little  more  or  a  little  less  religion. 
"  When  we  get  religion  enough,"  Brother  Hughes  says,  "  we  will  all  come 
together."  I  believe  that  that  is  not  an  accurate  putting  of  the  case.  I 
believe  that  to  put  it  thus  is  just  one  of  those  clever  ways  of  begging  the 
whole  question,  which  may  be  possible  for  a  genius  like  my  dear  friend, 
but  upon  which  plain,  simple  men  like  myself  cannot  venture. 

Now,  I  think  we  shall  have  to  come  to  union,  if  ever  we  reach  it,  prob- 
ably by  two  or  three  steps— co-operation  being  one,  federation,  perhaps,  be- 
ing another.  How  much  there  may  be  between  these  steps  it  is  not  possi- 
ble for  us  to  say  just  yet.  I  believe  we  are  thoroughly  one  in  desiring  a 
close  approximation.  I  believe  we  have  got  a  great  deal  of  the  spirit  of 
union,  more  than  we  ever  had  before;  and  to  get  the  spirit  of  union  is  the 
very  iirst  step  toward  the  realizing  of  it. 

But,  sir,  I  arose  because  a  personal  appeal  was  made  to  me.  Although 
I  have  no  authority  whatever  or  any  mandate  to  speak  for  my  Confer- 


160  THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 

ence — and  I  therefore  cannot  pledge  it  to  any  thing  T  may  now  utter — 
yet  I  am  quite  at  liberty  to  say  that  it  will  be  with  the  greatest  joy  to  me 
to  meet  my  brother  presidents  of  the  Eastern  Section,  and  if  possible  de- 
vise some  plan  by  which  one  further  step  in  the  direction  of  union  can  be 
taken — a  step  which  I  hope  will  be  so  wisely  and  carefully  taken  that  we 
shall  not  have  to  draw  back  from  it — a  step  which  I  trust  may  lead  on  to 
other  steps  until  in  God's  own  time  we  may  realize  the  fulfillment  of  all 
these  hopes  and  prayers,  and  by  which  the  Eastern  Section  of  our  great 
Methodism  may  be  united  together  as  it  never  has  been  before. 

It  seems  to  me  that  in  some  matters  the  Western  Section  of  the  Ecu- 
menical Conference  must  always  act  distinctly  from  the  Eastern  Section ; 
and  for  this  reason:  AVe  live  under  different  laws  and  have  to  deal  with 
great  public  questions  which  are  different,  inasmuch  as  they  arise  under 
different  political  constitutions ;  and  while  that  need  not  break,  as  I  trust 
it  will  not,  the  most  perfect  harmony  and  brotherly  kindness  and  co-opera- 
tion between  both  Sections,  yet  in  the  different  condition  of  things,  social 
and  political,  existing  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  and  the  other,  I  feel  con- 
fident there  is  a  certain  class  of  questions  on  which  each  section  must  act 
by  itself.  For  this  reason  I  trust  we  may  have  something — a  sort  of  half- 
way Ecumenical  Conference  for  the  Eastern,  and  perhaps  a  similar  gather- 
ing for  the  Western  Section.  We  cannot  meet  in  full  Ecumenical  Con- 
ference more  frequently,  but  if  we  could  have  somewhat  more  frequent 
sectional  meetings  we  might  be  thus  co-operating  for  very  important 
results. 

The  Rev.  D.  McKinley,  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church, 
continued  the  discussion,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President:  I  have  very  little  to  say,  nor  shall  I  say  that  little  long. 
I  have  been  very  much  pleased  with  the  discussion  of  the  Conference  this 
afternoon  on  the  subject  of   "  Christian  Co-operation,"   and  I  was  also 
pleased  with  the  tone  of  the  discussion  this  morning  on  the  kindred  sub- 
ject of  "  Christian  Unity."     Of  the  spirit,  the  principles,  and  the  condi- 
tions of  Christian  unity  we  have  definite  knowledge,  and  again  and  again 
all  that  is  necessary  and  essential  to  Christian  unity  has  been  stated  with 
much  fullness  and  force.     Oneness  with   Christ  is  essential  to  Christian 
unity,  and  where  there  is  such  a  unity  it  will  give  us  some  of  its  results 
of  Christian  union  and  Christian  co-operation.    Much  was  said  this  morn- 
ing and  much  has  been  said  this  afternoon  on  the  subject  of  Methodist 
union,  but  neither  the   essayists  nor  any  of  those  who  have  spoken  so 
well  on  the  subject  have  stated  or  even  hinted  at  what  shall  be  the  principles 
or  conditions  on  which  the  different  Methodist  Churches  of  Great  Britain 
shall  or  may  be  united.     Mr.  Hugh  Price  Hughes  has  told  us  that  he  has 
discussed  the  question  of  Methodist  union  on  a  thousand  platforms  in 
England,  and  it  may  be  that  the  desire  so  unmistakably  expressed  in  this 
Conference  is  the  result  of  his  advocacy.     Some  brother,  cluring  the  dis- 
cussion, said  that  we  should  approach  God  on  this  subject,  and  pray  him 
to  grant  us  the  blessing  of  union.     We  should  not   forget  that  such  a 
prayer,  as  well  as  some  other  prayers  which  we  offer,  must  be  answered 
by  ourselves.  •  The  matter  is  in  our  own  hands,  and  we  may  continue  to 
pray  until  the  day  of  doom,  but  there  will  be  no  Methodist  union  if  we 
do  not  agree  to  unite  and  decide  on  some  method  of  union.     It  was  a 
cause  of  joy  to  us  as  a  Conference  to  find  Dr.  Stephenson,  the  President 
of  the  British  Wesleyan  Conference,  responding  so  readily  to  the  appeal 
to  confer  with  the  presidents  of  the  other  bodies  of  Methoclists  in  England 
on  the  subject  of  Methodist  union.     And  it  is  my  hope  that  something 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  161 

may  be  done,  some  forward  step  may.,l)e  taken  to  bring  us  nearer,  if  not 
to  organic  union,  at  least  to  such  a  confederation  of  Churches  as  will  en- 
able us  to  co-operate  in  Christian  work.  I  cannot  see  any  hope  of  my 
good  brother,  Dr.  Reed,  of  China,  ever  obtaining  all  he  so  earnestly  de- 
sires for  China  until  there  is  a  united  Methodism.  But  union  shall  come. 
The  idea  which  struggled  for  and  found  existence  at  the  Reformation 
was  justification  by  faith ;  and  the  idea  which  is  struggling  for  birth  at 
the  jjresent  time  is  Christian  union ;  and  it  shall  sooner  or  later  be  real- 
ized, and  the  discussion  to  day  in  this  Conference  will  help  it  forward. 

The  Kev.  Bishop  K.  S.  Foster,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  made  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President :  I  have  never  in  my  life  so  regretted  that  I  have  not 
the  power  of  eloquence  as  I  do  at  this  moment.  The  discussion  of  the 
morning  and  the  discussion  of  this  afternoon  accords  with  every  sympathy 
in  my  nature.  I  have  to  confess  that  in  the  presence  of  an  occasion  of 
this  kind,  where  my  heart  is  stirred  within  mt%  and  where  I  have  been 
aroused  as  I  have  been  here  to-day,  I  am  rendered  almost  incompetent  to 
speak  at  all. 

Nothing  that  has  been  said  has  fallen  upon  my  ear  with  such  grateful 
effect  as  the  brief  sentence  of  Dr.  Stephenson,  that  he  would  so  far 
initiate  something  of  a  practical  kind  as  to  consult  with  the  variovis 
presidents  of  the  bodies  of  Methodism  in  England.  Would  that  we  had 
religion  enough  and  common  sense  enough  in  the  United  States  to  reach 
even  such  a  point  as  that ! 

If  organic  union  were  possible  there  must  be  no  question,  it  seems  to 
me,  in  any  mind  that  the  power  of  this  Methodism  of  ours  would  be  ten- 
fold if  it  were  possible  for  us  to  bring  ourselves  into  such  close  relations 
to  each  other  as  not  only  to  co-operate,  but  to  organize  and  systematize 
the  work  of  this  great  Methodism  of  America,  so  that  we  should  waste 
none  of  our  force,  but,  on  the  contrary,  utilize  every  bit  of  it  for  the  sal- 
vation of  the  world. 

I  do  not  know  how  soon  that  time  will  come.  I  have  been  praying  for 
it  for  twenty-five  years.  I  have  been  waiting  and  longing  for  twenty-five 
years.  I  represent  a  great  Church — the  great  fragment  or  fraction,  the 
greatest  fraction  of  Methodism  in  America — and  I  am  certain  that  the  sen- 
timent and  feeling  of  my  Church  for  at  least  twenty-five  years  has  been 
longing  for  the  time  to  come  when  something  could  be  done  that  would 
harmonize  the  movements  of  these  great  Methodist  bodies  in  the  United 
States,  and  when,  as  it  seems  to  me,  sir,  the  walls  of  separation  might 
fall  and  entirely  disappear. 

For  myself  I  know  of  no  reason — I  can  see  no  reason — I  am  unable  to 
find  a  reason — why  that  great  and  honored  branch  of  our  Methodism,  once 
united  with  us,  once  a  part  of  our  body,  dear  to  us  yet,  dear  as  it  ever 
was,  cherished  and  honored  and  loved  as  they  were  when  it  was  corporate 
with  us — I  say  I  can  see  no  reason  why  these  two  great  fragments  of  a 
once  united  Methodism  should  remain  longer  separate.  Others  may  see 
reasons.  I  am  not  able  to  find  them.  When  I  go  before  God,  when  I 
consult  my  conscience,  when  I  think  of  the  influence  that  arises  from  our 
separation,  and  when  I  think  of  the  influence  that  might  arise  from  our 
union,  I  can  find  no  reason  why  at  least  we  should  not  so  far  be  eye  to 
eye  as  to  come  together  like  brothers  well-beloved,  and  shake  each  other 
by  the  hand  and  look  each  other  in  the  eye  and  talk  to  each  other  out  of 
the  heart  and  pray  together  before  God  that  he  will  soon  send  upon  us 
wisdom,  so  that  in  some  way  the  deplored  separation  might  be  healed. 


162  THE    CHKISTIAN    CHURCH. 

and  that,  united  together,  we  might  take  possession,  as  we  are  able  to  do, 
of  the  North  and  of  the  South  of  this  great  land. 

Nothing  has  occurred  in  my  ecclesiastical  life  of  more  than  fifty  years 
that  has  given  me  so  much  hojie  and  so  much  comfort  as  the  spirit  I  see 
pervading  this  assembly  this  day.  I  hail  it.  I  believe  God  is  with  us.  I 
look  forward  to  the  time  that  is  near  approaching,  when  we  shall  draw 
more  nearly  together,  when  we  shall  absolutely  harmonize,  when  the 
scandal  shall  be  taken  from  us  in  the  great  heathen  world,  in  the  great 
mission  fields,  and  instead  of  having  separate  altars  and  separate  organi- 
zations, we  shall  be  able,  not  only  as  we  do  now,  to  feel  that  we  are  one, 
but  to  work  as  one  in  all  branches  of  our  Church. 

I  believe  it  is  in  the  order  of  God,  and  I  pray  that  it  may  soon  come ; 
and  I  beseech  my  brothers  in  all  these  branches  of  God's  Church,  let  us 
try  to  reach  that  period. 

The  Eev.  J.  C.  Davison,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  concluded  the  discussion,  as  follows : 

Mr.  Chairman :  One  speaker  said  a  moment  ago  that  he  had  traveled 
overland  three  thousand  miles  to  reach  the  seat  of  this  Ecumenical  Con- 
ference. I,  sir,  have  come  by  sea  and  land  three  times  three  thousand 
miles  to  be  present  with  you  on  this  occasion ;  and,  sir,  with  Bishop  Fos- 
ter I  may  say  my  heart  has  been  greatly  stirred  as  I  have  listened  to  the 
discussion  of  the  topics  before  us  to-clay.  In  the  land  whence  I  have 
come  there  are  left  behind  a  great  host  of  Methodist  Christians  who  are 
praying  for  this  assembly,  that  influences  for  good  emanating  from  here 
may  return  in  abundant  blessings  upon  God's  work  in  the  land  of  the 
"Rising  Sun."  There  are,  sir,  five  branches  of  American  Methodism 
represented  in  Japan.  Among  these  we  already  have  the  essential  unity 
referred  to  in  the  discussion  of  this  morning's  topic.  What  we  further 
need  is  organic  union.  With  us  in  that  land  co-operation  practically 
means  union  even  to  the  extent  of  independence  that  union  may  be  se- 
cured. 

It  was  said  with  rejoicing  this  morning  that  Methodism  in  Canada  was 
one;  it  was  hoped  it  might  soon  be  so  in  England;  and  the  same  sentiment 
was  expressed  in  regard  to  the  United  States.  Now  these  are  severally 
independent  of  each  other,  and  wisely  so  from  national  considerations — 
an  indication  that  independence  for  the  coming  organic  union  of  Method- 
ism in  Japan  is  not  an  idle  dream.  And,  sir,  the  main  thought  I  wish  to 
emphasize  to-day  is  the  importance  of  early  action  before  precedents 
already  established  shall  ripen  into  a  policy  that  may  prove  extremely 
embarrassing  in  time  to  come. 

There  has  already  been  not  a  little  waste  from  overlapping  and  conse- 
quent duplication  of  energy  on  several  lines.  Of  the  five  Methodisms  in 
Japan  the  only  reason  that  each  has  not  its  own  theological  school  in 
full  bloom  is  that  some  are  not  yet  financially  able  to  support  the  same. 

Dr.  Leonard  has  called  attention  to  the  embarrassments  to  co-operation 
in  this  land  arising  from  peculiar  conditions  in  certain  localities,  and  these 
are  fairly  well  appreciated  by  most  of  us  here;  but  I  want  to  insist  that 
we  avoid  the  unwisdom,  not  to  say  the  crime,  of  fostering  like  conditions 
where  they  do  not  now  exist.  The  evil  of  several  weak  churches  in  coun- 
try villages  and  the  smaller  towns  was  also  pointed  out ;  and  be  the  cause 
of  their  existence  ecclesiastical  prejudice,  political  animosity,  or  wliatever 
else,  each  must  defray  the  expense  incidental  to  the  maintenance  of  its 
own  organization.  But  I  implore  you  to  consider  if  it  is  not  high  time 
that  concerted  action  be  taken  to  prevent  the  repetition  of  this  folly  in 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  163 

heathen  lands,  and  that  at  the  expense  of  the  benevolences  of  the  Church 
at  large;  and  not  only  so,  but  the  added  crime  of  entailing  upon  our  mis- 
sion churches  for  generations  to  come  a  burden  impossible  to  be  borne 
when  help  from  abroad  is  withdrawn ! 

May  God  grant  us  the  wisdom  and  grace  to  avoid  perpetuating  in  for- 
eign lands  the  evils  that  have  been  among  our  greatest  embarrassments  at 
home. 

Prior  to  adjournment  representatives  of  the  various  English 
bodies  spoke  in  response  to  the  invitation  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Stephenson,  as  follows : 

Rev.  M.  P.  Myers,  of  the  United  Methodist  Free  Church,  said :  Mr. 
President :  I  have  listened  to  the  discussion  this  afternoon  with  a  great 
amount  of  interest.  Having  had  a  long  experience  in  Methodism,  for 
years  I  have  been  under  the  impression  that  something  ought  to  be  done 
to  bring  British  Methodists  together.  That  has  been  my  conviction  and 
the  subject  of  my  prayer  for  a  long  time.  I  was  not  acquainted  with 
the  object  of  Brother  Reclfern  in  appealing  to  the  president  of  the  Meth- 
odist Wesleyan  Conference,  but  the  president  has  responded,  and  his 
feeling  I  believe  to  be  universal  in  our  Church.  All  our  leading  ministers 
and  laymen — and  of  course  the  little  ones  will  follow — all  our  leading 
ministers  and  laymen  are  anxious  to  wipe  out  the  blots  and  unite.  They 
need  tmion,  and  I  am  very  glad  that  Dr.  Stephenson  has  thrown  down 
some  proposition,  and  I,  as  president  of  our  body,  beg  to  say  that  we  re- 
.spond  with  all  our  heart  and  with  all  our  might  to  further  that  grand 
Christian  object,  the  union  of  Methodism  in  England. 

Rev.  H.  T.  Marshall,  of  the  Methodist  New  Connexion,  said:  Mr. 
President :  I  desire  only  one  minute ;  for,  like  many  of  us,  my  heart  is  too  full 
for  utterance.  I  just  wish  to  say  this:  As  the  president  of  one  of  the  Meth- 
odist bodies  I  reach  out  my  heart  and  my  hand  to  Dr.  Stephenson,  and  I 
do  with  all  fervor  and  earnestness  say  that  I  believe  he  has  struck  a  key- 
note in  this  Conference  that  will  echo  through  the  whole  of  Eastern  and 
surely  through  the  whole  of  Western  Methodism ;  for  in  this  we  are  one. 
I  believe,  sir,  that  to-day  will  be  historical  in  the  annals  of  Methodism. 
I  need  not  say  more.  We  grasp  hands  with  President  Stephenson, 
and  I  believe,  our  hearts  being  one,  the  great  bodies  of  Methodism  will 
soon  be  unified. 

Rev.  Joseph  Ferguson,  D.D.,  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church,  said: 
I  should  like  to  say,  Mr.  President,  as  the  chairman  or  president  of  one  of 
the  Methodist  bodies,  that  I  cannot  commit  my  Church  by  any  thing  I 
may  say,  for  I  represent  the  democracy  very  largely ;  but  I  am  prepared 
to  say  this,  in  our  private  circles  as  well  as  in  our  committees  we  are  thor- 
oughly in  favor  of  not  only  ordinary  fellowship — we  have  some  dissension 
— but  as  a  whole  we  are  in  favor  of  organic  union.  I  know  that  there  will 
be  great  joy  in  our  Church  when  this  proposition  is  heard.  In  spirit  I 
think  we  are  one  with  Dr.  Stephenson  and  my  friend  Dr.  Myers,  and  when 
Dr.  Stephenson  will  set  the  time  I  shall  be  glad  to  listen  to  what  all  my 
friends  have  to  say ;  and  I  do  think  that  if  we  cannot  go  to  organic  union 
we  might  formulate  ourselves  into  something  like  a  federation,  and  so 
make  that  a  step  to  organic  union  itself.  I  have  been  greatly  delighted 
with  the  spirit  of  the  Conference  to-day  and  have  felt  special  inspiration ; 
and  I  hope  and  believe  that  instead  of  there  being  a  divided  Methodism 
there  will  be  a  Methodism  of  union. 


164  THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 

Rev.  F.W.  Bourne,  of  the  Bible  Christian  Church,  said :  Mr.  President :  I 
can  heartily  respond  to  what  all  my  brethren  have  said  with  regard  to  the 
general  proposition  Dr.  Stephenson  has  submitted,  and  I  may  say  that  I  feel 
a  peculiar  joy  in  this.  A  good  many  years  ago  I  elaborated  a  scheme  in 
some  of  our  Methodist  papers  by  which  a  kind  of  federation  might  be 
established ;  but  notliing  good  was  realized.  I  went  forth  weeping,  then 
sowing  the  seed,  and  I  have  felt  during  these  years  that  that  seed  would 
never  spring  up ;  but  I  think  there  is  some  reason  to  hope  that  I  may, 
with  others,  live  to  come  again  rejoicing,  bringing  some  sheaves  of  a 
united  Methodism  with  me. 

Rev.  Thomas  Bromage,  of  the  Wesleyau  Reform  Union,  said :  Mr.  Presi- 
dent: I  should  like  to  say  a  word.  As  President  of  theWesleyan  Reform 
Union  I  represent  the  last  breach  which  was  made  in  Wesleyan  Methodism. 
Nevertheless,  I  shall  be  pleased  to  meet  Dr.  Stephenson,  with  the  other 
presidents,  and  sincerely  hope  that  we  may  be  able  to  recommend  some- 
thing at  least  of  Methodist  federation  if  not  of  organic  union. 

Mr.  Thomas  Worthington,  of  the  Independent  Methodist  Church, 
said:  Mr.  President:  I  wish  to  say,  as  one  of  the  presidents,  that  Dr. 
Stephenson's  invitation,  so  heartily  given,  will  be  as  heartily  responded 
to  by  myself  when  the  time  comes, 

Kev.  J.  C.  Embry,  D.T>.,  of  the  African  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  also  spoke  as  follows  on  co-operation  and  organic 
union : 

Mr.  President:  There  has  been  a  circular  already  issued  by  members 
representing  the  various  denominations  of  colored  people  inviting  us  who 
are  in  America  to  a  conference  in  this  place  immediately  on  the  adjourn- 
ment of  this  Ecumenical  Conference,  with  a  view  to  considering  means  of 
co-operation  and  possibly  organic  union.  I  believe  there  is  general  assent 
to  that,  and  we  expect  to  spend  two  or  three  days  here  with  that  in  view. 

The  session  then  closed  with  singing,  and  with  the  benedic- 
tion by  Bishop  H.  "W.  Warren,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS.  165 


FOURTH  BAY,  Saturday,  October  10,  1891. 


TOPIC : 
THE  CHURCH  AND  SCIENTIFIC  THOUGHT. 

THE  Conference  opened  at  10  o'clock  A.  M.,  the  Eev.  Will- 
iam Arthur,  M.A.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church, 
in  the  chair.  Hymn  622  was  sung;  the  Eev.  A.  S.  Hunt, 
D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  read  the  twenty- 
eii^hth  chapter  of  Job  ;  and  the  Eev.  John  Wakefield,  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  Canada,  led  the  Conference  in  prayer. 
The  Journal  of  the  sessions  of  the  third  day  was  read  and 
approved. 

The  Eev.  J.  M.  King,  D.D.,  read  the  titles  of  the  following 
resolutions,  and  they  were  referred  to  the  Business  Committee  : 

1.  A  resolution  concerning  an  address  to  the  members  of  the  Methodist 
Churches  throughout  the  world. 

2.  A  resolution  on  the  closing  of  the  Columbian  Exposition  on  Sun- 
day. 

3.  Resolutions  in  reference  to  an  Ecumenical  Methodist  Missionary- 
Council. 

4.  A  resolution  of  thanks. 

5.  A  resolution  on  the  appointment  of  a  general  Foreign  Missionary 

Council. 

6.  A  resolution  relating  to  the  finishing  of  the  reading  of  essays. 

7.  Resolutions  on  the  erection  of  a  Wesley  statue  in  the  city  of  Wash- 
ington. 

The  Eev.  J.  M.  King,  D.D.,  presented  the  following  report 
of  the  Business  Committee,  which  was  adopted  : 

1.  The  Conference  is  requested  to  direct  that  the  prayer  at  the  opening 
of  each  session  be  made  from  the  platform. 

2.  The  Conference  is  recommended  to  fix  the  order  of  adjournment  for 
the  afternoon  sessions  at  half  past  four  o'clock  on  days  when  there  are 
three  sessions,  and  at  five  o'clock  ou  days  when  there  are  two  sessions. 


166  THE    CHURCH    AND    SCIENTIFIC    THOUGHT. 

The  following  resolution  of  sympathy  with  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Antliff,  D.D.,  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church,  was  reported 
from  the  Business  Committee  to  the  Conference : 

This  Ecumenical  Conference  learns  with  regret  that  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Antliff,  D.D.,  the  senior  representative  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church 
elected  to  this  Conference,  after  landing  on  this  continent,  is  prevented 
from  fulfilling  his  duties  by  serious  illness;  hereby  expresses  its  deep 
sympathy  with  him  in  his  affliction ;  and  trusts  that  in  the  providence  of 
God  he  may  be  restored  to  health  and  to  the  service  of  the  Church. 

The  Rev.  Joseph  Ferguson,  D.D.,  was  requested  by  the 
Conference  to  communicate  this  action  to  Dr.  Antliff. 

The  appointed  topic  of  the  day  was  at  this  point  taken  up. 
The  following  essay  on  "  The  Influence  of  Modern  Scientific 
Progress  on  Religious  Thought,"  by  Percy  W.  Bunting,  M.A., 
of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church,  was,  in  Mr.  Bunting's  ab- 
sence, read  by  Mr.  J.  Bamford  Slack,  B.A.,  of  the  same 
Church : 

In  obeying  the  instructions  of  the  British  Committee  to  write  a  paper 
for  the  Ecumenical  Conference  of  Washington  on  "  The  Influence  of  Sci- 
entific Thought  on  Religion,"  I  do  not  affect  to  have  had  any  training 
either  in  science  or  theology.  I  have  less  acquaintance  with  either  subject 
than  many  general  readers,  and  I  throw  on  the  committee  the  entire  re- 
sponsibility for  the  existence  of  these  pages.  All  I  can  do  with  the  most 
obedient  mind  is  to  state  briefly  the  thoughts  on  this  great  subject  w^hich 
have  come  to  a  casual  reader  of  other  men's  papers  bearing  on  it. 

When  we  speak  of  the  influence  of  scientiflc  thought  we  all  mean  the 
great  theory  of  evolution,  which  has  changed  not  only  our  thoughts,  but 
our  methods  of  thinking,  and  has  transferred  both  science  and  theology  to 
a  new  plane.  Speaking  broadly,  the  former  system  of  ideas  was  statical ; 
it  sought  to  formulate  the  constitution  of  nature  and  man,  conceived  as 
working  in  certain  fixed  orbits,  according  to  certain  established  rules. 
The  newer  system  deals  with  nature  and  man  conceived  as  impelled  as  a 
whole  along  a  certain  order  of  progress  toward  a  future  end ;  it  is  dynam- 
ical, and  is  concerned  not  so  much  with  what  is  as  with  what  is  to  be. 

In  order  to  take  this  view  it  is  not  necessary  ^o  adopt  a  particular  theory 
of  the  methods  or  the  limitations  of  evolution.  Natural  selection,  sportive 
variation,  acquired  habits,  struggle  for  life  may  have  this  or  that  range 
in  the  product  of  new  species.  The  evolutionary  process  may  prevail 
within  certain  bounds  or  may  be  held  universal,  absolute,  all-explaining. 
In  working  up  to  man  there  may  or  may  not  be  gaps  to  be  bridged  over 
only  by  the  hypothesis  of  immediate  creative  volition  at  the  point  where  or- 
ganic life  starts  from  inanimate  matter,  or  where  the  spiritual  life  is 
breathed  into  the  physical  organism. 


ESSAY    OF    PERCY    W.   BUNTING.  167 

What  is  important  is  the  broad  view  of  progress  by  develojDmeut  which 
has  given  a  new  mold  to  thought. 

I  may,  therefore,  pass  by  a  variety  of  deeply  interesting  questions  which 
occupy  scientific  men  and  which  often  agitate  theologians.  To  a  plain  man 
it  is  not  to  say :  ' '  Evolution  is  not  proved ;  even  if  proved,  it  is  only  shown 
to  affect  certain  departments  of  nature ;  only  extreme  men  carry  it  into 
psychology  and  ethics ;  the  outlines  of  orthodox  faith  are,  therefore,  safe 
and  sound,  and  as  religious  men  we  will  get  up  science  and  fight  for  mod- 
erate views."  True  it  is,  there  are  extreme  views  and  extreme  men  of 
science.  Some  are  speculative  fanatics;  some  are  biassed  by  a  positive  an- 
tipathy to  theology  if  not  to  religion ;  some  are  crochetty  and  pugnacious ; 
some  are  better  at  controversy  than  at  scientific  induction,  and  mistake 
rhetoric  for  argument.  But  in  all  the  turmoil  and  all  the  per^jlexity,  what 
the  religious  man  seeks  is  a  secure  foundation  on  which  faith  may  rest 
pending  the  strife.  Suppose  the  extreme  view  of  the  range  and  sweep  of 
evolution  to  turn  out,  in  the  progress  of  thought,  to  be  true ;  suppose  it  to 
be  a  universal  method,  the  master-key  of  nature.  Where,  then,  are  the 
foundations  of  the  Christian  faith  ?  This  is  what  we  want  to  know.  If 
evolution  be  a  revelation  of  a  fundamental  thought  of  the  God  of  nature, 
how  stands  the  kingdom  of  grace? 

I  must  distribute  the  answers  which  suggest  themselves  to  me  briefly 
under  several  heads.  They  commit  no  one  but  myself.  I  do  not  think 
they  represent  average  thought  in  Britain ;  but  I  am  inclined  to  believe 
that  they  are  something  like  a  sketch  of  the  position  of  the  more  advanced 
and  reflective  minds  in  my  country. 

1.  As  to  God  the  first  cause.  Some  dozen  years  ago  it  seemed  as  if 
theism  was  about  to  suffer  a  temporary  defeat  in  England.  Scientific 
agnosticism  was  much  tempted,  under  the  lead  of  Professor  Clifford  and 
others,  to  take  the  offensive,  and  preach  downright,  positive  atheism.  At 
the  moment  of  greatest  audacity  the  attack  suddenly  failed.  This  event 
has  not  been  completely  explained.  We  may  perhaps  say  Afflavit  Beus. 
I  think  the  world  of  thovightful  agnostics — not  all  so  cheerful  in  their  re- 
ligion of  denial  as  Mr.  Clifford — looked  over  the  precipice  and  recoiled. 
I  once  heard  a  learned  and  observant  German  say  that  the  Teutonic  mind 
could  not  stand  atheism — it  went  mad.  Whether  this  is  true  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  or  not,  I  do  not  know ;  perhaps  it  is  with  us  rather  a  bal- 
ance of  common  sense  which  refuses  to  be  pushed  too  far  in  any  one 
direction.  But  so  it  is.  It  has  been  discovered  that  evolution  itself  pos- 
tulates something  out  of  which  to  evolve  other  tl)ings,  and  also  an  evolv- 
ing force ;  that  science  only  carries  you  by  easy  steps  back  to  primordial 
matter  and  force  of  which  it  can  give  no  explanation ;  that  the  more  elab- 
orate the  evolution  the  more  overwhelming  the  evidence  of  the  directing 
influence  of  reason — that  is,  of  mind — and  that  you  are  left  with  what  al- 
most amounts  to  a  scientific  demonstration  of  the  existence  of  God,  the 
designer  and  elaborator  of  this  wonderful  universe,  intelligible  only  to 
the  children  who  are  made  in  his  image  to  learn  his  thoughts  and  ways. 
I  need  not  dweU  on  this  point.    The  American  writer,  Fiske,  has  best  pre- 


168  THE    CHURCH    AND    SCIENTIFIC    THOUGHT. 

sented    evolutionary    theism;    at  all  events,   science  has  nothing  to  say 
against  it. 

2.  It  does  not  appear  to  me,  again,  that  the  voice  of  science  is  in  favor 
of  the  goodness  of  God.  The  idea  of  a  creator  of  benevolent  purpose  but 
limited  powers  is,  after  all,  an  eccentricity  in  our  day.  Some  2:»owerful 
minds  have  argued  for  it,  but  not  heartily;  neither  Mill  nor  Sir  James 
Stephen  talks  as  if  he  believed  it.  The  supreme  goodness  is  an  intui- 
tion of  the  heart ;  the  argument  for  it  rests  upon  that  intuition ;  the  mind 
and  heart  both  resent  permanent  chaos  and  desolation ;  the  healthy  soul 
flowers  into  belief  in  the  good  God.  Science  would  rather  teach  to  the 
contrary ;  the  morality  of  nature,  below  man,  is  very  mixed,  and  those  who 
try  to  bring  sub-human  into  human  morality,  to  learn  the  character  of  God 
from  physics  and  biology,  are  apt  to  come  to  grief.  Witness  the  fascinat- 
ing, but,  as  I  venture  to  think,  the  radically  unsound,  book  of  Professor 
Drummond.  God's  moral  character  is  to  be  learned  from  his  moral 
creatures;  from  the  characters  he  has  made,  not  from  his  stones,  vege- 
tables, and  beasts.  On  this  head  modern  science  has  nothing  more  to  say 
than  had  the  older  studies  in  natural  theology.  Some  rather  shallow 
optimism  has  been  discredited,  and  on  the  other  hand  the  exhibition  of 
progressive  purpose  perhaps  tends  to  reconcile  the  heart  in  some  degree  to 
the  long  process  of  suffering  and  wickedness ;  but,  on  the  whole,  the  ques- 
tion of  tlie  fatherhood  of  God  seeks  and  can  receive  little  or  no  light  from 
any  part  of  his  creation  short  of  man. 

So  far  as  Ave  can  see  the  laws  of  the  natural  and  the  spiritual  worlds 
differ  too  widely  for  comparison.  Butler's  brilliant  argumentum  ad 
hominem  was  good  enough  for  the  Deists ;  but  deism  is  no  more. 

3.  On  the  moral  nature  and  immortality  of  man  science,  again,  has  so 
little  to  teach  that  its  modern  developments  leave  the  matter  much  where 
they  found  it.  The  belief  in  immortality  rests  ultimately  on  the  belief  in 
the  fatherhood  of  God.  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  liv- 
ing ;  the  two  thoughts  stand  or  fall  together.  The  hope  of  immortality 
has  never  rested  on  a  physical  basis ;  what  modern  thought  has  done  has 
rather  been  to  smooth  away  the  physical  difficulties  in  its  way. 

The  conception  of  an  underlying  universe,  out  of  whose  atoms  the 
atoms  of  our  own  are  compounded,  suggests  a  possible  physical  basis  of 
another  material  state,  and  presents  in  scientific  terms  St.  Paul's  doctrine 
of  the  spiritual  body.  And  recent  research  surely  tends  to  encourage  the 
belief  in  a  direct  action  of  one  will  upon  another. 

Again,  the  phenomena  of  consciousness  at  all  events  have  not  yet  been  ac- 
counted for  on  materialistic  grounds ;  so  that  when  science  has  said  its  say 
there  is  still  room  left  for  some  further  order  of  being.  Further,  whereas 
the  old  conception  of  immortality  demanded  the  reunion  of  the  same  par- 
ticles to  make  the  same  material  body  over  again  in  another  world,  a  more 
scientific  view  places  the  identity  of  the  body  not  in  the  identity  of  all 
its  molecules,  but  in  the  permanence  of  the  organic  formula,  according  to 
which  it  is  born  and  grows ;  thus  cutting  behind  many  old-fashioned  diffi- 
culties and  transferring  the  question  of  identity  to  a  quasi-spiritual  sphere. 


ESSAY    OF    PERCY    W.    BUNTING.  169 

Or  this  question,  then,  the  effect  of  modern   science  fairly  understood 
is,  on  the  whole,  friendly. 

But  I  must  admit,  on  the  other  hand,  that  indirectly  modern  science  is 
commonly  so  interpreted  as  to  be  positively  hostile.  The  modern  mind 
has  so  steeped  itself  in  science  as  to  blunt,  to  no  small  extent,  its  spiritual 
faculties.  Agnosticism  appears  to  rest  upon  the  idea  that  nothing  is  to 
be  believed  which  does  not  rest  on  experiment  and  induction.  The  ques- 
tion is  not  one  of  science,  but  of  philosophy ;  it  concerns  the  nature  of 
knowledge.  The  brilliant  success  of  discovery  adds  nothing  to  the  argu- 
ment of  this  question ;  it  may  drug  the  mind,  it  cannot  destroy  the  prac- 
tical reason, 

I  have  not  the  temerity  to  believe  that  the  profound  problem  of  free- 
will can  come  much  nearer  to  a  solution.  It  is  closely  connected  with 
the  intuition  of  immortality.  The  reasoning  is  instinctive ;  if  myself  is  a 
real  self  it  will  endure.  But  some  of  the  priests  of  science  have  endeav- 
ored to  rule  out  the  consciousness  of  free-will  by  a  theory  of  automatism. 
We  here,  at  least,  are  agreed  that  this  is  an  utter  fallacy. 

It  only  means  that  the  phenomena  of  consciousness  and  of  will  are  not 
explicable  by  physical  laws.  Mathematicians  are  familiar  with  problems 
which  in  an  arithmetical  calculus  are  inexplicable  and  even  irrational, 
but  which  yield  to  the  treatment  of  a  superior  calculus  framed  by  higher 
processes  of  thought ;  they  are  even  glad  to  recognize  and  make  practical 
use  of  expressions  which  are  irrational  according  to  all  known  systems  of 
reckoning. 

In  the  days  of  a  mechanical  theory  of  the  mind,  when  the  formula  was 
Mhil  ill  iyitellectu  quod  non  jjrius  in  sensu,  Leibnitz  answered,  Msl  intel- 
lectus  i2)se.  Now  that  biology  has  enlarged  the  powers  of  science,  and  a 
fresh  attempt  is  made  to  bring  the  fundamental  qualities  of  the  soul 
wdthin  its  grasp,  the  same  answer  may  be  made.  And  when  it  is  said 
that  the  will  is  a  mere  resultant  of  motives  which  appeal  to  the  reason 
and  passions,  the  will  would  seem  to  prove  its  freedom  by  again  eluding 
the  analysis. 

May  it  not  be  said  that  the  effort  to  explain  free-will  is  an  unscientific 
attempt  to  express  the  higher  qualities  in  terms  of  the  lower ;  that  by  the 
very  terms  of  the  theorem  we  are  supposed  to  state  will  in  terms  of  intel- 
lect, and  that  such  an  enterprise  is  necessarily  abortive?  If  it  be  asked 
on  what  grounds  the  power  of  will  can  be  deemed  higher  than  that  of 
intelligence,  is  it  unsound  to  argue  that  evolution  itself  tends  to  make  us 
so  judge?  If  the  faculties  of  men  have  been  historically  developed  in 
orderly  succession,  would  it  not  appear,  from  a  survey  of  this  progressive 
growth,  that  there  is  a  real  scale  of  lower  and  higher,  and  in  such  a  scale 
do  not  the  governing  powers  of  consciousness  and  will  stand  higher  than 
those  of  mere  intelligence?     I  do  not  know ;  but  I  suggest  the  question. 

And  if  this  be  so,  are  we  not  brought  to  the  point  that  the  highest,  and 
indeed  the  only,  authority  on  the  question  of  the   freedom  of  the  will  is 
the  conscious  will  itself?     Follow  it  one  step  further.     The  logical  prob- 
lem, co-existence  of  a  supreme  all-determining  will  with  a  free  subordi- 
14 


170  THE    CHURCH    AND    SCIENTIFIC    THOUGHT. 

nate  will,  may  be  insoluble ;  but  carry  it  into  the  higher  court,  where  in 
solemn  state  these  two  august  powers  stand  face  to  face,  each  conscious 
of  the  other,  and  the  difficulty  has  vanished. 

The  will  of  man  knows  itself  to  be  at  its  best  in  loving  and  free  sub- 
mission to  the  will  of  God,  and  the  will  of  God  completes  the  freedom  of 
the  will  of  man  by  the  revelation  of  love. 

4.  I  come  next  to  the  spiritual  history  of  man,  the  progressive  revela- 
tion of  the  Father.  It  is  here  that  we  most  clearly  come  upon  the  gnat 
revolution  which  has  taken  place  in  modern  thought.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  in  this  paper  I  am  assuming  the  truth  to  the  fullest  extent  of 
the  evolutionary  theory.  In  this  view  mankind  have  come  into  the  world 
by  gradual  process,  developed  out  of  creatures  infra-human,  l^ut  possess- 
ing already  premonitions  of  intellectual  and  even  moral  qualities  in  the 
form  of  instincts.  Consciousness,  volition,  conscience  are  produced  grad- 
ually, side  by  side  with  a  growing  complexity  of  physiological  structure, 
which  is  probably  necessary  to  their  manifestation,  and  the  interaction  of 
society  develops  ethics  and  perhaps  religion. 

This  tlieory  seems  to  take  the  breath  away  from  some  of  us.  If  duty  is 
a  slow  deposit  of  tribal  opinion  and  religion  a  growth  from  the  worship 
of  the  ghosts  of  ancestors,  where  do  God  and  truth  come  in?  Where  are 
sin  and  redemption  in  this  elaborate  process  of  education?  Well,  the 
theory  of  ghost-worshij)  seems  crude  enough,  as  are  most  first  guesses. 
But  take  the  ereneral  thought  that  there  is  a  natural  order  in  which  all 
these  transcendent  powers  of  man  have  been  slowly  developed.  If  we 
can  perceive  the  growth  of  mind  and  soul  from  child  to  man,  accom- 
panying the  physical  growth,  the  increase  of  wisdom  and  stature,  and 
still  believe  in  the  reality  of  the  soul,  where  is  the  difficulty  in  accepting 
the  same  view  for  the  race?  There  is  a  spirit  in  mankind  as  well  as  in 
man.  The  germ  of  all  the  future  man  is  in  the  child;  yes,  and  why  not 
in  his  father,  too?  If  tlie  race  be  not  a  whole,  what  becomes  of  the  the- 
ology of  St.  Paul,  and  what  of  the  atonement? 

In  fact  the  evolutionary  theory  of  religion  is  in  strict  accordance  with 
very  much  that  we  are  accustomed  to  believe.  God  speaks  at  sundry 
times  and  in  divers  manners,  both  times  and  manners  being  in  his  own 
order  of  consecutive  teaching.  The  law  was  our  schoolmaster  to  bring  us 
to  Christ.  Certain  races  have  throughout  been  selected  and  trained — no 
doubt  in  order  that  they  may  teach  the  rest.  Evolution  throws  the 
whole  history  into  a  natural  perspective,  and  once  frankly  accepted  as 
the  revealed  method  of  divine  education  makes  much  that  was  to  our 
fathers  difficult  to  us  easy.  Of  course  the  earlier  mortality  was  de- 
fective, so  is  our  own. 

The  ethics  of  the  time  of  Joshua  were  not  further  removed  from  our 
own  than  ours  are  from  what  will  appear  when  Christianity  has  had  a 
few  more  centuries  to  run.  But  will  any  evolutionary  theory  stand  with 
the  facts  of  sin  and  redemption  ?  Are  not  these  at  least  hostile  to  all  ideas 
of  growth  ? 

Well,  the  fall,  I  admit,  does  not  readily  fall  in  with  any  evolutionary 


ESSAY    OF    PERCY    W.    BUKTING.  171 

scheme.  And  yet  the  biblical  view  is  that  the  religious  education  of 
man  began  instantly  after  the  fall,  and  that  redemption  in  the  decree  of 
God  preceded  the  actual  creation.  The  fall,  therefore,  has  a  place  in  a 
divine  order,  and  though  there  is  no  satisfactory  theory  of  sin,  it  is  some- 
thing to  be  able  to  perceive  that  it  has  its  place  in  the  production  of 
virtue.  The  problem  of  evil  is  confessedly  insoluble  on  any  theory ;  but 
I  do  not  see  that  evolution  makes  it  more  hopeless.  The  account  of  the 
fall  postulates  that  man  was  made  upright  but  untested.  The  fall  repre- 
sents the  moment  which  on  the  evolutionary  view  must  have  come  when 
his  moral  consciousness  awoke  to  the  sense  of  guilt. 

The  circumstances,  possibly  the  whole  story,  may  be  parabolic;  the 
actual  fact  of  the  first  guilt  must  have  occurred.  The  question  is  whether 
the  account  in  Genesis  demands  a  lofty  as  opposed  to  a  merely  innocent 
moral  state  in  the  first  pair.  If  it  does,  it  must,  I  think,  be  admitted  that 
revelation  on  this  point  is  only  partial  and  leaves  much  to  be  explained ; 
and  at  all  events  that  the  reconciliation  of  the  narrative  with  a  complete 
evolutionary  theory  is  not  attained. 

Redemption  stands  with  sin;  but  as  its  operation  in  human  history 
commences  after  the  fall,  it  is  not  inconsistent  with  evolution ;  indeed,  it 
is  distinctly  a  gradual  process;  it  constitutes  the  history  of  mankind. 

5.  I  pass  rapidly  on  to  the  one  other  first  rate  problem :  the  Person  of 
Christ.  How  is  it  consistent  with  any  doctrine  of  gradual  development 
that  any  one  specimen  of  the  race  should  be  unique  ?  This  problem  also 
must  be  considered  unsolved,  though  it  does  not  seem  so  far  from  solu- 
tion as  does  that  of  the  fall  of  man.  Uniqueness  is  not  necessarily  unnat- 
ural. Genius  has  not  been  shown  to  be  progressive.  But  the  objection 
to  uniqueness  disappears  as  soon  as  it  is  recognized  to  be  fundamental. 
If  Christ  be  the  one  Man  in  vital  relation  with  the  human  race— the  Soul 
of  the  universe— then  it  is  in  harmony  with  these  thoughts  that  he  should 
be  the  God-man,  not  outside  law,  but  the  final  expression  of  the  natural 
order,  the  only-begotten,  standing  between  God  and  all  created  things. 
This  is  the  region  of  philosophy.  And  in  the  domain  of  history,  does  not 
all  research  and  all  development  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  nature  but 
bear  testimony  to  the  actual  fact  of  his  transcendent  greatness? 

There  are  many  who  decline  to  recognize  his  divine  majesty ;  but  do 
the  best  and  wisest  of  them  tell  us  to  look  for  another?  It  is  not  only 
that  the  human  spirit  acknowledges  him  as  its  chief  so  far,  but  that  it  is 
satisfied  and  looks  no  further  within  the  range  of  human  evolution. 

6.  I  must  stop,  though  there  are  other  tempting  topics.  The  evolu- 
tionary theory  gives  boundless  scope  to  faith  and  hope.  It  does  not  yet 
appear  what  we  shall  be.  The  race  of  men  may  lose  its  physical  basis  by 
slow  decline  of  heat,  or,  as  the  Bible  seems  to  predict,  by  catastrophe; 
but  its  spiritual  history  would  not  therefore  come  to  an  end.  The  last 
things,  like  the  first,  are  very  dimly  revealed  to  us ;  scientific  evolution 
also  is  silent  as  to  its  own  beginning  and  end.  A  little  way  in  each 
direction  we  are  able  to  see;  our  prospect  discloses  a  progressive  revela- 
tion of  light  and  goodness  displayed  in  stronger  moral  powers  and  a 


172  THE    CHUKCH    AND    SCIENTIFIC   THOUGHT. 

higher  ethical  state,  both  with  respect  to  God  and  society.  The  possible 
declension  suggested  by  Mr.  Spencer,  even  if  there  were  ground  for  it  in 
biology,  would  have  no  application  to  spiritual  things.  "O  mighty 
God,  thy  matchless  power  is  ever  new  and  ever  young."  This  everlast- 
ing evolution  stands  with  the  reality  and  immortality  of  God  and  man, 
the  primary  and  necessary  truths  of  our  consciousness  and  our  experience. 

The  Rev.  M.  S.  Tekey,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  gave  an  appointed  address  on  "  The  Attitude  of  the 
Church  Toward  the  Yarious  Phases  of  Unbelief,"  as  follows : 

Unbelief  in  all  its  forms  is  a  matter  of  the  heart.  Our  Lord  upbraided  the 
disciples  "  with  their  unbelief  and  hardness  of  heart,  because  they  believed 
not  them  which  had  seen  him  after  he  was  risen  "  (Mark  xvi,  14).  The 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  admonishes  the  brethren  against  "  an  evil  heart  of 
unbelief  in  falling  away  from  the  living  God  "  (Heb.  iii,  12).  Unbelief 
springs  not  so  much  from  the  mysteries  of  religion  and  revelation  as  from 
perverse  tendencies  of  man's  earthly  nature.  It  is  not  the  legitimate  prod- 
uct of  reason  and  scientific  research,  but  rather  of  defective  training  of 
the  moral  and  spiritual  faculties. 

The  gradations  of  unbelief  are  scarcely  capable  of  enumeration  or  of 
classification.  They  range  from  extremes  of  sheer  indifference  on  the  one 
hand  to  the  most  impious  forms  of  open  hatred  and  hostility  to  all  religion 
on  the  other.  Some  declare  that  all  religion  is  pitiable  superstition,  and 
a  curse  to  the  race.  Some  of  these  forms  of  unbelief  are  peculiar  to  in- 
dividuals only;  others  have  been  worked  up  into  a  kind  of  system,  and 
some  claim  to  lie  the  result  of  scientific  research.  But  whatever  their 
changing  forms,  we  find  upon  examination  that  in  spirit  and  substance 
they  are  all  old  familiar  foes.  They  have  been  assailing  the  Church  from 
the  beginning,  now  under  one  name  and  now  another.  We  are,  accord- 
ingly, greatly  to  blame  if  we  remain  at  this  day  "ignorant  of  Satan's  de- 
vices "  (2  Cor.  ii,  11). 

What,  now,  I  am  asked  to  say,  should  be  the  attitude  of  the  Christian 
Churcli  toward  these  various  forms  of  unbelief  ? 

I.  We  answer,  first  of  all,  ' '  the  Church  of  the  living  God  "  should  now, 
as  ever,  know  herself  to  be  "the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth"  (1  Tim. 
iii,  15).  Her  high  and  holy  mission  is  to  propagate  in  all  the  world  the  truth 
as  it  centers  and  shows  itself  in  Jesus  Christ  her  Lord.  But  she  has  no 
commission,  as  a  divine  organism,  to  pronounce  on  any  disputed 
question  of  science,  of  philosophy,  or  of  literary  criticism.  The  Church 
transcends  her  proper  mission  when  she  attempts  to  solve  the  doubts  of 
every  skeptic,  or  utter  a  dictum  on  questions  of  science  and  philosophy. 
Let  her  rather  keep  to  her  own  heavenly  mission  and  leave  the  scientists, 
whether  true  or  false,  to  fight  their  own  battles.  Surely  the  Christian 
Church  of  to-day,  after  an  experience  of  more  than  eighteen  centuries, 
should  learn  some  lessons  from  the  things  she  has  suffered.  The  strifes 
and  schisms  and  denunciations,  which  can  only  be  a  sorrow  to  the  Christian 
heai-t  to  recall,  have  arisen  mostly  over  non-essential  matters,  on  which 


ADDRESS    OF   EEV.    M.    S.    TEKKY.  173 

the  Church  as  such  has  no  commission  to  pronounce  judgment.  Why 
should  we  still  persist  in  trying  to  commit  the  Church,  or  any  great  sec- 
tion of  it,  to  any  doctrine  or  custom  or  question  which  is  not  clearly 
commanded  in  the  Scriptures,  and  on  which  thousands  of  the  most  devout 
and  earnest  lovers  of  truth  plead  for  liberty  of  thought  and  action  ?  The 
Church  dishonors  her  trust  when  she  attempts  to  impose  any  yoke  which 
God  has  not  imposed. 

The  Church  and  the  individual  may  be  alike  at  fault  in  this.  There 
are  some  who  assume  to  be  unbelievers,  but  honest  skeptics  for  all  that;  and 
they  demand  that  we  shall  explain  all  difRculties  of  the  Bible,  and  settle 
all  questions  of  criticism,  before  they  will  give  their  hearts  to  God  and 
enter  the  fellowship  of  his  Church.  We  must  remove  from  their  minds 
all  doubts  about  the  Book  of  Jonah  and  the  miracle  of  the  whale,  or  they 
will  not  believe.  And  it  is  not  an  unheard  of  thing  for  representatives  of 
the  Church  to  exhibit  such  lack  of  judgment  and  common  sense  as  to 
meet  such  unbelievers  on  just  those  grounds ;  and  so  Church  and  skeptic 
alike  commit  themselves  to  the  unspeakable  folly  of  insisting— the  one 
that  he  will  not,  and  the  other  that  he  shall  not,  enter  the  fold  of  the 
Good  Shepherd  unless  he  go  directly  through  the  mouth  of  Jonah's 
whale ! 

II.  But  while  the  Church  should  thus  stand  aloof  from  questions  with 
which  she  has  received  no  authority  to  meddle,  she  may  well  encourage  and 
invoke  divine  blessing  on  all  inquiries  which  minister  to  the  edification  of 
the  human  mind.  She  has  from  the  beginning  founded  institutions  of 
learning  for  this  very  purpose.  She  has  no  fear  of  any  serious  or  perma- 
nent conflict  between  true  science  and  religion.  She  says  to  Science: 
"Come,  child  of  light  and  promise,  show  us  all  that  you  can  elicit  from 
the  secrets  of  nature  and  turn  your  discoveries  and  inventions  to  the 
good  of  men."  She  says  to  Philosophy:  "Come,  child  of  reason,  and 
impress  upon  us  more  and  more  how  wonderfully  we  are  made."  We 
welcome  all  the  knowledge  you  can  bring  us.  But  when  you  have  done 
your  uttermost  to  reveal  the  secrets  of  the  world  do  not  command  us  to 
renounce  the  God  of  our  salvation  or  doubt  that  he  is  the  almighty 
Intelligence  back  of  all  phenomena.  He  may  well  admonish  us  of  our 
limitations  by  asking:  "  Where  wast  thou  when  I  laid  the  foundations  of 
the  earth? " 

The  Church  will  ever  bless  the  true  student  of  nature  and  of  men.  But 
we  may,  perhaps,  treat  the  blatant  unbeliever  who  makes  a  boast  of  his 
science,  falsely  so  called,  with  the  grim  irony  of  the  simple  old  class- 
leader  who  asked  such  a  scoffer  to  specify  wherein  the  Bible  contradicted 
science.  The  skeptic  at  once  referred  to  Joshua  commanding  the  sun  to 
stand  still,  and  pompously  declared  that  science  has  shown  that  the  sun 
does  stand  still,  and  the  earth  moves  round  it,  quite  contrary  to  what  Josh- 
ua imagined.  Thereupon  the  simple  but  witty  father  replied :  "  Did  you 
ever  read  that  Joshua  set  that  sun  going  again?  Yes,  Joshua  did  com- 
mand the  sun  to  stand  still,  and  it  has  stood  still  ever  since,  and  your 
noisy  scientists  have  just  seemed  to  find  it  out." 


174  THE    CHURCH    AND   SCIENTIFIC    THOUGHT. 

III.  But  while  we  may  at  times  treat  the  scornful  unbeliever  with  de- 
served ridicule,  the  representatives  and  builders  of  the  Church  of  God 
should  study  to  conform  to  Christ's  examjjle  in  his  attitude  toward  the 
unbelieving  Thomas.  We  know  not  how  many  prepossessions  and  doubts 
and  prejudices  have  deeply  troubled  honest  souls.  Some  have  been  reared 
in  the  midst  of  scoffers,  and  made  familiar  from  childhood  with  current 
forms  of  unbelief,  but  have  never  met  a  wise  and  gentle  friend  to  turn 
their  minds  to  other  modes  of  thinking.  Where  there  is  any  disposition 
or  desire  to  know  the  truth,  where  there  may  slumber  the  tenderness  of 
some  old  affection,  even  though  covered  up  by  sinful  estrangement  and 
long  years  of  neglect,  there  we  should  go  with  all  the  patience  and  love 
of  a  true  heart  and  seek  to  win  back  the  erring.  We  should  avoid  all 
controversy  with  him  about  the  six  days  of  creation  and  Joshua's  sun  and 
Jonah's  whale.  We  should  decline  to  discuss  with  such  a  man  the  critical 
questions  about  the  composition  of  the  books  of  Moses  and  the  integrity  of 
Isaiah's  prophecies.  We  should  seek  rather  to  turn  his  vision  directly  on 
the  person  and  character  of  our  risen  Lord.  We  may  not  ask  him  to  put 
his  finger  on  the  print  of  the  nails,  or  thrust  his  hand  into  his  side,  but 
we  will  beseech  him  in  Christ's  stead  to  consider  the  spotless  life  that 
was  given  as  a  ransom  for  many.  xVnd  then  we  will  try  to  persuade 
him  that  it  is  far  better  to  be  Christ-like  in  spirit  than  to  work  miracles; 
far  nobler  to  believe  on  the  Son  of  God  than  to  parade  a  show  of  intellect- 
ual self-sufficiency.  Ask  him  to  show  what  unbelief  has  ever  done  to 
cheer  the  heart  of  man.  Where  has  it  ever  builded  institutions  of  mercy — 
hospitals  and  asylums  and  homes  for  the  helpless,  sick  and  dying?  Bid 
him  take  notice  how  the  Church  has  led  the  way  in  all  these  acts  of  love. 
How  has  she  carried  good  tidings  to  the  poor,  proclaimed  liberty  to  the 
captives,  and  poured  the  oil  of  consolation  on  the  broken  and  bleeding 
hearts?  How  has  she  been  first  and  foremost  to  make  known  to  all  the 
world  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man?  By  directing 
all  attention  to  such  great  facts  and  truths  the  Church  of  the  living  God 
may  win  many  an  unbeliever  from  the  error  of  his  ways.  Let  him  sin- 
cerely open  his  heart  to  the  vision  of  Christ  and  his  doubts  will  depart 
and  vanish,  like  dissolving  mists,  away.  Then  will  he,  too,  cry  out  in 
deepest  and  tenderest  emotion,  "  My  Lord  and  my  God!  " 

What,  then,  do  we  regard  as  the  true  attitude  of  the  Church  toward 
the  various  forms  of  unbelief  ?  First  and  last  and  always,  to  know  and  keep 
closely  to  her  divine  mission,  and  puljlish  the  Gospel  of  salvation  to  all 
mankind.  The  fruits  of  such  a  course  have  been  and  always  will  be  her 
most  convincing  apology.  Second,  let  her  lavish  her  encouragement  and 
benediction  on  all  scientific  pursuits  which  tend  to  enlarge  our  knowledge 
and  advance  the  welfare  of  the  race.  Her  sons  and  daughters  may  thus 
show  beyond  all  controversy  that  science  is  a  handmaid  of  religion,  and 
l^oth  are  offspring  of  the  everlasting  Father.  Finally,  let  the  Church  ever 
remember  and  imitate  the  example  of  her  Lord.  With  unfailing  patience 
and  tender  devotion  let  the  believing  disciples  bear  long  with  the  doul)t- 
ing  Thomas  who  seems  to  be  sincere,  and  if  the  Lord  himself  come  not  to 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    W.    T.    DAVISON.  175 

dissolve  his  doubts,  let  them  still  testify  that  they  have  seen  him,  and 
have  felt  the  inspiration  of  his  Holy  Spirit.  Love  may  not  be  able  to  dis- 
pel all  doubts  and  clear  up  all  mysteries;  but  let  the  Church,  in  the  per- 
son of  every  true  disciple,  study  to  show  that  "  love  never  faileth."  That 
fact,  when  clearly  apprehended  and  made  known,  is  our  all-sufficient 
and  everlasting  apology. 

The  Eev.  W.  T.  Davison,  M.A.,  of  the  Wesley  an  Methodist 
Church,  gave  the  following  appointed  address  on  "  The  Bible 
and  Modern  Criticism  :  " 

Biblical  criticism  is  now  a  science.  It  is  a  very  young  science,  though 
not  younger  than  many  of  its  strong  and  thriving  sisters.  It  is  still  young, 
however,  and  its  frame  is  by  no  means  fully  formed  and  set  •,  but  it  claims 
to  be  treated  as  a  science  and  must  be  reckoned  with  as  such  by  religious 
teachers.  It  implies  full  and  free  inquiry  into  every  thing  that  concerns 
the  Bible  as  a  series  of  literary  documents.  The  text,  the  date,  the  author- 
ship, the  style,  the  subject-matter  of  the  various  books,  including  their 
bearing  upon  historical,  literary,  and  scientific  subjects,  so  far  as  the  Bible 
touches  upon  these — all  these  are  legitimate  subjects  of  inquiry;  and  the 
examination  into  them  has  been  so  minute,  so  careful,  so  elaborate,  and 
so  comprehensive  that  it  has  been  erected  into  a  science  with  many  im- 
portant branches. 

Little  or  no  difficulty  or  difference  of  opinion  arises  with  regard  to  one 
ffreat  division  of  biblical  criticism — that  known  as  lower  or  textual  criticism. 
A  believer  in  the  very  highest  doctrine  of  verbal  inspiration  cannot  object 
to  the  operations  of  a  science  which  determines  as  accurately  as  possible 
the  text  of  Scripture.  Nay,  like  the  late  Dr.  Tregelles,  he  should  be  the 
most  anxious  to  promote  it,  that  he  may  have  the  ipsissima  verba  of  the 
original  manuscript  as  nearly  as  possible  before  him.  Nevertheless,  there 
have  been  times  when  the  idea  of  so  handling  the  received  text  has  been 
thought  scandalous,  blasphemous ;  the  very  versions  of  Scripture  have  been 
endowed  with  infallibility ;  the  vowel  points  of  the  Hebrew  text — a  device 
of  the  seventh  century  A.  D.  — have  been  held  to  be  a  part  of  inspired 
revelation ;  and  it  is  not  many  years  since  a  fierce  attack  was  made  upon 
the  New  Testament  revisers  for  having  ventured  to  depart  from  the  tra- 
ditional text.  It  is,  however,  now  generally  recognized  that  textual  criti- 
cism of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  is  desirable,  inevitable.  The  process 
of  ascertaining  accurately  and  scientifically  the  precise  original  text  is 
difficult  and  complex.  In  the  case  of  the  New  Testament,  the  methods 
to  be  adopted  and  the  results  thus  reached  are  accepted  by  scholars  with 
fairly  general  consent.  In  the  case  of  the  Old  Testament,  however,  much 
less  progress  has  been  made.  Many  circumstances  retard  the  investiga- 
tion ;  and,  whether  we  like  it  or  not,  it  must  be  confessed  that  at  present 
the  exact  critical  valueof  the  Masoretic  or  traditional  text  remains  to  be 
determined.  The  variations,  however,  of  readings  both  in  the  Old  and 
New  Testament,  though  numerous,  are  so  slight  and  comparatively  un- 
important as  affects  doctrine  that  the   Christian  Church  is  content  for 


176  THE   CHCKCH    AND    SCIENTIFIC    THOUGHT. 

scholars  to  pursue  their  laborious  •work  of  determining  these  minutiae 
without  any  alarm  or  disturbance  of  mind. 

It  is  otherwise,  however,  so  far  as  what  is  called  the  higher  criticism  is 
concerned.     There  are  two  reasons  for  this. 

1.  By  the  higher  criticism  the  subject-matter  of  Scripture  is  more  con- 
siderably affected,  and  the  attacks  made  on  traditional  beliefs  are  bolder 
and  more  serious. 

2.  There  is  much  greater  distrust  of  the  methods  employed  by  critics  in 
this  region,  these  methods  in  many  cases  being  arbitrary  and  uncertain. 

In  this  department  also  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  there  is  nothing 
like  the  consensus  of  opinion  which  marks  a  settled  science.  Neverthe- 
less, the  agreement  is  steadily  growing;  and  on  some  important  points 
there  is  virtual  unanimity.     We  ought  to  bear  in  mind : 

(1)  The  delicate  character  of  the  considerations  involved. 

(2)  The  need  of  a  thorough  sifting  of  opinions,  if  truth  is  to  be  reached. 

(3)  The  absolute  necessity  of  time  as  a  factor  in  the  judgment  of  such 
questions.  And  then  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  higher  criticism — in- 
cluding especially  the  historical  and  literary  criticism  of  the  Bible — is  now 
rapidly  advancing  toward,  if  it  has  not  already  reached,  the  position  of  a 
science,  with  conclusions  of  a  highly  important  and  more  or  less  certain 
kind,  which  all  religious  teachers  are  bound  to  know,  to  face,  and  frankly 
and  fairly  to  handle. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  field  of  this  biblical  criticism  is  strictly 
limited.  It  may  deal  with  literary  questions — for  example,  the  date  and 
authorship  of  the  various  books;  with  historical  questions — for  example, 
the  relations  between  the  chronological  system  of  the  Old  Testament  and 
those  of  Assyria  and  Babylonia;  with  internal  evidences  of  style,  the  modes 
of  speech,  and  even  of  thought  in  the  relative  position  of  the  writers  one 
toward  another.  Within  this  field  much  has  been  done  during  the  last 
half  century ;  how  much  it  is,  of  course,  impossible  to  indicate  within  the 
limits  of  this  paper.  We  may  say,  however,  by  way  of  example,  that  this 
higher  criticism 

a.  Has  considerably  modified  traditional  views  as  to  the  composition 
of  the  Pentateuch  and  the  historical  books  of  the  Old  Testament. 

&.  It  is  endeavoring — though  it  has  not  yet  succeeded — to  aflix  a  con- 
siderably later  date  than  has  been  hitherto  held  for  a  large  part  of  the 
literature  of  the  Old  Testament,  including,  notably,  the  Book  of  Psalms. 

c.  It  has  attempted,  but  altogether  without  success,  to  father  a  theory 
of  "  pious  fraud  "  upon  several  of  the  Old  Testament  writers, 

d.  In  dealing  with  the  composition  of  the  synoptic  gospels  it  has  proved 
the  use  of  earlier  materials  by  the  several  writers. 

e.  The  early  date  and  the  Joliannine  authorship  of  the  fourth  gospel, 
with  all  that  that  implies,  has  been  fairly,  if  not  conclusively,  established. 

/.  Four  epistles  of  St.  Paul  are  universally  allowed  to  be  genuine,  and 
the  case  against  those  whose  genuineness  has  been  questioned  is  exceed- 
ingly weak. 

g.  The  Pauline  authorship  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  is  generally 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    W.    T.    DAVISON,  177 

given  up ;  and  the  evidence  for  the  canonicity  of  Second  Peter  is  admitted 
to  be  much  less  strong  than  in  the  case  of  other  books. 

These  are  but  samples  of  the  questions  discussed  and  the  conclusions 
reached.  It  is  clear  throughout  that  the  scope  of  such  criticism  is  limited ; 
it  touches  but  the  fringe  of  Scripture.  There  are  so  many  things  that 
mere  criticism  cannot  touch.  If  poetry  and  art  resist  the  violence,  the 
meddlesomeness  of  critical  methods,  and  display  in  a  thousand  forms  a 
beauty  and  a  significance  which  evades  the  most  subtle  analysis  of  criti- 
cism, how  much  more  religion!  As  in  the  case  of  physical  science,  so 
also  vpith  the  new  science  of  biblical  criticism,  religious  teachers  must  not 
interfere  with  its  work  on  its  own  plane  and  within  its  own  limits.  That 
work  must  be  watched — watched  with  the  jealousy  begotten  of  love  when 
reverently  guarding  her  most  sacred  treasures ;  but  the  results  reached 
■within  certain  definite  limits  must  not  be  ignored,  still  less  must  they  be 
denied  and  anathematized  by  those  who  are  unable  or  unwilling  to  study 
the  evidence  in  support  of  them.  It  is  open  to  the  Christian  Church  to 
admit  them,  even  to  welcome  them;  for  the  inner  shrine  of  religion  can- 
not be  invaded  by  the  rude  hand  of  the  most  relentless  historical  and  lit- 
erary criticism.  Criticism  may  meddle  with  the  casket;  it  cannot  mar  or 
scatter,  it  cannot  even  reach,  the  precious  perfume  within. 

Here,  however,  we  touch  what  appears  to  be  the  crucial  point  of  our 
subject.  The  traditional  views  of  the  evangelical  Churches  of  Christen- 
dom, in  their  more  intelligent  teachers  and  members,  have  been  modified 
by  recent  criticism,  and  the  question  arises  whether  these  changes  are  to 
be  resented  and  opposed  as  dangerous,  perhaps  fatal,  to  our  common  cher- 
ished faith.  The  position  taken  in  this  paper  is  that  in  the  results  of  a  sober 
and  well-balanced  criticism  there  is  nothing  to  fear.  The  word  of  God 
remains  the  sacred,  awe-inspiring,  authoritative  word  of  God  still.  The 
changes  affect  the  human  element  in  revelation,  the  vehicle  which  con- 
tains the  divine,  the  methods  by  which  it  has  been  conveyed  to  man.  As 
Professor  Driver,  of  Oxford,  says  in  his  work  on  the  Old  Testament 
just  published  in  this  country,  "Criticism  in  the  hands  of  Christian 
scholars  does  not  banish  or  destroy  the  inspiration  of  the  Old  Testament ; 
it  presupposes  it,  it  seeks  only  to  determine  the  conditions  under  which 
it  operates  and  the  literary  forms  through  which  it  manifests  itself ;  and 
it  thus  helps  us  to  frame  truer  conceptions  of  the  methods  which  it  has 
pleased  God  to  employ  in  revealing  himself  to  his  ancient  people  of  Israel, 
and  in  preparing  the  way  for  the  fuller  manifestation  of  himself  in  Christ 
Jesus." 

The  Methodist  Churches — all  the  Churches  of  Christ  which  reverence 
God's  word  written  and  seek  to  make  it  the  rule  of  faith  and  practice — will 
do  well  to  beware  of  blindly  and  rashly  setting  their  faces  against  the 
conclusions  of  truly  scientific  biblical  criticism.  We  must  not  pledge  our- 
selves to  what  may  soon  prove  to  be  untenable  positions  or  dare  to  iden- 
tify them  with  the  Christian  faith.  God  has  many  ways  of  teaching  his 
Church.  He  often  leads  us  to  a  greater  security  of  faith  and  a  richer  in- 
heritance of  truth  by  a  temjDorary  disturbance  of  our  peace  and  accustomed 


178  THE    CHURCH    AND    SCIENTIFIC    THOUGHT. 

habits  of  thought.  There  is  "  a  I'emoving  of  those  things  that  are  shaken 
as  of  things  that  are  made',  that  those  things  which  cannot  be  shaken 
may  remain." 

The  gains  of  religion  from  modern  criticism  are  manifold.  It  has  en- 
riched our  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  both  directly  and  indirectly,  often  by 
very  unlikely  means. 

1.  The  attention  drawn  to  the  process  of  growth,  discernible  both  in 
the  whole  revelation  and  in  individual  books,  has  been  a  distinct  gain. 
The  gradual  development  of  truth  under  the  guiding  hand  of  God  has 
been  seen  to  contain  a  deeper  significance  than  any  sudden  manifestation 
of  it  mechanically  conveyed. 

2.  The  recognition  of  varying  tyjoes  of  doctrine,  which  seemed  at  first 
to  mar  the  uniformity  of  Scripture,  has  ended  in  our  perception  of  a 
deeper  underlying  unity.  Baur's  examination  of  the  teaching  of  the  early 
Church  has  enriched  our  knowledge  of  it.  His  theories  have  perished, 
but  the  flood  of  Baurian  speculation  has  left  a  fertilizing  layer  of  soil 
upon  the  fields  for  which  all  Bible  students  may  be  thankful. 

3.  It  has  introduced  more  reality  into  our  reading  of  Scripture.  New 
interest  has  been  imparted  to  the  study  of  many  parts  of  the  Bible.  The 
lives  of  the  patriarchs,  the  legislation  of  Moses,  the  composition  of  the 
Psalms,  the  teaching  of  the  apostles  have  alike  become  more  vivid  and 
real  amid  lights  which  at  first  seemed  only  to  confuse  and  bewilder  our 
ideas. 

4.  The  result  of  criticism — not  the  first  result — will  be  greater  sim- 
plicity of  faith  and  teaching.  To  me,  at  least,  it  seems  clear  that  the  end 
of  all  is  to  drive  us  back  to  Christ  as  our  center,  our  foundation,  our  one 
object  of  faith  and  hope.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  views  of  the 
Bible  as  a  mechanical  whole,  every  part  of  it  flawless  and  divine  in  pre- 
cisely the  same  sense  and  on  the  same  level,  really  tended  to  lower,  not  to 
elevate,  the  religious  views  of  the  Church.  Instead,  we  begin  and  end 
with  Christ.  Some  complex  theories,  perhaps,  will  vanish,  like  the  in- 
genious cycles  and  epicycles  of  the  Ptolemaic  theory  in  astronomy  before 
the  bold  simplicity  of  the  Copernican  theory.  It  is  written  on  the  statue 
of  Copernicus  at  Cracow,  "  He  dared  to  be  wise."  Some  daring  is  needed 
even  yet  in  those  who  would  imitate  him  in  theology,  but  wisdom  lies  in 
the  "simplicity  that  is  toward  Christ." 

That  there  are  dangers  against  which  Christians  must  be  on  their  guard 
in  the  tendencies  of  modern  criticism,  perhaps  also  some  losses,  is  unde- 
niable; but  if  the  dangers  are  guarded  against  the  losses  will  be  small  in- 
deed. 

1.  We  must  beware  of  the  rationalistic  assumptions  which  underlie  the 
reasonings  of  many  critics.  These  are  usually  tacit.  But  they  creej)  in 
easily  enough  when  men  are  engaged  with  the  human  element  in  the  Bible, 
and  with  matters  of  which  reason  can  take  full  cognizance.  It  is  easy  and 
tempting  then  to  shut  out  the  supernatural ;  difficult  to  avoid  it  in  days 
when  rationalism  and  distrust  of  the  supernatural  are  in  the  air.  But  such 
air  breathes  poison  and  pestilence  fatal  to  all  true  faith. 


ADDRESS    OF    KEV.    W.    T.    DAVISON.  179 

2.  There  is  great  danger  of  the  hasty  adoption  of  hypotheses  more  or 
less  plausible  on  very  scanty  evidence,  a  great  dis2:)osition  to  favor  novel- 
ties for  novelty's  sake. 

' '  The  old  need  not  be  therefore  true, 
O  brother  man — nor  yet  the  new." 

This  weakness  of  humanity  is  especially  dangerous  where  religion  is  con- 
cerned, and  all  the  skeletons  of  defunct  theories  which  line  the  paths  of 
criticism  do  not  prevent  new  and  hasty  theorizers  from  finding  ever  new 
dupes. 

3.  The  task  of  learning  from  the  Bible  and  of  teaching  its  contents  be- 
comes more  delicate  and  difficult.  The  Roman  Catliolic  cuts  the  knots 
of  many  difficulties  by  his  doctrine  of  an  infallible  pope,  or  at  least  an  in- 
fallible Church.  The  task  is  harder  for  the  Protestant,  who  will  not  meet 
every  difficulty  by  a  mechanical  reference  to  a  text  out  of  a  book,  but  who 
recognizes  the  need  of  inquiring  into  the  circumstances  under  which  the 
word  was  spoken  and  its  exact  bearing  upon  the  point  at  issue ;  who  knows 
that  in  that  wonderful  book  we  call  the  Bible  there  is  a  human  element 
as  well  as  a  divine,  and  that  the  human  is  none  the  less  human  because  it 
is  the  vehicle  of  the  divine,  as  the  divine  is  none  the  less  divine  because 
communicated  through  a  human  medium.  But  great  care  and  delicacy 
is  needed  if  our  deep  reverence  for  the  divine  is  not  to  lose  its  bloom 
amid  our  close  examination  into  what  is  human. 

What  should  be  the  attitude  of  the  Christian  Church  toward  modern 
biblical  criticism  is,  under  these  circumstances,  tolerably  plain.  There  is 
no  need  of  fear ;  there  should  be  no  room  for  suspicion ;  enmity  is  absurdly 
out  of  place.     The  Church  must  always  display 

(1)  The  courage  which  belongs  to  those  whose  faith  courts  the  fullest 
inquiry,  and  which  is  prepared  to  unmask  false  friends  as  well  as  to  face 
open  foes. 

(3)  It  will  be  wise  to  suspend  judgment  upon  many  secondary  points 
connected  with  a  history  so  long  and  complex  as  that  of  the  Bible.  This 
is  the  last  thing  some  men  are  willing  to  do;  but  the  true  hero  knows 
when  to  fight  and  when  to  wait. 

(3)  Our  faith  in  the  great  primary  truths  of  our  religion  should  become 
deeper  and  firmer;  it  will  be  at  the  same  time  bolder  and  more  tenacious. 
If  poles  and  planks  seem  here  and  there  to  be  falling,  frightening  timid 
souls  by  their  noise,  it  is  the  scaffolding  that  is  being  removed,  not  the 
building.  All  the  inquiries  of  criticism  have  but  revealed  more  plainly 
in  their  simplicity  and  grandeur  the  great  truths  of  divine  revelation — 
"God,  having  of  old  time  spoken  unto  the  fathers  in  the  prophets  by 
divers  portions  and  in  divers  manners,  hath  at  the  end  of  these  days 
spoken  unto  us  in  his  Son."  The  record  which  brings  us  face  to  face 
with  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is,  like  himself,  divine  and  human.  We  may 
think  that  it  might  have  been  otherwise,  that  a  revelation  from  God 
might  have  been  more  immediately,  more  indubitably,  more  overwhelm- 
ingly divine.     But  God  has  his  own  ways  of  teaching  us,  and  as  the  heav- 


180  THE    CHURCH    AJSfD    SCIENTIFIC    THOUGHT. 

ens  are  higher  than  the  earth,  so  are  his  ways  higher  than  our  ways,  his 
thoughts  than  our  thoughts.  The  splendor  of  the  divine  glory  shines 
through  the  written  word  for  all  who  have  eyes  to  see;  the  majestic 
beauty  of  the  picture  is  not  impaired,  cannot  be  lessened,  by  all  that  critics 
may  discover  about  the  frame  which  incloses  it,  the  canvas  upon  which 
it  is  painted. 

We  cannot  determine  a  priori  what  a  divine  revelation  ought  to  be,  or 
how  it  should  be  conveyed  to  man.  In  the  well-known  words  of  Bishop 
Butler,  "  We  are  in  no  sort  judges  by  what  methods  and  in  what  propor- 
tion it  were  to  be  expected  that  supernatural  light  and  instruction  would 
be  afforded  us."  Criticism,  which  means  careful  examination,  must  use 
the  faculties  God  has  given  us  and  do  its  own  work  in  relation  to  the  hu- 
man vehicle ;  the  light  of  divine  truth  will  not  be  dimmed,  the  great  end 
of  revelation  will  not  be  frustrated  by  any  thing  that  a  sober  and  well 
grounded  criticism  can  do.  Methodists,  in  common  with  all  earnest  evan- 
gelical Christians,  will  do  well  not  to  take  up  an  ignorant  and  ill-consid- 
ered attitude  of  suspicion  toward  men  who  study  the  Bible  at  least  as 
carefully  as  the  zealous  and  orthodox  defender  of  traditional  opinions. 
Above  all,  the  great  purpose  of  revelation  must  rule  supreme  in  all  our 
investigations.  That  purpose,  both  as  regards  what  is  revealed,  what  is 
not  revealed,  and  the  way  in  which  revelation  is  made,  is  one — that  man 
may  be  raised  to  the  very  life  of  God.  Amid  the  dust  raised  by  critical 
polemics  be  it  ours  to  see  the  onward  progress  of  the  chariot  of  God; 
amid  the  babel  of  voices  to  hear  his  very  voice  speaking  to  our  hearts  in 
his  holy  word ;  and  to  remember  that,  of  all  the  books  of  the  Bible,  it  is 
true,  as  of  that  holy  of  holies  in  the  temple  of  Scripture — the  Gospel  of 
St.  John — "  These  are  written,  that  ye  might  believe  that  Jesus  is  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  and  that,  believing,  ye  might  have  life  through 
his  name." 

The  Kev.  E.  II.  Dewart,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
Canada,  introduced  the  discussion  of  the  morning,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  I  consider  that  the  great  problem  that  the  Church  has  to 
solve  at  the  present  day  and  the  present  hour  is  how  to  unite  free,  independ- 
ent, candid  criticism  and  examination  of  all  the  questions  relating  to  the 
Bible  and  religion,  with  fidelity  to  the  great  central  truths  of  Christianity. 
The  time  to  settle  great  questions  by  the  authority  of  great  names  is  past. 
Every  thing  will  hold  its  place  in  the  balance,  and  must  now  vindicate  its 
right  to  be  by  appro2:)riate  evidence. 

I  do  not  like  to  criticise  a  paper  when  the  author  is  not  present ;  yet 
there  are  some  things  in  Mr.  Bunting's  paper  to  which  I  feel  inclined  to 
take  some  exception.  Apart  from  the  mere  question  of  the  logical  con- 
sequences of  the  theory  of  evolution,  there  are  alleged  or  assumed  facts 
in  science  and  in  biblical  criticism  which  we  must  grapple  Avith,  for  the 
position  we  take  in  relation  to  them  clearly  affects  our  conceptions  of 
God's  method  of  governing  the  world  and  our  relative  ideas.  I  do  not  think 
it  right  to  assume,  as  it  appeared  to  be  assumed  in  the  paper,  that  Christians 
may  believe  and  hold  things  that  science  condemns  or  contradicts.  We 
cannot  do  that.  If  I  understand  arisjht,  science  is  a  knowledge  of  truth ;  and 
if  you  have  a  knowledge  of  a  truth,  and  it  is  true,  it  cannot  contradict  any 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  181 

Other  truth.  Therefore,  I  do  uot  like  any  thing  that  seems  to  indicate  that 
faith  is  to  go  on  on  its  Christian  line,  even  when  science  contradicts  it.  I 
believe  that  true  science  does  not  contradict  any  true  religious  principle 
that  we  hold. 

I  think  also  that  if  freedom  of  the  will  is  an  actual  fact,  then  it  is  a 
scientific  fact  just  as  much  as  any  other  fact.  Evolution  is  the  divine 
method  of  God  in  his  arrangement  of  the  world.  I  freely  admit  that 
evolution  is  the  causal  accounting  for  facts  that  exist,  apart  from  the  God 
behind  it  and  the  God  that  uses  it ;  but  I  do  not  admit,  and  I  cannot  admit, 
that  Christ  was  the  product  of  evolution,  for  God  sent  his  Son  into  the 
world  that  the  Avorld  through  him  might  be  saved. 

The  phrase,  "The  result  of  modern  criticism,"  has  come  to  be  a  good' 
deal  of  a  cant  phrase  at  the  present  time,  and  it  does  not  mean  the  same 
thing  in  the  mouths  of  different  people.  There  are  results  of  criticism, 
and  results  of  criticism.  There  are  some  men  who  use  this  broad  and 
sweeping  phrase,  "The  result  of  modern  criticism,"  to  cover  whatever 
new  fad  or  speculation  they  themselves  may  have  adopted.  But  you  will 
find  that  what  men  call  the  result  of  modern  criticism  may  be  generally 
determined  by  what  that  particular  man  accepts.  He  calls  all  that  he 
accepts  as  true  as  "the  result  of  modern  criticism,"  and  all  that  he  rejects, 
to  the  contrary. 

"  We  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  we  regard  some  of  the  so-called 
'  results '  of  the  higher  criticism  as  tending  directly  to  undermine  the 
authority  of  the  Bible,  and  change  the  historic  conception  of  God's  method 
of  dealing  with  his  people,  and  of  the  authority  due  to  the  words  of 
prophets  and  apostles  and  even  of  the  Master  himself.  If  it  be  believed 
that  the  Levitical  system  which  is  contained  in  the  Pentateuch  was  for- 
mulated by  some  priest  after  the  exile,  who,  in  order  to  win  acceptance  for 
his  work,  falsely  pretended  that  it  was  revealed  by  God  to  Moses ;  if  there 
are  no  predictions  in  the  Old  Testament  prophecies  that  refer  originally  to 
Jesus  Christ ;  if  the  events  of  Christ's  life  and  death  are  not  a  fulfillment 
of  predictions  that  foretold  them;  if  the  statements  of  Christ  and  the 
apostles  respecting  the  fulfillment  of  prophecy  are  of  no  weight  against 
the  views  of  modern  criticism,  either  because  they  were  ignorant  or  ac- 
cepted and  treated  popular  errors  as  true ;  if  the  prophecy  of  Daniel  was 
not  written  by  Daniel  at  the  time  specified,  but  was  written  by  some  one 
who  falsely  ascril)ed  it  to  Daniel  to  gain  acceptance  for  it ;  if  there  are  no 
supernatural  predictions  in  the  Old  Testament,  whose  fulfillment  is  con- 
vincing evidence  of  the  divine  inspiration  and  authority  of  the  proph- 
ecies which  contain  them ;  if  it  be  admitted  that  the  fourth  gospel  was 
not  written  by  St.  John,  but  by  some  later  writer  who  had  no  personal 
knowledge  of  the  facts  recorded ;  if  several  of  the  epistles  ascribed  to 
St.  Paul  were  not  written  by  him,  but  were  ascribed  to  him  to  gain  credit 
for  them — if  these  things  be  accepted  as  true,  then,  although  it  may  be 
still  held  that  the  Bible  contains  great  ethical  truths  and  instructive  spir- 
itual lessons,  it  is  impossible  to  avoid  the  conclusion  that  the  grounds  of 
confidence  in  the  truth  and  obligations  of  Scripture  teaching  are  under- 
mined, and  the  evangelical  and  scriptural  conception  of  the  character  and 
authority  of  Jesus  Christ  as  an  infaliil)le  Teacher  must  make  place  for  a 
widely  different  conception  of  the  character  of  divine  revelation,  and  of 
the  Saviour  and  the  relitfious  faith  it  reveals." 


'&' 


The  Rev.  Frank  Ballard,  M.A.,  B.Sc,  of  the  Wesleyan 

Methodist  Church,  made  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President :  I  wish  to  point  out  the  vast  importance  of  the  suljject 
■which  we  have  in  hand,  and  to  say  that  I  think  it  merits  much  more  ear- 


182  THE    CHURCH    AND    SCIENTIFIC    THOUGHT. 

nest  deliberation  and  consideration  than  it  seems  to  be  disposed  to  receive 
at  the  hands  of  some  persons  here.  I  submit,  with  all  resjject,  that  the 
very  fact  that  three  such  subjects  as  those  which  have  already  been  dis- 
cussed are  allotted  only  two  hours  for  discussion  does  imply  a  kind  of 
respectful  disrespect,  if  one  may  so  put  it,  on  the  part  of  a  great  Confer- 
ence of  this  kind  that  is,  to  say  the  very  least,  unwise.  We  cannot  plead 
that  we  are  justified  because  the  great  work  of  Methodism  is  "spirit- 
uality, "  for  if  there  are  two  problems  in  modern  religion  which  require  to 
be  carefully  thought  out  they  are  sjiirituality  and  worldliness.  I  suggest 
that  it  is  highly  necessary  that  the  question  of  what  we  mean  by  spirit- 
uality should  l)e  considered.  If  it  means  a  kind  of  religious  subjectivity, 
which  is  independent  of  reason  and  defiant  of  fact,  I,  for  one,  repudiate 
it.  I  say  that  when  the  Master  himself  asked  tliose  about  him  to  judge 
for  themselves  what  is  right,  he  subjected  his  own  religion  to  the  test  of 
human  reason.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  noble  words  of  Dr.  Newman 
Smyth  area  fitting  echo  to  this  when  he  said,  "  Whoever  is  afraid  of 
science  does  not  believe  in  God. '' 

It  has  been  said  that  it  is  our  great  work  to  save  souls.  Mr.  Wesley  is 
quoted  as  saying  that  we  "have  nothing  to  do  but  to  save  souls."  I,  for 
one,  repudiate  that  sentiment;  and  I  say,  furthermore,  that  those  that 
maintain  it  have  caught  the  words,  Imt  not  the  spirit,  of  our  great  founder, 
who  was  a  classical  scholar,  a  student  of  medicine,  and  a  jiroducer  of  works 
on  electricity. 

I  am  told  that  in  America  opinion  on  these  matters  is  twenty  years 
behind  that  in  England.  I  cannot  decide ;  but  this  I  know,  that  in 
England  we  are  happily  coming  to  see  that  the  essence  of  the  Gospel  is 
to  save  men  and  women,  and  in  order  to  do  that  there  is  as  real  room  for 
the  functions  of  science  as  of  religion.  If  men  were  but  balls  of  clay  in 
the  potter's  hands,  even  then  a  ball  of  clay  requires  chemistry  and  geol- 
ogy to  understand  it.  But  living  men  and  women  cannot  possibly  be  un- 
deistood,  or  even  honestly  considered,  without  the  aid  of  logic  and  psy- 
chology, physiology  and  political  economy,  all  which,  therefore,  right- 
fully come  within  the  scope  of  the  Church's  education,  and  should  receive 
from  it  very  earnest  and  careful  attention. 

I  am  inclined  to  think,  Mr.  President,  that  there  is  some  danger,  judg- 
ing from  words  that  have  been  uttered  in  our  ears  this  morning,  of  the 
Church  Inlaying  the  ostrich,  and  thinking  that  if  we  are  but  sufficiently 
fortified  in  our  own  conceits  we  have  nothing  to  fear  from  any  thing  out- 
side ;  whereas,  there  is  a  very  great  deal  to  fear  that  demands  the  most 
earnest  consideration  from  every  faithful  man.  There  is  in  so  saying  no 
pessimism  necessarily  involved.  Yet  I  submit,  Mr.  President,  that  earnest 
pessimism  is  much  more  worthy  of  real  Christianity  than  giddy  opti- 
mism. 

I  must  say  that  I  disagree  entirely  witli  the  speaker  who  has  said  this 
morning  that  unbelief  is  a  matter  of  the  heart.  I  am  obliged  to  say  so, 
for  I  know  it,  as  I  know  my  own  existence.  I  know  it  from  personal  in- 
tercourse with  noble-minded  skeptics.  I  know  it  from  numbers  of  written 
statements  in  my  possession,  which  for  depth  of  sincerity  and  pitifulness 
of  pathos  equal  any  thing  that  can  be  uttered  in  any  class-meeting  upon 
earth. 

The  Eev.  J.  M.  Buckley,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist 

Episcopal  Church,  spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  President:  A  certain  court,  when  addressed  by  a  young  lawyer  for 
about  four  hours,  rebuked  the  speaker  by  saying:   "  The  court  must  be 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  183 

presumed  to  know  something."  Therefore,  when  the  committee  restricted 
the  discussion  of  the  subjects  of  this  morning's  session,  it  was  upon  the 
assumption,  without  doubt,  that  this  assembly  must  be  presumed  to  know 
something. 

The  extraordinary  paper  by  Mr.  Bunting  I  regard  as  one  of  the  most 
candid  and  clear  statements  upon  a  vexed  question  to  which  I  have  had 
the  pleasure  of  listening.  I  regard  it  also  as  showing  that  religion  was, 
is  now,  and  will  be  world  without  end  a  matter  not  of  induction  or  de- 
duction or  observation,  but  of  the  faith  of  the  heart.  He  showed  it  by 
advancing  and  retreating.  Not  one  solitary  proposition  which  he  dis- 
cussed did  he  finally  and  uneqviivocally  affirm — "Here  we  pause,"  "  I  do 
not  know,"  "  I  cannot  tell." 

As  respects  "consciousness  and  will,"  which  he  seems  to  assume  as  facts 
of  the  first  importance,  if  my  special  reading  of  biology  for  the  past  thirty 
years,  which  has  been  my  leisure  and  my  business  outside  of  my  regular 
work,  teaches  me  any  thing,  it  is  that  conscience  and  will  must  be  allowed 
as  conclusively  proved  of  the  higher  order  of  animals.  Therefore,  science 
cannot  give  us  any  light  as  to  the  fundamental  questions  relating  to  re- 
ligion. As  to  the  fall  of  man  and  federal  headship,  to  say  that  if  they 
be  not  allegorical,  it  must  be  assumed  that  revelation  is  only  partially  or 
impliedly  incorrect,  is  to  put  the  whole  evangelical  system  in  jeopardy. 

Did  you  not  observe  the  manner  in  which  he  approached  and  the  man- 
ner in  which  he  turned  away  from  it  ?  Christianity  is  as  false  as  the 
wildest  dreams  of  superstition  unless  Jesus  Christ  was  the  result  of  divine 
operation  upon  a  woman  without  the  agency  of  man.  And  the  same  is 
true  as  to  the  miracles  of  Jesus  Christ.  I  pledge  you  my  word  before 
God  and  man,  that  if  you  will  prove  to  me  that  the  miracles  of  Jesus 
Christ  were  evolved  in  the  order  of  cause  and  effect  and  in  the  natural 
order,  from  this  very  hour  to  my  death  I  will  never  utter  a  word  in  favor 
of  the  supernatural  origin  of  Christianity.  I  can  bow  my  reason  to  a 
divine  revelation,  only  using  it  to  ascertain  its  meaning,  and  not  presum- 
ing to  sit  in  judgment  upon  the  wisdom  of  the  truths  revealed,  but  I  will 
not  bow  it  to  any  theory  on  religious  subjects  evolved  by  man. 

Now  as  to  the  other  subjects  of  the  other  addresses.  We  know  that  the 
early  Christian  fathers  were  superstitious  to  the  last  degree.  Any  man  who 
has  read  T.  and  T.  Clark's  edition  of  the  ante-Nicene  fathers  is  aware  of 
the  fact  that  not  one  of  those  fathers  could  stand  here  to-day  and  speak 
his  sentiments  as  he  wrote  them  without  being  regarded  as  foolishly 
superstitious.  In  the  next  place,  we  must  remember  that  we  are  not  living 
under  the  dominion  of  Rome,  which  accepts  the  infallibility  of  the  Bible 
and  then  adds  to  it  what  it  pleases.  Let  me  say  that  nine  tenths  of  the 
so-called  higher  critics  bring  forth  propositions  that  intelligent  people  have 
been  familiar  with  and  have  been  studying  for  twenty-five  years.  The 
principal  difficulties  growing  out  of  this  matter  arise  from  the  arrogancy 
of  specialists  Avho  forget  that  we  bear  the  same  relation  to  them  that  a 
well-educated  general  physician  bears  to  the  specialist  in  medicine.  He  is 
capable  of  reasoning  upon  the  deductions  of  many,  and  inductions  of  the 
specialist.  So  is  the  well  instructed  theologian  or  exegete.  Yet  these 
experts  study  and  reverently  and  cautiously  announce  the  results. 

The  Rev.  James  Crabtree,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  made  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President:  I  think  it  is  very  desirable  for  us  as  Christian  ministers 
and  Churches  to  do  every  thing  in  our  power  to  establish  the  utmost  pos- 
sible friendship  between  faith  and  science.     It  cannot  be  in  our  interest, 


184  THE    CHUKCH    AND    SCIENTIFIC    THOUGHT. 

as  students  of  God's  word,  to  regard  with  suspicion  those  who  are  honest 
and  enlightened  students  of  his  works.  We  are  not  bound  to  accept 
every  hypothesis  of  science,  but  it  will  be  well  for  us  to  adopt  the  scien- 
tific method  and  spirit.  In  any  divorce  between  religion  and  science  it 
is  religion  that  will  suffer.  Indeed,  the  religious  doubt  of  the  time  is,  in 
my  opinion,  largely  due  to  the  attitude  of  some  theologians  toward  the 
new  knowledge  with  which  our  age  has  been  enriched.  If  the  Christian 
faith  is  to  retain  its  supremacy  over  the  mind  of  man  it  must  be  shown  to 
be  in  harmony  with  truth  of  every  kind  and  in  every  department,  and 
made  credible  to  the  highest  intelligence  and  to  the  best  culture  of  our  age ; 
and  this  is  possible  only  as  we  adopt  scientific  methods  of  investigation 
and  are  governed  by  the  same  principles  in  our  study  of  the  Scriptures  as 
have  led  to  such  magnificent  discoveries  in  other  departments  of  truth. 
The  Christian  faith,  and  the  Christian  records  on  which  it  is  based,  must 
not  shrink  from  the  most  searching  criticism,  if  only  that  criticism  be  made 
cautious  and  reverent  by  the  devout  and  believing  heart.  Let  us  guard 
against  imputing  evil  motives  and  a  bad  spirit  to  every  one  who  may  liap- 
pen  to  differ  from  us ;  against  ascribing  all  intellectual  doubt  to  moral 
obliquity.  We  only  expose  ourselves  as  thinkers  and  teachers  to  the  con- 
tempt of  the  world  around  if  we  assume  that  every  body  who  may  venture 
to  differ  from  us  does  so  out  of  a  bad  heart.  Let  us  guard  especially 
against  identifying  the  Gospel  with  matters  that  are  not  essential  to  it,  and 
making  the  glorious  salvation  of  God  depend  upon  the  Mosaic  cosmogony 
or  upon  questions  of  Old  Testament  chronology. 

Let  us  remember  that  human  conceptions,  even  of  revealed  truth,  are 
not  always  infallible;  to  a  certain  extent  circumstances  determined  them, 
and  circumstances  may  modify  them.  The  Christian  creeds  are,  for  the 
most  part,  the  outcome  of  controversies  which  were  intensely  interesting 
to  those  who  were  engaged  in  them.  They  affirm  and  define  great  spirit- 
ual truths  which  had  openly  been  called  in  question  or  weakened  and  ob- 
scured by  error.  Each  succeeding  generation  of  the  Church  has  claimed 
the  right  to  consider  the  truth  from  its  own  stand-point,  and  to  interpret 
it  according  to  its  own  knowledge  and  needs;  and  we  in  our  day  cannot 
claim  less  for  ourselves.  A  sincere  love  of  truth  and  a  profound  rever- 
ence for  the  Scriptures  will  preserve  us  from  rigid  dogmatisms  on  the  one 
hand  and  from  daring  and  dangerous  speculation  on  the  other. 

At  this  point  the  Kev.  J.  M.  King,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  having  been  recognized  by  the  chair,  sur- 
rendered the  floor  to  the  presiding  oflicer  in  the  following 
words :    . 

I  have  secured  the  floor  now  for  the  purpose  of  doing  what,  during  the 
next  five  minutes,  will  be  a  joy  to  your  hearts,  and  that  is  to  surrender  it 
to  the  president. 

The  Kev.  William  Arthur,  M.A.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Meth- 
odist Church,  accepting  the  privilege  thus  granted,  spoke  as  fol- 
lows : 

If  I  am  to  leave  the  chair  and  become  a  member  of  the  Conference  for 
the  next  five  minutes  instead  of  its  president  somebody  must  hold  the 
gavel,  and  I  hand  it  to  the  "  King." 

I  never  heard  in  a  Methodist  assembly  any  discussion  that  caused  me 
such  deep  thoughts  and  feelings  as  the  one  I  have  heard  this  morning.  I 
have  no  time  to  argue  it.  Continents  have  been  shaken  and  we  can  scarcely 


GENERAL    KEMAKKS.  185 

scratch  the  surface ;  but  I  should  say  to  all  young  people  here  to  take 
care  not  to  take  in  words  without  saying  to  the  word,  "What  do  you 
mean  ?  "  I  have  heard  words  used  this  morning  which,  evidently,  the 
men  using  them  had  not  settled  iu  their  heads  what  they  mean.  What 
does  the  word  ' '  fatherhood  "  mean  ?  In  the  minds  of  a  great  many  I 
find  that  the  word  father  means  a  certain  official  in  the  family,  who  shall 
say  every  thing  will  in  the  long  run  be  right ;  and  so,  the  son  the  forger, 
and  the  son  the  seducer,  and  the  son  the  drunkard,  and  all  the  other  bad 
sons  shall,  iu  the  end,  be  as  sure  of  a  good  place  in  the  family  estate 
as  the  good  sons.  That  is  their  idea  of  ''fatherhood."  I  do  not  say  that 
was  the  idea  with  which  the  word  was  used  to-day.  It  was  used  so 
vaguely  that  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  say  what  the  meaning  was ;  but 
I  say  that  is  a  meaning  which  in  England  has  been  propagated  far  and 
wide  under  the  allegation  of  benevolence.  I  say  a  father  like  that  is  a 
monster,  and  a  family  which  is  under  such  a  father  would  be  in  ruins  in 
next  to  no  time. 

Again,  the  word  ' '  evil "  has  been  used.  What  does  evil  mean  ?  In  the 
mouths  of  many  people  it  means  pain,  not  wrong.  But  pain  is  not  evil. 
Pain,  so  far  as  I  know,  is  one  of  the  administrative  functions  of  the  divine 
government.  It  is  good  or  evil,  accordingly  as  it  is  applied.  If  it  is 
applied  to  hinder  wrong,  then  it  is  good.  If  it  is  applied  to  increase 
wrong,  then  it  is  evil.  ' '  Wrong, "  what  is  it  ?  Wrong  is  the  father  of 
unnecessary  suffering.  Never  confound  evil  and  wrong.  Reject  all 
attempt  to  confuse  your  thoughts  by  confounding  them.  Evil  is  wrong. 
Hate  it,  and  cast  it  out.  Then  again,  "evolution."  What  is  evolution  ? 
It  is  the  unrolling  of  a  thing  from  wuthin.  It  is  never  the  unfolding  of  a 
thing  by  an  influence  from  without.  Ask  the  iron  to  unfold  itself  into  that 
pillar,  and  it  cannot  do  it;  but  the  flower,  if  you  give  it  the  sun  and  the 
air  and  the  rain,  will  unfold  itself.  And  why  ?  Because  there  is  a  power 
of  life  behind  it.  "Evolution."  They  point  me  to  the  variation  of  the 
species ;  they  point  me  to  the  fertilization  of  the  orchid ;  and  they  call 
that  evolution.  But  it  is  not ;  it  is  a  power  from  above  and  a  power  from 
without  that  acts  upon  the  subject  and  brings  forth  that  which  in  itself  it 
has  no  power  to  bring  forth.  But  it  is  a  mistake  to  think  that  evolution, 
as  is  thought  by  certain  classes  of  scientists,  expresses  any  thing  like  the 
phenomena  of  nature.  There  is  a  large  class  of  phenomena  which  comes 
with  the  term  "  evolution,"  and  in  the  easy  school  of  philosophy  that  is 
engrafted  ujion  real  science ;  but  it  is  no  part  of  real  science.  In  that 
philosophy  evolution  is  used  to  mean  a  great  many  things  it  does  not 
mean.     And  so  I  may  go  on  with  a  large  number  of  these  words. 

But  I  shall  only  allude  to  one  point  in  biblical  criticism.  I  agree  with 
every  thing  that  has  been  said,  that  neither  for  physical  science  nor  for 
literary  science  should  we  have  any  fear.  Faith  should  be  able  always  to 
wait  and  wait  and  wait.  Depend  upon  it,  as  has  been  said,  that  truth  is 
always  for  the  truth,  and  light  is  always  for  the  light. 

The  Kev.  Bishop    J.  C.  Keener,  D.D,,  of  the  Methodist 

Episcopal  Church,  South,  made  the  following  remarks : 

Mr.  President :  Five  minutes  seems  a  very  short  time  to  me,  but  it  may 
seem  to  be  a  very  long  time  to  you  before  I  am  through.  The  paper  of 
this  morning,  which  was  very  elaborate  and  very  able,  said  that  a  plain 
man  in  these  days  was  not  satisfied  with  the  bare  statement  that  evolution 
is  not  true.  I  am  a  plain  man.  It  is  indeed  a  very  difficult  thing  to  con- 
ceive of  creation,  and  the  mind,  after  many  attempts  and  defeats  not  be- 
ing able  to  conceive  of  the  fact,  passes  off  into  a  conception  of  growth, 
forgetting  that  growth  itself  is  an  all-important  part  of  creation. 
15 


186  THE    CHUECH    AND    SCIENTIFIC   THOUGHT. 

Sir,  I  beg  to  read  a  verse  from  the  Scripture  which  is  certainly  in 
point,  being  found  in  the  Book  of  Genesis : 

' '  These  are  the  generations  of  the  heavens  and  of  the  earth  when  they 
were  created,  in  the  day  that  the  Lord  God  made  the  earth  and  the  heavens, 
and  every  plant  of  the  field  before  it  was  in  the  earth,  and  every  herb  of 
the  field  before  it  grew." 

Now,  sir,  there  is  creation  in  the  mind  of  God.  There  it  is  in  the 
highest  conception  and  expression  of  creation,  which  is  the  law  of  con- 
tinued being.  To  make  a  tree  would  be  nothing,  unless  there  were 
planted  in  that  tree  the  law  of  continuance.  So  this  is  the  grand  marvel. 
There  is  one  law-giver.  It  is  the  law  that  is  in  the  mind  of  God  that  is 
chargeable  with  giving  to  us  a  conception,  feeble  or  strong,  of  the  great 
work  of  the  Master. 

I  say,  Mr.  President,  that  I  cannot  expect  to  go  into  any  argument  on 
this  imi)ortant  subject,  but  I  deprecate  the  apologetic  views  as  to  the 
whole  matter  of  creation.  I  take  the  Mosaic  account  of  creation  squarely 
and  fully,  as  positive,  exact,  and  reasonable.  I  come  entirely  out  of  the 
region  of  speculation,  and  come  into  the  region  of  positive  truth.  My 
brother  says  that  after  all  the  appeal  is  to  the  facts.  I  want  to  advise  you 
that  you  cannot  get  facts  into  the  mind  of  a  man  that  has  adopted  a 
theory  for  twenty-five,  thirty,  forty,  or  fifty  years.  There  is  no  clearer 
testimony  of  this  than  the  statement  of  the  Duke  of  Argyle,  that  you  may 
present  a  fact  before  the  scientific  world,  no  matter  how  plainly,  and  it 
passes  it  by  as  if  it  had  not  been  presented. 

The  Emperor  William  one  day  paid  a  visit  to  the  great  casting  works 
of  Krupp,  and  one  of  the  managers  of  the  company  was  showing  him  the 
remarkable  control  they  had  of  the  steam-hammer  which  forged  the  great 
cannon ;  that  they  could  arrest  it  in  a  moment.  The  emperor  took  out 
his  watch  and  put  it  under  the  hammer —     (Time  expired.) 

The  Rev.  E,  Lloyd  Jones,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President:  My  first  remark  will  be  especially  to  you,  sir,  and  to 
assure  you  that  as  one  of  the  younger  ministers  accepting  evolution  you 
can  be  perfectly  certain — at  least  I  am  certain — that  there  is  no  man  in  the 
Methodist  ministry  that  believes  in  evolution  according  to  agnosticism. 
To  every  minister  who  believes  in  evolution  the  question  is  not  whether 
God  made  the  world  or  not,  but  how  he  made  it,  whether  it  was  brouglit 
into  existence  in  six  days  or  in  six  years,  or  whether  God  made  it  at  all. 
We  who  accept  the  doctrine  of  evolution  believe  that  behind  and  before 
all  things  Almicrhty  God  is  the  maker  and  controller  of  all.  Be  assured, 
Mr.  President,  I  will  say  it  in  my  own  name  and  in  the  name  of  my 
brethren,  that  there  are  none  of  us  who  believe  such  an  absurdity  as  that 
which  you  have  described. 

The  President  :  I  am  not  aware  that  I  said  any  thing  to  that  effect.  I 
certainly  never  meant  it  if  I  did.  I  perfectly  distinguished  between  the 
atheist  and  the  evolutionist.     Darwin  himself  was  not  an  atheist. 

Mr.  Jones  :  I  will  assure  you  of  another  thing,  and  that  is,  that  so  far 
as  I  know  the  Methodist  ministry,  there  are  none  of  us  who  believe  in  a 
father  according  to  the  idea  that  you  describe.  We  believe  that  the  net 
result  of  good  can  never  be  the  same  as  the  net  result  of  evil.  We  be- 
lieve that  in  the  conception  of  the  Father  there  is  righteousness.  I  assure 
this  Conference  that  so  far  as  England  is  concerned  she  is  clear  upon 
those  two  points. 

Now,  sir,  we  have  been  taught  this  morning  that  religious  belief  is  not 
an  act  of  the  intellect,  but  an  operation  of  the  heart.     It  was  exceed- 


GENERAL    KEMARKS.  187 

ingly  unfortunate  that  the  gentleman  did  not  quote  the  balance  of  the 
verse,  and  then  he  would  have  learned  that  when  St.  Paul  said  that 
belief  was  an  act  of  the  heart  he  limited  its  meaning  to  one  thing,  and 
that  is  that  the  heart  of  man  believes  in  righteousness.  It  is  not  with 
the  heart  that  man  believes  that  two  and  two  make  four.  It  is  not  with 
the  heart  that  men  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God.  My 
friend  Ballard  quoted  the  words  of  Wesley  when  he  said  that  we  had 
nothing  to  do  but  to  save  souls.  I  contend  that  you  can  only  save  souls 
by  enlightening  people's  minds. 

Then  there  is  another  thing.  I  thought  that  there  was  not  a  man  in 
America  or  England  or  anywhere  else  who  believed  that  a  man  was  bad, 
and  that  because  he  was  bad  he  would  accept  certain  doctrines.  Am  I  to 
believe  that  Channing,  who  was  a  Unitarian,  was  a  bad  man,  or  am  I  to 
believe  that  James  Martineau  is  a  l)ad  man?  Am  I  to  believe  that  Maurice 
and  Stanley  were  bad  men?  O,  I  am  glad  when  I  get  out  of  the  narrow 
ruts  of  some  men  and  turn  to  John  Wesley.  Methodism  has  never  yet 
produced  as  broad  a  man  as  John  Wesley.  He  did  not  make  opinions 
the  condition  of  salvation.  He  wrote  the  life  of  the  Unitarian,  and  he 
admitted  that  although  Thomas  Firmin  did  not  believe  in  the  Trinity, 
he  was  still  one  of  the  most  pious  men  that  ever  lived.  I  am  a  true  con- 
servative, and  I  stand  by  the  principle  of  churchmanship  of  John  Wesley, 
and  not  by  the  narrow  pretenses  of  some  men  who  cannot  draw  a  distinc- 
tion between  the  intellect  and  the  heart,  which  every  man  who  has  read 
the  smallest  text-book,  even  one  costing  a  shilling,  ought  to  know. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  C.  H.  Fowler,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  continued  the  discussion,  as  follows : 

I  would  like,  Mr.  Chairman,  if  we  had  the  time,  to  utter  some  convic- 
tions about  the  truth  involved  in  this  discussion,  for  it  has  been  my  mis- 
fortune to  come  to  the  conviction,  as  a  practical  working  minister,  that  I 
can  produce  conviction  in  the  minds  of  the  people  who  hear  me  only  by 
having  that  conviction  myself.  I  think  we  are  a  little  imperiled  by 
thinking  that  this  company,  with  our  anxieties  and  care  about  the  prob- 
lem w^hich  has  been  started,  represent  all  the  work  of  Methodism.  There 
is  a  great  host  that  goes  out  to  conquest,  holding  chiefly  a  profound  con- 
viction that  the  Sou  of  man  hath  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins.  As  the 
Jesuits  never  argue,  but  insist,  they  grow  by  their  insistence.  Let  us 
not  forget  that  great  truth.  Nevertheless,  I  must  bear  testimony  to  this, 
that  unless  we  can  defend  the  ground  ujdou  which  we  stand  we  must  sur- 
render, and  for  one  I  welcome  every  word  of  criticism  upon  the  word  of 
God,  or  upon  the  authority  of  the  book,  or  upon  the  right  of  the  Church, 
or  upon  the  dignity  of  any  man,  for  I  have  shipped  for  the  eternal  voyage. 
If  you  can  demonstrate  to  me  that  I  am  only  on  a  raft  invented  by  priests 
for  taking  toll  but  ferrying  us  to  no  landing,  that  will  go  to  pieces  in  the 
flrst  storm,  I  would  rather  know  it  now,  I  would  say  to  our  enemies : 
If  you  have  any  dynamite  bombs  that  can  shatter  the  Rock  of  Ages,  I 
beseech  you  strike  them  off.  If  you  have  any  telescope  that  can  dissolve 
the  Star  of  Bethlehem,  I  beseech  you  bring  it  forward.  I  cannot  afford 
to  cherish  and  lean  upon  a  fallacy.  And  more,  sir,  I  am  in  deepest 
sympathy  with  the  sentiment  already  uttered,  that  we  ought  to  extend  the 
warmest  hand  to  every  brother  working  in  the  great  vineyard  of  God. 
They  are  pulling  up  the  stumps  and  cutting  down  the  trees,  and  making 
room  for  our  better  seed-sowing  in  this  land  which  has  been  given  us  by 
God,  and  which  we  have  all  of  us  so  poorly  kept.  They  may  not  come 
near  enough  to  the  mansion  to  hear  the  music  and  feel  the  fatherly  greet- 
ing, yet  they  may  be  doing  valuable  work  in  taming  and  subduing  the 


188  THE    CHUKCH    AND    SCIENTIFIC    THOUGHT. 

estate.  So  let  us  not  club  them  off.  Let  us  utilize  their  skill  and  indus- 
try. I  think,  sir,  that  we  have  nothing  to  fear  on  the  front  line.  Some- 
tMng  has  been  said  in  commending  Drummond's  great  book.  It  has  been 
somewhere  called  a  '"Drummond  Light."  It  is  a  widely  illustrated  argu- 
ment, but  it  has  an  underlying  assumption  of  fatalism  that  needs  scrutiny. 
I  had  rather  follow  the  great  book  of  our  honored  chairman  (William 
Arthur)  on  Natural  and  Spiritual  Law. 

We  have  heard  concessions  concerning  evolution,  but  I  am  content  to 
walk  in  the  broad  and  luminous  way  opened  up  by  Principal  Dawson.  I 
like  the  doctrine  as  put  by  the  great  Agassiz.  I  had  rather  follow  on  this 
subject  the  lead  of  .James  Martineau,  who  says:  "  It  is  a  mean  device  for 
a  philosopher  to  crib  causation  by  hairs'-breadths,  put  it  out  at  compound 
interest  through  all  time,  and  then  deny  the  debt." 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Allen,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  made  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President:  It  is  impossible  in  five  minutes  to  touch  upon  the  three 
subjects  which  we  have  been  considering  this  morning.  In  regard  to 
evolution,  my  own  idea  is  that  it  is  strong  in  the  fact  that  it  is  a  well 
constructed  theory;  but  I  am  not  sure  that  its  weakness  does  not  lie  in 
the  fact  that  it  is  a  theory.  Yo\i  cannot  get  all  the  facts  of  the  universe 
into  a  theory,  and  I  have  an  impression  that  you  never  will.  In  regard  to 
the  skepticism  of  the  age,  it  seems  to  be  very  important  that  wc  should 
consider  it  and  understand  as  far  as  possible  tlie  temper  of  it.  I  think  it 
arises  very  much  from  a  habit  in  which  I  confess  I  rejoice,  the  habit  of 
looking  things  squarely  in  the  face.  It  arises  very  much  from  perfect 
fearlessness  in  the  investigation  of  truth,  and  in  my  opinion  it  is  to  be 
looked  upon  with  hope  rather  than  with  fear.  This  has  been  called  a 
critical  age.  I  suppose  the  critical  faculty  in  man  was  never  develoi^ed 
as  it  is  now,  and  I  think,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  such  au  age  as  ours  was 
bound  to  come.  It  was  necessitated  by  the  very  accumulations  of 
thought  and  of  literature,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  has  lieen  stimu- 
lated by  these  principles  of  Protestantism  in  which  we  all  rejoice,  and  re- 
joice so  much. 

There  is  a  strong  tendency  to-day  to  turn  from  the  supernatm-al  to  the 
natural  side  of  things,  to  the  human  side  of  the  character  of  Christ,  to 
the  human  side  of  the  Bible,  to  the  materialistic  side  of  the  human  con- 
stitution, and  the  natural  side  of  human  life.  We  are  in  the  midst  of  a 
great  reaction  in  this  respect,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  we  need  to  be  cau- 
tious, and  to  study  this  reaction,  and  to  consider  how  far  it  is  likely  to 
carry  us,  or  else  before  long,  you  may  depend  upon  it,  it  will  weaken  our 
hold  upon  those  great  supernatural  principles  in  which  we  have  trusted 
in  the  times  gone  by. 

With  relation  to  the  subject  that  was  so  ably  handled  by  my  friend 
Mr.  Davison,  we  are  in  the  midst  of  a  great  controversy  in  regard  to  the 
Bible,  and,  to  a  great  extent,  it  is  a  new  discussion.  It  involves  inspira- 
tion and  revelation,  of  course,  but  it  is  especially  a  discussion  as  to  the 
form  which  revelation  has  taken.  Here  is  a  particular  book.  What  is 
the  history  of  the  growth  of  this  book.  What  is  the  meaning  of  the 
fact  that  "there  are  different  styles  and  different  temperaments  indicated 
in  this  book  ?  This  discussion  is  of  supreme  importance,  and  we  are  in 
the  midst  of  it.  We  must  go  through  it  and  avc  must  accept  the  con- 
sequences. Reference  has  been  made  this  morning  to  the  skeptical  the- 
ories in  regard  to  revelation  which  are  now  propounded.  You  will  not 
misunderstand  me  when  I  say  that  in  this  Conference  we  have  not  very 
much  to  do  with  such  theories.     The  great  question  with  me  is  not  what 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  189 

the  skeptics  say,  but  what  is  the  opinion  of  those  Christian  scholars  who 
are  investigating  this  subject. 

Only  a  few  years  ago  all  England  was  alarmed  by  the  publication  of  a 
book  with  a  great  title,  namely,  Supernatural  Religion.  Many  people 
said  that  it  would  undermine  the  foundations  of  our  faith.  The  book 
died  years  ago,  and  the  late  Bishop  Lightfoot  killed  it.  The  question 
with  me  is,  What  do  such  critics  say  ? 

The  Kev.  David  Brook,  M.A.,  B.C.L.,  of  the  United  Meth- 
odist Free  Church,  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  The  essay  of  Mr.  Bunting  and  the  address  of  Professor 
Davison  this  morning  I  think  correctly  represent  the  prevailing  thought 
among  the  Churches  in  the  old  country.  We  cannot  say  so  much  in  re- 
gard to  the  discussion  that  has  foUowed^  the  paper  and  the  address.  Most 
of  us  who  come  from  England,  at  any  rate,  feel  that  we  might  as 
Avell  knock  our  heads  against  a  stone  wall  as  to  try  to  object  nowadays  to 
a  good  many  of  the  facts  which  have  been  abundantly  verified  in  the 
great  domain  of  natural  science.  We  have  to  accept,  and  we  do  readily 
accept,  these  facts.  Now  for  one,  and  I  am  quite  sure  that  in  this  I  speak 
for  many,  we  regard  ourselves  as  under  the  very  highest  obligation  to 
men  like  Professor  Davison,  who  approach  the  critical  side  of  this  ques- 
tion in  so  reverent  and  yet  in  so  frank  and  candid  a  spirit.  We  cannot 
all  of  us  go  exactly  in  the  line  in  wiiich  they  may  be  leading,  but  it  is  a 
pleasure  to  be  aware  of  the  fact  that  in  our  own  ranks  there  are  men  who 
are  competent  to  lead  the  hosts  of  Israel  in  respect  to  the  highest  biblical 
criticism. 

If  we  have  in  any  thing  lost  our  faith  in  theories  of  the  mechanical  in- 
spiration of  the  Bible,  I  believe  that  loss  is  more  than  compensated  for  by 
the  simpler  and  heartier  belief  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God 
and  the  Son  of  man,  as  the  Saviour  of  our  souls.  If  we  have  in  any  degree 
lost  faith,  as  many  of  us  have  lost  faith,  in  the  merely  verbal  and  mechan- 
ical theory  of  inspiration,  we  have  not  lost  faith,  but  possibly  have  gained 
an  intensity  of  faith  in  the  real  presence  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  our 
hearts  as  a  guide  of  our  lives  and  of  our  churches  and  the  living  leader 
of  the  age  in  which  we  live.  And,  besides  that,  the  loss  of  tiiat  mechan- 
ical theory  has  made  our  Bible  in  many  respects  far  more  interesting 
to  us  than  it  used  to  be.  We  no  longer  make  the  attempt  to  keep  our 
opinions  in  respect  to  the  Bible  apart  from  our  knowledge  and  study  of 
other  subjects.  And  what  is  the  consequence?  We  find  our  Bible  to  be 
made  more  interesting  by  illustrations  from  our  other  studies,  and  we 
find  also  our  other  studies  to  be  more  interesting  l^y  their  relation  to  the 
Bible. 

The  specific  purpose  for  which  I  rose  was  to  suggest  that  there  is  one 
branch  of  study  which  has  been  very  largely  neglected  by  biblical 
students,  and  it  is  a  branch  which  I  believe  would  offer  to  us  a  very  large 
advance  in  the  correct  interpretation  of  some  of  the  most  important  parts 
of  the  New  Testament.  We  are  more  or  less  familiar  with  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  Jews.  By  understanding  those  manners  and  customs 
we  are  enabled  to  enter  into  the  meaning,  say,  of  the  apostle  Paul  in  re- 
spect to  some  of  his  arguments  which  we  could  not  understand  without 
such  knowledge.  We  are  apt  to  forget,  however,  that  Paul — Saul  of  Tar- 
sus— was  also  a  Roman  citizen,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  an  acquaintance 
with  Roman  laws,  institutions,  manners,  and  customs  as  full  and  familiar  as 
that  we  have  with  the  Jewish  would  shed  light  on  a  great  many  of  the 
apostle's  allusions  which  are  at  present  obscure. 


190  THE   CHURCH    AND    SCIENTIFIC    THOUGHT. 

J.  J.  Maclaren,  LL.D.,  D.C.L.,  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
Canada,  closed  the  discussiou  with  the  following  remarks : 

Mr.  President:  I  am  neither  a  scientist  nor  a  theologian;  but  I  wish  to 
add  one  thought,  if  I  can,  to  the  discussion  of  this  morning.  And,  lirst,  as 
a  h^yman  I  would  express  my  appreciation  of  the  brilliant  paper  we  have 
had  from  the  distinguished  layman  whose  absence  from  this  Conference  I 
exceedingly  regret. 

It  has  been  the  aim  of  the  profession  to  which  I  have  the  honor  to  be- 
long to  discover  the  principles  which  should  govern  inquiry,  and  to 
form  rules  by  the  application  of  which  correct  conclusions  may  be  drawn 
from  ascertained  facts.  For  two  thousand  years  and  more  it  had  been 
endeavoring  to  lay  down  and  perfect  the  rules  of  evidence.  It  had  almost 
come  to  be  accepted  as  a  truism  that  no  educated  class  ask  us  to  accept 
conclusions  on  such  slender  data  as  the  clergy  and  clerical  writers.  Of 
course  they  would  claim  that  the  supernatural  was  not  subject  to  the  or- 
dinary rules.  Religious  teachers  and  writers  have  made  great  demands 
on  our  faith,  and,  I  may  say,  on  our  credulity,  but  as  a  class  they  are  no- 
where in  comparison  with  a  large  number  of  so-called  scientists  of  the 
present  day.  If  these  men  would  apply  the  elementary  rules  of  evidence, 
they  would  not  ask  us  to  accept  conclusions  on  such  insufficient  data. 
They  draw  their  conclusions  and  then  try  to  manufacture  evidence  to 
support  their  theory.  If  they  would  carefully  observe  and  record  the 
facts,  and  not  be  so  hasty  in  their  judgments,  we  would  hear  less  of  tlie 
conflict  between  science  and  religion.  Advocates  of  Christianity  may 
have  had  to  abandon  some  untenable  position  of  late  years,  but  not  half 
so  many  in  iny  opinion  as  the  apostles  of  the  so-called  advanced  scientific 
thought.  If  more  scientists  would  show  the  patience  of  a  Darwin  or  a 
Dallinger,  the  conflict  with  religion  would  largely  be  avoided.  Indeed, 
Darwin  could  hardly  be  called  a  Darwinian  or  recognize  many  of  his  so- 
called  followers. 

My  young  friend  from  across  the  water  thinks  Americans  are  twenty 
years  behind  his  ow^n  land  in  science.  As  a  Canadian  I  wish  to  tell  him 
his  mistake.  In  scientific  investigation,  and  especially  in  the  apjDlication 
of  science,  I  believe  America  is  quiet  abreast  of  the  Old  "World.  I  would 
remind  the  Englishmen  present  that  China  knew  much  of  modern  science, 
but  made  no  practical  use  of  it.  So  electricity  was  long  known  in  Europe, 
but  it  was  left  to  America  to  brinff  it  down  from  the  clouds  and  teach  it 
the  English  language,  and  give  us  the  telegraph  and  the  telephone.  One 
man  alone — Edison — is,  I  believe,  doing  more  to-day  for  practical  science 
than  scores  of  the  professed  speculative  scientific  writers  who  are  making 
so  much  noise  in  England  and  running  a-tilt  against  Christianity.  In 
America  science  has  generally  kept  within  its  proper  sphere,  has  sought 
to  learn  the  secrets  of  nature,  and  has  not  asked  for  a  verdict  before  the 
evidence  has  been  in.  Hence  scientific  America  has  had  little  or  no  con- 
flict with  Christianity,  but  has  furnished  some  of  its  more  stalwart  de- 
fenders.    And  such  disputes  as  arise  are  largely  a  conflict  about  words. 

As  to  the  chief  of  the  modern  scientific  theories  which  have  found  some 
defenders  here  to-day,  I  think  the  decision  of  the  majority  of  intelligent, 
unprejudiced  hearers  would  be  as  yet  the  Scotch  verdict  of  "  Not  proven." 

On  motion  of  the  Rev.  John  Lond  the  following  resolution 
from  the  Business  Committee  was  adopted  : 

Whereas,  Some  of  the  widely  circulated  statements  regarding  the  num- 
ber of  the  members  and  adherents   of  the  various  Methodist  Churches 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  191 

place  tlie  number  far  below  the  proper  figures,  and  otherwise  do  not  fairly 
represent  the  forces  and  agencies  of  Methodism;  be  it  therefore 

Resolved^  That  a  representative  committee  on  the  Statistics  of  Methodism 
be  appointed,  with  a  view  to  their  presenting  to  this  Conference,  if  practi- 
cable, an  authentic  report  on  the  above  subject  that  may  be  published  in 
the  proceedings. 

On  motion  of  J.  M.  King,  D.D.,  the  following  were  ap- 
pointed the  Committee  called  for  in  the  foregoing  resohition  : 

J.  J.  Maclaren,  D.  J.  Waller,  F.  W.  Bourne,  T.  H.  Hunt,  J.  Swan 
Withington,  J.  Smith  Spencer,  William  Greenhill,  A.  B.  Leonard,  W.  P. 
Harrison,  William  Briggs,  B.  W.  Arnett,  D.  S.  Monroe,  and  W.  Morley. 

The  Committee  was  given  power  to  add  to  its  number  as 
necessary. 

The  doxology  was  then  sung,  and  the  benediction  was  pro- 
nounced by  the  Eev.  William  Arthur,  M.A. 


192  WESLEY   AND    HIS   MISSION. 


SUNDAY,   October  11,1891. 


MEMOKIAL  SEKMON  on  "Wesley  and  His  Mission,  be- 
fore the  Ecumenical  Conference,  in  the  Metropolitan 
Memorial  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  "Washington,  D.  C,  by 
Bishop  John  P.  Newman,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church. 

"  There  was  a  man  sent  from  God,  whose  nams  was  John.'''' — Jolm  i,  6. 


All  Methodism  is  a  luminous  commentary  upon  this  remarkable  text, 
which  contains  a  principle  and  declares  a  fact.  It  is  not  more  certain 
that  John  the  Baptist  was  the  chosen  herald  of  the  approaching  Messiah 
than  that  John  Wesley  was  called  to  be  the  apostle  of  a  new  era  in  the 
history  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Power  of  Individuality. 

It  is  a  fact  which  rises  to  the  majesty  of  a  law,  that  all  great  move- 
ments of  society,  whether  malevolent  or  benevolent,  can  be  traced  to  some 
individual.  It  was  Jeroboam  rather  than  any  other  king  of  Israel  who 
caused  the  ten  tribes  to  apostatize.  It  was  Caiaphas  rather  than  any 
other  Jew  who  instigated  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  was  Julian 
the  Apostate  rather  than  any  other  Roman  who  obstructed  the  onward 
march  of  Christian  progress  initiated  by  Constantine  the  Great.  It  was 
Voltaire  more  than  any  other  Frenchman  who  made  the  French  Revolution 
a  possibility;  a  revolution  which  dissolved  the  elements  of  society, 
reddened  the  streets  of  Paris  with  human  blood,  and  shook  Europe  to  its 
center.  It  Avas  David  Hume  more  than  any  other  Englishman  who  gave 
character  to  the  infidelity  of  the  last  century. 

And  how  equally  true  that  all  the  great  changes  in  society  which  have 
blessed  mankind  have  had  their  origin  with  some  royal  soul  who  had 
risen  above  the  selfishness  of  earth  and  time  to  the  purity  and  charity  of 
the  skies.  The  discovery  of  this  continent,  destined  to  be  the  home  of 
freemen,  was  the  work  of  the  illustrious  navigator  of  Genoa.  The  Ger- 
manic Reformation  was  born  in  the  heart  of  a  solitary  monk.  The  revival 
of  learning  in  the  sixteenth  century  is  due  to  one  philosopher  whose  name 
is  deathless.  More  than  to  any  other  English  colonist,  the  institutions  of 
this  country  can  be  attributed  to  the  immortal  Washington.  And,  rising 
above  all  these  in  supernal  majesty  and  glorj^,  the  redemption  of  our  race 
is  the  work  of  the  man  Christ  Jesus — who  "  trod  the  wine-press  alone  ; 
and  of  the  people  there  was  none  with  him." 

Do  you  tell  me  that  nations  have  missions ;  that  one  is  to  give  letters  to 
mankind ;  another,  law  to  the  world ;  another,  religion  to  our  race.  Yet 
all  history  is  in  proof  that  in  every  great  nation  some  individual  is  con- 


SERMON   OF   BISHOP   J.    P.    NEWMAN.  193 

spicuous,  and  that  the  momentous  epochs  of  time  crystallize  around  some 
man  or  woman.  As  the  ages  recede  the  less  eminent  vanish  from  the 
vision  of  the  world,  and  one  name  remains  to  individualize  a  nation's  life 
or  characterize  an  era  of  renown. 

It  is  a  truth  to  which  history  has  furnished  no  exception  to  the  rule, 
that  Jehovah  raises  up  men  to  accomplish  the  exalted  purposes  of  his 
will,  men  equal  to  their  times  and  adequate  to  their  calling.  "When  a 
powerful  monarch  was  to  be  confronted  upon  his  throne ;  when  a  dis- 
pirited people  were  to  be  inspired  with  a  nobler  patriotism ;  when  the 
most  stupendous  wonders  were  to  be  performed  on  mind  and  matter,  on 
land  and  sea,  on  men  and  nations,  then  the  prophet  of  Horcb  was  called. 
"When  idolatry  was  enthroned  upon  the  hills  of  Zion ;  when  the  weak- 
minded  Ahab  and  the  bloody-hearted  Jezebel  reigned  in  Jezreel ;  when 
the  altars  of  the  Lord  were  thrown  down  and  his  prophets  slain,  then  the 
prophet  of  Tishbe  was  set  as  a  wall  of  brass  against  the  encroachments  of 
idolatry.  "When  the  Christian  Church  was  in  its  infancy;  when  the 
learned  Jew,  the  polished  Greek,  the  proud  Roman  were  to  be  met  in 
argument;  when  the  Redeemer's  death  and  resurrection  were  to  be  pro- 
claimed in  the  synagogues  of  Palestine,  the  Acropolis  of  Athens,  and  the 
palaces  of  the  CfEsars ;  when  insjiired  letters  were  to  be  written  for  the 
Church  for  all  future  time,  then  Saul  of  Tarsus  was  called,  whose  peer- 
less intellect  and  sanctified  soul  enabled  him  to  cope  with  the  mightiest 
foes  of  the  Holy  One.  And  in  after  centuries,  when  ignorance  fell  like 
the  pall  of  death  upon  the  nations  of  mediajval  times ;  when  the  degener- 
acy of  the  Church  had  turned  the  earth  into  a  vast  moral  lazaretto;  when 
priests  were  letterless  and  popes  were  godless,  then  the  monk  of  Erfurt 
was  called.  Ascending  the  heavens  like  a  flaming  meteor,  he  dispelled  the 
darkness  of  a  night  of  a  thousand  years,  and  with  the  keys  seen  in  the 
visions  of  Patmos  he  unlocked  the  dungeons  of  the  nations  of  the  earth 
and  bade  the  people  go  free.  His  burning  words  fell  upon  the  ear  of  as- 
tonished Europe,  startling  as  the  booming  of  a  thousand  cannon ;  Leo  X. 
trembled  upon  his  throne  and  the  Reformation  moved  forward,  resistless 
as  the  march  of  a  whirlwind. 

So,  how  apparent  is  the  hand  of  God  discovered  to  the  children  of  men 
in  the  government  of  the  world  and  in  the  administration  of  his  Church, 
in  raising  up  "Wesley  as  his  messenger  and  representative,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  third  of  the  three  great  centuries  of  religious  liberty.  Of  an  hon- 
orable and  holy  ancestry,  his  was  a  timely  birth;  a  coincidence  with  his 
age  that  bespeaks  the  wisdom  that  brought  him  forth. 

W^ith  a  form  compact  and  symmetrical ;  a  mind  evenly  balanced — at 
once  legislative  and  judicial ;  an  intellect  enriched  from  the  treasures  of 
sacred  and  profane  learning;  a  memory  capacious  and  suggestive;  an 
understanding  minute  yet  all-comprehending,  it  was  like  the  tent  in  story — 
fold  it,  and  it  was  a  toy  in  the  hand  of  a  lady;  spread  it,  and  the  armies 
of  the  Sultan  might  repose  beneath  its  ample  shade ;  with  an  imagination 
that  borrowed  its  light  from  heaven's  eternal  sun  ;  a  will  whose  decisions 
were  like  the  everlasting  hills ;  a  courage  that  was  never  blanched  with 


194  WESLEY    AND    HIS    MISSION. 

fear ;  a  fortitude  that  never  wavered ;  a  gentleness  tender  as  a  woman's ; 
a  diligence  that  knew  no  cessation  save  death,  and  no  limitations  save  the 
boundaries  of  earth  and  time;  an  oratory  entrancing  as  it  was  appalling — 
that  could  raise  rhetoric  into  logic  and  metaphor  into  argument,  and 
thrill  the  most  debased  with  the  convictions  of  the  truth ;  a  piety  sincere 
as  it  was  exemplary,  and  with  a  love  all-embracing.     Behold,  the  man ! 

The  clearest  of  thinkers,  the  wisest  of  philosophers,  the  most  accurate 
of  historians,  the  most  versatile  of  scholars,  the  most  astute  of  logicians, 
who  never  quailed  in  the  presence  of  a  foeman ;  an  accomplished  linguist, 
who  could  say  with  Paul,  "I  thank  my  God,  I  speak  with  tongues  more 
than  ye  all ;  ■"  the  most  incisive  and  voluminous  of  writers ;  a  statesman  in 
the  disguise  of  an  ecclesiastic;  a  philauthroijist  who  symj^athized  with 
human  nature  more  than  with  human  condition ;  an  evangelist  who  knew 
the  letter  and  caught  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  the  burden  of  whose  mes- 
sage to  mankind  was,  "Without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord;" 
and  the  Christian  who  had  passed  through  all  the  stages  of  personal  ex- 
perience, from  the  depths  of  penitence  to  the  heights  of  perfect  love,  who 
had  translated  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  into  life  and  character  more  fully 
than  any  other  man  since  apostolic  times,  he  was  the  saintliest  of  men. 

Surely,  "Wesley  was  a  man  sent  from  God,"  who  illustrated  the  exalta- 
tion of  purified  individuality  as  the  reforming  and  conquering  force  in  the 
world,  rather  than  mere  church  organization,  with  creed  and  liturgy  and 
imposing  ceremonials.  History  was  repeated.  A  living  Christ  in  contrast 
with  a  dead  Jewish  Church ;  a  sanctified  and  consecrated  Wesley  in  con- 
trast with  the  overshadowing  ecclesiasticism  of  Rome  and  the  powerless 
formality  of  the  Church  of  England.  This  is  the  mightiest  thought  and 
the  crowning  glory  of  the  Wesleyan  movement.  It  stands  forth  sublime 
in  its  isolation,  yet  indicating  the  operation  of  immutable  law — segregat- 
ing the  individual  from  the  mass  to  be  purified,  and  the  return  of  the 
individual  into  the  mass,  whose  unified  power  shall  conquer  the  world  for 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

Oneness  op  the  Three  Reformations. 

Time  is  an  essential  element  in  unfolding  the  plans  and  purposes  of 
Jehovah.  The  consummation  of  a  great  result  is  not  the  work  of  a  day. 
Such  is  the  constitution  of  mind,  such  the  composition  of  society,  such  the 
operation  of  immutable  law,  that  the  ages  are  necessary  to  reach  vast  con- 
clusions. 

Jehovah  takes  a  step  to-day,  and  a  hundred  years  hence  the  advance 
is  apparent.  He  steps  on  the  summits  of  the  centuries.  There  are  silent 
centuries  in  which  he  acts  Init  never  speaks.  At  such  times  he  hides  him- 
self, and  anon  he  drops  the  drapery  of  his  invisil)ility,  his  naked  arm  ap- 
pears, and  his  hitherto  hidden  hand  writes  upon  some  palace  wall:  "Mene, 
Mene,  Tekel,  Upharsin."  He  deals  with  empires  as  the  instruments  of 
his  power.  Things  most  esteemed  by  men  are  as  the  dust  in  the  balance 
to  him.  He  writes  his  decrees  of  a  kingdom  in  the  waste-book  of  tem2)orary 
events,  but  in  his  imperishable  ledger  he  records  the  progress  of  the  king- 


SERMON    OF    BISHOP    J.    P.    NEWMAN.  195 

dom  of  his  Son.  The  times  and  seasons  are  in  his  hand.  Never  hurried, 
never  tardy,  always  on  his  throne,  he  ever  holds  in  the  hand  of  his  sover- 
eign sway  the  calendar  of  the  centuries,  and  on  that  dread  register  he 
notches  the  epochs  of  weal  and  woe  in  our  mortal  history.  With  him 
a  thousand  years  are  as  yesterday  when  it  is  past.  He  calls  Abraham  to 
found  a  Messianic  nation,  and  four  hundred  years  thereafter  the  chosen 
Moses  leads  forth  the  organized  nationality.  After  five  hundred  years  of 
judges  and  wars,  prophets  and  inconstancies,  Solomon  ascends  the  throne  of 
his  father  David.  A  millennium  of  years  come  and  go,  a  regenerated  peo- 
ple return  from  their  exile,  the  voice  of  the  last  of  the  prophets  is  hushed, 
at  length  the  silence  of  five  hundred  years  is  broken  by  the  song  of  angels, 
and  the  Messiah  appears — "the  desire  of  nations."  Three  and  a  half 
centuries  are  necessary  to  conquer  a  nation  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
millions  of  people,  whose  vast  dominion  was  from  the  Euphrates  to  the 
Western  Ocean  and  from  the  Wall  of  Antoninus  to  the  Mountains  of  the 
Moon,  when  Christianity  ascends  the  throne  of  the  Csesars  with  the  royal 
diadem  upon  her  brow  and  the  royal  purple  upon  her  shoulders,  giving 
laws  from  that  very  tribunal  where  she  had  been  dragged  as  a  criminal 
and  condemned  as  a  malefactor.  Twelve  hundred  years  of  decline,  dark- 
ness, and  silence  are  numbered  with  the  ages  agone,  when  the  voice  of  a 
monk  is  heard  in  the  wilderness  of  the  Church  calling  the  world  to  pen- 
itence and  faith.  Two  hundred  years  of  preparation  ensue,  and  Wesley 
comes  forth,  the  representative  of  a  new  era  of  purity  and  love. 

The  three  great  centuries  of  the  Wesleyan  movement  are  the  sixteenth, 
seventeenth,  and  eighteenth,  and  the  three  conspicuous  characters  of  those 
mighty  epochs  are  Luther,  Cranmer,  and  Wesley.  Each  of  these  immortal 
heroes  had  his  peculiar  mission.  Each  did  a  work  demanded  by  his  times. 
Substitution  was  impossible.  Luther  was  not  the  man  for  the  eighteenth 
century;  Wesley  was  not  the  man  for  the  sixteenth  century;  Cranmer  was 
not  the  man  for  the  place  of  either  the  one  or  the  other.  The  three  ref- 
ormations are  parts  of  one  great  whole. 

Luther. 

Luther  lifted  his  voice  in  solemn  protest  against  the  ecclesiastical  usur- 
pations of  Rome,  and  bravely  assailed  the  foundations  of  the  papal 
hierarchy.  He  pronounced  against  prevailing  abuses  and  then  denounced 
the  principle  from  which  they  fiowed.  He  denied  that  the  episcopate  is 
the  Church  and  the  sole  teacher  and  ruler  of  the  world.  He  asserted  that 
all  trusts  assigned  to  bishops  belong  to  every  Christian ;  that  ordination 
is  a  human  arrangement  l)y  which  the  divine  prerogatives  lodged  in  the 
Church,  as  the  congregation  of  faithful  persons,  are  delegated  to  a  few  to 
exercise  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  all;  that  the  "  deposit  "  of 
rights  and  authority  is  in  the  Church  and  not  in  the  episcopate,  and  that 
the  distinction  between  a  clergyman  and  a  layman  is  that  of  function 
and  of  office.     Brave  man ! 

How  bravely  he  advanced,  step  by  step,  until  he  proclaimed  the  ulti- 
mate truth  of   human  rights.      In  his  Address  to  the  German  NoUlity, 


'■o'- 


196  WESLEY    AND    HIS    MISSION. 

in  1520,  lie  sought  to  obliterate  the  false  distinctions  between  the  divine 
and  human,  and  declared  that  they  are  not  foreign  to  each  other.  By 
this  false  idea  popes  had  assumed  to  reign  over  kings.  He  said  that  the 
secular  power  of  the  State  is  divine  and  is  ordained  by  the  Almighty, 
without  papal  sanction ;  that  it  flows  out  of  the  order  and  constitution  of 
nature ;  that  all  things  are  holy. 

He  denied  that  the  Bible  is  a  deposit  in  the  hands  of  the  episcopate, 
and  then  l)oldly  proclaimed  that  laymen  should  have  the  Scriptures; 
that  to  them  belongs  the  right  of  private  judgment.  This  was  the  death- 
blow to  papal  infallibility.  It  was  the  noble  declaration  of  the  rights  of  the 
Christian  conscience  which  is  the  basis  of  the  certitude  of  Christian  belief. 

The  day  of  the  Reformation  had  dawned.  More  and  more  the  morning 
light  was  growing  intense  on  the  path  of  Luther.  A  new  spiritual  life 
rose  before  him.  He  had  counted  his  rosary,  kissed  his  crucifix,  im- 
plored the  Virgin  for  the  last  time.  The  divine  Author  of  the  justifica- 
tion of  faith  appeared  in  glory  to  his  consciousness ;  he  looked  to  the 
wounds  of  Christ,  and  in  triumph  shouted,  "The  just  shall  live  by 
faith."  No  marvel  that  in  his  Introduction  to  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans, 
he  has  given  the  clearest,  fullest,  joyfullest  exposition  of  saving  faith 
extant  in  Christian  literature. 

Cranmer. 

Great  men  appear  in  groups  and  in  groups  they  disappear  from  the 
vision  of  mankind.  In  providential  movements  for  the  elevation  of  the 
human  race  contemporaries  appear,  often  the  converse  of  each  other,  but 
ha^jpily  the  supplements  of  one  another. 

Go  back  a  hundred  years,  take  a  great  Englishman  and  a  great  Amer- 
ican, whose  combined  efforts  prepared  for  the  coming  of  our  American 
republic.  They  w^ere  alike  in  spirit,  but  unlike  in  mental  endowments. 
Edwards  was  a  profound  metaphysician;  AVhitefield  was  simple  in  his 
modes  of  thought.  Edwards  was  vast  in  his  scholarship ;  Whitefield  was 
general  in  his  readings.  Edwards  reared  his  pulpit  on  Mount  Sinai  and 
thundered  the  terrors  of  the  law ;  Whitefield  reared  his  pulpit  on  Mount 
Calvary  and  wept  as  he  recited  the  story  of  the  cross.  Edwards  was  the 
storm-cloud  whence  came  the  thunder  and  lightning  of  Jehovah's  wrath; 
Whitefield  was  the  bow  of  promise  thrown  athwart  its  dismal  form. 

The  effect  of  their  preaching  was  unlike.  Edwards  lacerated;  White- 
field  penetrated.  Edwards  dried  the  fountains  of  human  emotion  by  the 
terribleness  of  his  appeals;  Whitefield  opened  those  fountains  by  the 
gentleness  of  his  pathos.  In  his  great  sermon  at  Ensfield,  Edwards 
preached  from  the  text,  "Their  feet  shall  slip  in  due  time,"  when  many 
of  his  auditors  grasped  column  and  pew,  feeling  that  they  were  already 
slipping  into  hell.  In  his  great  sermon  in  Philadelphia  to  twenty  thou- 
sand, on  the  crucifixion  of  our  Lord,  Whitefield  melted  the  vast  auditory 
by  the  pathos  of  his  eloquence. 

Six  years  after  Luther's  birth  Cranmer  was  born;  ten  years  after 
Luther's  death,  Cranmer  was  burnt.     Eminent  in  canon  law,  in  theology, 


SERMON    OF    BISHOP   J.    P.    NEWMAN.  197 

in  philology,  at  once  a  divine  and  a  statesman,  he  did  more  than  any- 
other  man  of  his  times  to  jiroduce  the  Anglican  Church,  a  venerable 
Church,  Calvinistic  in  creed,  papal  in  liturgy,  Arminian  in  clergy,  within 
whose  sheltering  arms  are  peacefully  gathered  the  high  and  low  church- 
men, the  Calvinist  and  Universalist. 

Historians  may  pronounce  Cranmer  the  "  First  Protestant  Archbishoj) 
of  Canterbury, "  but  his  Protestantism  was  a  difficult  achievement.  The 
action  of  Henry  VIII.  did  not  change  the  faith  and  liturgy  of  the  En- 
glish people;  the  Church  of  England  continued  in  possession  of  the 
church  projjerty,  the  bishops  remained  in  their  respective  sees,  and  the 
outward  aspect  of  the  Church  was  substantially  unchanged.  He  dis- 
solved the  monasteries,  withheld  the  tribute,  and  proclaimed  himself 
head  of  the  Church ;  but  it  was  one  head  for  another  head ;  it  was  Pope 
Henry  VIII.  for  Pope  Clement  VII.;  a  layman  instead  of  a  clergyman; 
a  king  in  the  room  of  a  pontiff ;  it  was  London  against  Rome,  and  Par- 
liament against  the  Vatican. 

The  English  Reformation  was  of  slow  but  certain  growth ;  the  struggle 
between  Protestantism  and  Romanism  was  long  and  full  of  vicissitudes, 
and  lasted  for  seventy  years — from  Henry  VIII.  to  William  of  Orange, 
whose  conquering  sword  made  England  Protestant  forever. 

Before  that  hapjjy  day  came  Cranmer  had  joined  "the  noble  army  of 
martyrs."  Like  Luther,  he  had  visited  Rome  and  returned  disgusted; 
like  him,  he  had  entered  the  holy  estate  of  matrimony;  like  him,  he  had 
translated  the  Bible  into  the  vernacular  and  placed  a  copy  of  the  Holy 
Scrijitures  in  every  church,  to  ])e  read  by  the  people ;  like  him,  he  had 
prepared  articles  of  religion,  homiles,  and  liturgies  for  the  people,  and 
had,  like  him,  bade  defiance  to  all  Rome,  and  denounced  the  pope  as  the 
antichrist  of  Scripture  and  the  enemy  of  Christianity. 

These  two  great  men,  alike  in  many  things,  unlike  in  some,  were  pre- 
paring the  way  for  the  coming  of  a  greater  man.  The  work  of  prepara- 
tion was  prodigious,  vast  enough  to  challenge  the  courage  and  faith  of 
angels.  They  had  lifted  up  their  voices  of  solemn  protest  against  a  po- 
litico-ecclesiastical hierarchy  of  a  thousand  years,  Avhich  had  claimed  the 
dominion  of  all  the  kingdoms  of  this  world ;  which  had  plotted  treason, 
inspired  rebellions,  conspired  against  authority,  instigated  wars  and  over- 
thrown empires,  and  which  still  held  in  its  iron  grasp  of  unholy  power 
the  thrones  and  palaces  of  all  Europe. 

These  heroic  men  saw  clearly  that  such  a  prostitution  of  the  holy  office 
of  a  Christian  bishop  must  cease  ere  the  Church  could  meet  the  spiritual 
demands  of  a  lost  world.  As  apostles  of  human  rights,  they  summoned 
the  iiations  to  a  political  revolution,  and  the  Church  to  a  moral  resurrec- 
tion. They  resolved  that  no  Hildebrand  should  compel  another  Henry  IV. 
to  stand  three  days  barefooted  and  bareheaded  in  midwinter  to  do 
penance  before  his  palace  at  Canossa,  and  that  no  Alexander  III.  should 
place  his  papal  heel  upon  the  neck  of  another  Frederick  Barbarossa. 
Luther  had  aroused  all  western  Europe,  and  the  German  nobility  had  re- 
sponded to  his  call.     Cranmer  had  sustained  and  cheered  Henry  VIII.  in 


198  WESLEY    AND    HIS    MISSION. 

his  resistance  to  Clement  VII.  and  in  his  contempt  of  the  bull  of  excom- 
munication by  Paul  m. 

But  time  was  essential  to  consummate  their  work  so  bravely  begun. 
An  hundred  and  fifty  years  must  pass.  All  nations  must  receive  their 
baptism  of  blood.  The  brave  Netherlauders  must  die  by  hundreds  of 
thousands.  The  soil  of  Germany  must  be  drenched  with  blood  through 
her  Thirty  Years'  War.  France  must  endure  her  Saint  Bartholomew 
Massacre  of  seventy  thousand  of  her  best  citizens.  And  through  three- 
score years  and  ten  English  Protestants  must  contend  against  English 
papists  on  many  a  field  of  carnage  and  death  for  civil  rights  and  religious 
liberty. 

But  you  and  I  have  lived  to  witness  the  glorious  consummation  of  the 
work  begun  by  Luther  and  Cranmer.  The  splendid  conquests  of  Julius  II. 
and  Leo  X.  have  crumbled  to  the  dust.  The  proud  Spain  of  Isabella  and 
Ferdinand,  and  of  the  bigot  Philip  II. — he  of  the  "  Invincible  Armada" — 
ever  stubborn  in  her  papal  allegiance,  has  been  reduced  to  a  third-rate 
nation.  To-day  England  and  continental  EurojDe  are  free  from  the  jiapal 
yoke.  The  temporal  power  of  the  pontiff  is  a  thing  of  the  past.  All 
Italy  is  under  a  constitutional  king,  beneath  whose  benign  protection 
Methodist  itinerants  are  preaching  the  Gospel  from  the  lagoons  of  Venice 
to  the  fires  of  Vesuvius ;  and,  unmolested,  and  without  the  smoke  of  a 
fagot  or  the  creak  of  a  dungeon  door,  but  amid  the  eternal  silence  of  the 
Inquisition,  they  are  publishing  the  glad  tidings  of  a  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity from  the  steps  of  St.  Peter's  and  under  the  shadow  of  the  Vatican, 

Wesley. 

How  much  Wesley  contributed  to  this  great  result,  let  history  declare. 
Methodism  is  not  a  break  in  Christian  history.  The  continuity  of  evangeli- 
cal truth  through  the  ages,  through  multiplied  errors,  through  accumu- 
lated corruptions  of  faith  and  practice,  through  declensions  and  conten- 
tions, wars  and  persecutions,  through  episcopal  treacheries  and  lay  apos- 
tacies,  is  a  sublime  fact  in  providence,  and  a  ceaseless  inspiration  to  the 
faithful  and  the  holy. 

There  are  no  breaks  in  the  history  of  the  administration  of  Almighty 
God.  There  may  be  declensions  in  numbers,  but  there  are  no  retroces- 
sions in  his  cause.  His  is  a  perpetual  kingdom.  The  continuance  of  his 
Church  is  without  cessation.  In  all  the  ages,  the  darkest  and  the  worst, 
his  saints,  men  and  women,  have  walked  this  earth  in  white,  whose  con- 
versation has  been  in  heaven  and  whose  saintly  lips  have  testified  for  Je- 
sus. The  Church  of  God,  greater  than  the  Papal,  greater  than  the  Greek, 
greater  than  the  English,  is  composed  of  the  faithful  of  all  creeds,  of  all 
liturgies,  and  of  such  in  all  the  centuries. 

Christ  always  has  a  to-morrow.  Paul  was  the  hereafter  of  Christ, 
Athanasius  the  hereafter  of  Paul,  Wiclif  the  hereafter  of  Athanasius,. 
Luther  the  hereafter  of  Wiclif,  Wesley  the  hereafter  of  Luther,  and  you 
the  hereafter  of  Wesley. 

While  each  of  the  three  illustrious  reformers  now  under  consideration 


SEKMON    OF    BISHOP    J.    P.    NEWMAN.  199 

contributed  to  the  splendid  outcome  of  to-day,  yet  the  work  of  each  was 
peculiar  to  his  times.  Did  Luther  protest  against  organized  politico-eccle- 
siastical usurpations  ?  Wesley  protested  against  sin  as  the  cause  of  the 
world's  misery.  Did  Luther's  movement  provoke  the  sword  and  lead  to 
war  ?  Wesley  sought  such  a  moral  change  in  men  and  nations  as  to  pre- 
clude the  possibility  of  strife.  Did  Luther  preach  justification  by  faith  ? 
Wesley  preached  entire  sanctification  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  Did 
Luther  proclaim  his  ninety-five  theses  against  the  errors  of  Rome?  Wesley 
gave  to  the  Church  his  twenty-five  articles  of  religion  against  all  errors  and 
all  sins.  Did  the  conquest  of  Luther's  mission  culminate  in  western  Europe 
in  forty  years,  and  within  one  hundred  years  thereafter  had  not  enough 
internal  energy  to  possess  the  greater  part  of  Europe,  which  could  have 
been  done  with  but  little  restraint  ?  But  Wesley's  mission,  after  a  grow- 
ing life  of  two  centuries,  is  to-day  marching  to  the  conquest  of  the  world. 
Was  it  the  high  mission  of  Cranmer  to  make  the  Chiu-ch  of  England 
Protestant  ?  It  was  Wesley's  higher  mission  to  make  that  Church  evan- 
gelical. Did  Cranmer  seek  the  reformation  of  the  morals  of  the  clergy  and 
laity  by  homilies  and  liturgies  ?  Wesley  sought  the  same  end  with  the 
Bible  in  his  hand.  Did  Cranmer  subordinate  his  spiritual  life  to  promote 
the  ends  of  government  and  learning  ?  Wesley  subordinated  govern- 
ments, universities,  charities,  riches,  honors,  life,  all  things  to  the  puri- 
fication of  the  individual  soul,  from  which  would  flow  the  advancement 
of  all  human  rights  and  happiness  here  and  hereafter. 

Wesley,  Theologian,  Evangelist,  Philanthkopist. 

The  testimony  of  two  centuries  places  this  remarkable  man  foremost 
among  the  theologians  of  his  or  of  any  age,  and  as  an  evangelist  he  is 
without  an  equal.  He  may  not  have  the  honor  of  Warburton's  Divine 
Legation,  of  Paley's  Evidences,  of  Butler's  Analogy,  or  Clarke's  Commen- 
taries, or  Watson's  Institutes,  but  his  was  the  larger  mission  to  eliminate 
error  from  accepted  creeds  and  discover  the  truth  that  sets  men  free. 
Two  disquisitions  elevate  him  to  his  true  position  among  theologians. 
His  elaborate  and  splendid  resume  of  the  argument  on  "Liberty  and 
Necessity,"  a  review  from  the  early  Greeks  to  Jonathan  Edwards,  includ- 
ing the  deliverances  of  Augustine  and  Aquinas,  Spinoza  and  Liebnitz, 
Locke  and  Kant,  Hume  and  Pope,  Clarke  and  Hartley,  places  the  free- 
dom of  the  human  will  in  the  clearest  light.  His  answer  to  the  Calvinists 
is  the  most  discriminating,  analytical,  and  annihilative  found  in  the  annals 
of  Christian  polemics,  and  from  the  destructive  effects  of  which  the  "  In- 
stitutes of  Geneva  "  have  never  recovered.  And  his  response  to  Dr.  John 
Taylor  on  Depravity,  on  the  Transmission  of  Sin,  and  on  Original  Right- 
eousness is  worthy  the  clearest  and  greatest  of  theological  minds. 

As  a  theologian  he  accepted  and  maintained  the  larger  and  more  com- 
prehensive truths  of  the  Christian  system,  and  it  is  evidence  of  the 
soundness  of  his  views  that  his  body  of  divinity  contained  in  his  Sermons 
and  his  Notes  has  not  only  remained  unchanged  amid  the  modification 
of  creeds,  but  is  to-day  the  modifier  of  the  religious  thought  of  the 


200  WESLEY    AND    HIS    MISSION. 

universal  Church,  and  that  while  Unitarians  are  retracing  their  steps 
back  through  Sociuianism  to  Arianism,  while  the  Universalists  have  be- 
come restorationists,  thereby  accepting  the  elements  of  future  punishment, 
and  while  the  Calvinists  have  practically  adopted  Armiuianism,  yet  the 
Wesleyans  hold  fast  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints. 

Evangelist. 

As  an  evangelist  three  great  thoughts  filled  Wesley's  mind,  and  were 
ever  on  his  lips :  The  absolute  freedom  of  the  human  will  in  personal 
salvation ;  the  ability  of  Christ  to  save  to  the  uttermost ;  and  the  revela- 
tion of  God  to  the  consciousness  of  each  believer.  Freedom,  sanctifica- 
tion,  assurance,  were  the  three  magical  words  by  which  he  called  man- 
kind to  a  moral  resurrection.  Wesley  is  the  apostle  of  the  freedom  of 
the  will  against  all  forms  and  aspects  of  necessity,  whether  physical  or 
moral,  or  from  the  arbitrary  choice  of  the  Creator.  With  a  logical  dis- 
crimination all  his  own  he  denied  that  man's  moral  actions  are  controlled 
by  an  overpowering  evil,  or  the  vibrations  of  the  fibers  of  the  brain,  or 
ruling  passions,  or  controlling  motives,  or  ignorance,  or  hate,  or  a  pan- 
theism that  supposes  the  universe  his  body  and  God  the  originating  soul 
of  all  actions,  good  or  bad. 

In  his  loftier  and  truer  conception  of  the  nobility  of  man  he  did  not 
contemplate  the  freedom  of  a  being  independent  of  God  or  detached  from 
him,  but  allied  to  him  by  the  endowment  of  liberty  and  honor. 

He  taught  that  there  was  a  charmed  circle  into  which  Jehovah  never 
enters  uninvited.  While  he  had  reserved  to  himself  the  right  to  arouse 
the  memory,  fire  the  imagination,  enlighten  the  understanding,  terrify 
the  conscience,  and  melt  the  heart,  yet  into  the  charmed  circle  of  human 
volitions  Jehovah  does  not  enter,  but  stands  at  the  door  and  knocks  until 
his  locks  are  wet  with  the  dew  of  the  morning.  When  invited,  he  enters, 
not  as  a  sovereign,  but  as  a  guest.  Hence  the  promise  of  the  Father,  ' '  I 
will  send  the  Comforter,  and  he  shall  abide  with  you." 

As  an  evangelist  Wesley  preached  Christ  to  a  lost  world — his  ability, 
willingness,  purpose,  to  save  all,  save  now,  save  to  the  uttermost.  His 
preaching  compassed  the  whole  of  the  Christian  life,  ranging  between 
two  extremes,  from  a  desire  to  flee  from  the  "wrath  to  come  "to  the 
"  perfection  of  love  that  casteth  out  all  fear." 

Desire  the  Alpha ;  perfection  the  Omega.  Desire  is  the  infancy  of  the 
Christian  life,  to  be  manifested  by  desisting  from  specified  wrongs,  by 
doing  specified  duties.  It  is  the  beginning  of  a  soul's  salvation;  it  is 
salvation  to  that  extent;  it  is  the  bruised  reed  that  shall  not  be  broken, 
the  smoking  flax  that  shall  not  be  quenched ;  it  is  the  mustard-seed  in 
the  ground,  tlie  leaven  in  the  meal.  It  is  a  desire  to  flee  from  sin,  its 
penalties  and  consequences,  from  its  sinfulness  and  pollution. 

Such  a  desire,  cherished  and  enlarged,  leads  on  to  justification  by  faith, 
the  pardon  of  all  transgressions,  the  reinstatement  of  the  soul  into  the 
divine  favor,  as  though  it  had  not  sinned.  Then  follows  that  great 
change,  the  regeneration  of  the  moral  nature,  when  old  things  are  passed 


SERMON    OF   BISHOP    J.    P.    NEWMAN.  201 

away  and  all  things  are  become  new ;  when  the  Christian  virtues  hold  the 
mastery  over  their  opposite  vices ;  when  strength  is  imparted  to  meet  the 
requisitions  of  the  divine  law ;  and  when  the  will,  conscience,  and  affec- 
tions are  renewed,  quickened,  and  elevated  to  respond  to  the  voice  of  God. 

Then  follows  that  better,  higher,  completed  state  of  personal  purity 
wherein  all  sinful  tendencies  are  destroyed,  all  carnal  desires  and  aspira- 
tions are  superseded,  all  appetites  and  passions  are  gratified  within  the 
limitations  of  law,  all  the  higher  faculties  of  the  soul  are  dominated  by 
love,  and  holiness  is  the  atmosphere  wherein  the  purified  spirit  moves  in 
perpetual  activity  and  peace. 

Wesley's  Christian  perfection  is  the  distinguishing  doctrine  of  Method- 
ism. It  differentiates  the  Wesleyan  movement  from  all  other  religious 
movements.  It  is  the  source  of  both  the  power  and  glory  of  that  movement 
on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  This  great  thought  seized  Wesley  like 
some  invisible  power.  It  dominated  his  whole  being.  It  possessed  him. 
He  would  not  be  diverted  therefrom.  He  subordinated  all  things  there- 
unto. He  defended  it  against  all  assailants.  He  preached  it,  he  prayed 
it,  he  sang  it.  It  was  the  one  great  subject  of  meditation  and  review  at 
each  yearly  Conference.  He  wrote  thereon  minutely  and  extensively. 
He  encouraged  those  who  professed  it,  and  his  own  humble  and  emphatic 
profession  of  it  is  as  clear  as  it  is  beautiful. 

By  an  irresistijjle  logic  he  was  led  on  step  by  step  from  his  luminous 
experience  of  justification  by  faith  to  this  completion  of  his  regeneration. 
It  was  the  majority  of  his  minority.  It  was  the  verification  of  the  saying 
of  the  Saviour,  ''First  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  after  that  the  full  corn  in 
the  ear."  It  is  to  be  "  cleansed  from  all  filthiness  of  the  flesh  and  spirit." 
"It  is  to  be  sanctified  throughout,  in  body,  in  soul,  in  spirit."  It  is  to 
' '  walk  in  the  light  as  God  is  in  the  light,  and  to  know  that  the  blood  of 
Jesus  Christ,  his  Son,  cleanseth  from  all  sin."  It  is  to  be  a  "perfect 
man  in  Christ  Jesus."  It  is  "to  be  filled  with  the  Spirit."  It  is  "bring- 
ing into  captivity  everj^  thought  to  the  obedience  of  Christ."  It  is  to 
have  "all  the  mind  that  is  in  Christ."  It  is  the  reign  of  love  in  every 
motive,  desire,  aspiration,  passion,  appetite,  thought,  word,  and  act. 

In  the  maturity  of  his  great  powers  and  in  the  fullness  of  his  spiritual 
life,  some  time  in  the  year  1764,  Wesley  gave  "this  sum  of  the  doctrine 
of  Christian  Perfection :  " 

I.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  perfection,  for  it  is  again  and  again  men- 
"tioned  in  the  Scrijjtures. 

II.  It  is  not  so  early  as  justification,  for  justified  persons  are  to  "go  on 
unto  perfection  "  (Heb.  vi,  1). 

III.  It  is  not  so  late  as  death,  for  Paul  speaks  of  living  men  that  were 
perfect  (Phil,  iii,  13). 

IV.  It  is  not  absolute.  Absolute  perfection  belongs  not  to  man  nor  to 
angels,  but  to  God  alone. 

V.  It  does  not  make  a  man  infallible.  None  is  infallible  while  he  re- 
mains in  the  body. 

VI.  Is  it  sinless  ?     It  is  "  salvation  from  sin." 

VII.  It  is  "perfect  love"  (1  John  iv,  18). 

This  is  the  essence  of  it;  its  properties  or  inseparable   fruits  are  re- 
16 


202  WESLEY    AND    HIS    MISSION. 

joicing  evermore,  praying  witliout  ceasing,  and  in  every  thing  giving  thanks 
(1  Thess.  V,  16). 

VIII.  It  is  improvable.  One  perfected  in  love  may  grow  in  grace  far 
swifter  than  he  did  before. 

IX.  It  is  amissible,  capable  of  being  lost, 

X.  It  is  constantly  both  preceded  and  followed  by  a  gradual  work. 

XI.  "But  is  it  in  itself  instantaneous  or  not  ?"  In  examining  this  let 
us  go  on  step  by  step.  An  instantaneous  change  has  been  wrought  in 
some  believers ;  none  can  deny  this.  Since  that  change  they  enjoy  per- 
fect love;  they  feel  this  and  this  alone ;  they  rejoice  evermore;  pray  with- 
out ceasing,  and  in  every  thing  give  thanks.  Now,  this  is  all  that  I  mean 
by  perfection;  therefore,  these  are  witnesses  of  the  perfection  which  I 
preach.  But  in  some  this  change  was  not  instantaneous.  They  did  not 
perceive  the  instant  when  it  was  wrought.  It  is  often  difficult  to  perceive 
the  instant  when  a  man  dies,  yet  there  is  an  instant  in  which  life  ceases. 
And  if  ever  sin  ceases  there  must  be  a  last  moment  of  its  existence  and  the 
first  moment  of  our  deliverance  from  it. 

"But  if  they  have  this  love  now  they  may  lose  it."  They  may,  but  they 
need  not.  And  Avhether  they  do  or  not,  they  have  it  now ;  they  now  ex- 
perience what  we  teach;  they  are  now  all  love;  they  now  rejoice,  pray, 
and  praise  without  ceasing.  "However,  sin  is  only  suspended  in  them;  it 
is  not  destroyed."  Call  it  what  you  please,  they  are  all  love  to-day  and 
they  take  no  thought  for  the  morrow. 

"  But  this  doctrine  has  been  much  abused."  So  has  that  of  the  justifi- 
cation by  faith.  But  that  is  no  reason  for  giving  up  this  or  any  other 
scriptural  doctrine.  "When  you  wash  your  child,  as  one  speaks,  throw 
away  the  water,  but  do  not  throw  away  the  child." 

"  But  those  who  think  they  are  saved  from  sin  say  that  they  have  no  need 
of  the  merits  of  Christ."  They  say  just  the  contrary.  Their  language  is: 
"  Every  moment,  Lord,  I  need  the  merit  of  thy  death." 

They  never  before  had  so  deep,  so  unspeakable  a  conviction  of  the  need 
of  Christ  in  all  his  offices  as  they  have  now.  Therefore,  all  our  preachers 
should  make  a  point  of  preaching  perfection  to  believers  constantly, 
strongly,  and  explicitly,  and  all  believers  should  mind  this  one  thing 
and  constantly  agonize  for  it.  Against  this  blessed  doctrine  there  is  no 
law. 

Having  accepted,  experienced,  and  preached  this  exalted  Christian 
privilege,  "Wesley  did  not  hesitate  to  accept  and  announce  the  companion 
truth,  that  the  infinite  God  comes  in  direct  contact  with  the  believing 
soul  and  certifies  to  the  consciousness  thereof  the  pardon  of  sin  and  the 
completed  deliverance  from  all  the  pollutions  of  our  fallen  nature.  Deism 
had  jilaced  God  at  an  immeasurable  distance  from  the  world,  had  denied 
a  special  providence  and  laughed  to  scorn  the  significance  of  prayer.  But 
the  Wesleyans  accepted  with  zeal  and  enthusiasm  what  that  deistical  age 
was  discarding.  They  controverted  the  deistic  conception  of  God,  both 
by  reason  and  experience.  They  declared  that  every  man  might  be  con- 
scious of  the  action  of  Diety  in  the  recesses  of  the  spirit^  and  they  rested 
the  reality  of  the  religious  life  in  their  consciousness,  which  bore  testi- 
mony to  the  presence  of  God.     This  changed  the  world's  conception  of 


8EEM0N    OF    BISHOP    J.    P.    NEWMAN.  203 

the  Deity;  it  was  accepted  by  many  dissenters  and  by  not  a  few  of  the 
Church  of  England ;  it  swejit  away  the  intermediary  priesthoods  and  sac- 
ramental agencies  which  had  usurped  his  place,  and  man  became  the  shrine 
and  temple  of  the  living  God. 

This  was  kindred  to  the  revolution  that  Christ  inaugurated  at  the  well 
of  Sychar. 

^  The  world  was  passing  through  the  mightiest  transition  in  the  spiritual 
life  of  man.  The  great  contention  was  between  the  divine  transcendence 
and  the  divine  immanence.  The  deists  had  exalted  Jehovah  into  the  high- 
est heavens,  and  removed  him  far  from  the  wants  and  prayers  of  his  human 
children.  The  pantheists  had  degraded  him  to  a  materialistic  association. 
Wesley  rose  to  the  loftiest  conceptions  of  the  divine  exaltation,  yet  con- 
tended that  the  Creator  communed  with  his  creatures. 

The  burning  question  was :  "  Shall  God  be  banished  from  man,  or  shall 
it  still  be  asserted  that  '  in  him  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  beino-  ? '  " 
He  therefore  asserted  an  indwelling  Deity,  Qocl  with  us,  and  the  fullest 
proof  thereof  was  the  incarnation  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

From  that  day  onward  the  Wesleyans  have  been  a  testifying  people ; 
that  they  knew  beyond  doubt  that  they  were  living  in  communion  with 
the  Father  of  their  spirits,  and  calmly  and  intelligently  declared  that 
"The  Spirit  beareth  witness  with  our  spirits  that  we  are  the  children  of 
God."  The  assertion  was  hailed  with  obloquy,  and  the  Methodists  were 
called  the  ' '  children  of  the  feelings. "  The  designation  was  accepted  with 
gladness  born  of  confidence.  Our  sensibilities  are  as  logical  and  reliable 
as  our  mental  operations.  The  great  passions  of  hope  and  fear,  of  love  and 
hate,  of  peace  and  remorse,  of  joy  and  sorrow,  are  as  trustworthy  as  any 
mental  operation.  It  is  a  slander  upon  the  constitution  of  nature  to  aver 
that  the  Wesleyans  in  relying  upon  their  sensibilities  responding  to  the 
presence  of  the  Infinite  One  were  merely  children  of  the  emotions,  and  should 
have  been  considered  irrational.  All  hail  emotion  !  All  hail  the  great  pas- 
sions God  has  given  us !  Testify,  ye  Methodists,  that  while  Almighty  God 
is  enthroned  in  majesty  higher  than  the  highest  heavens,  yet  he  dwells  in 
the  purified  heart,  the  throne  of  his  love  and  the  temple  of  his  glory. 

Wesley  Subordinates  all  Things  to  Christ. 

Wesley's  pre-eminence  as  an  evangelist — a  soul-winner— has  lowered  the 
historian's  appreciation  of  the  splendor  of  his  intellect  and  the  divine 
philosophy  of  his  philanthropy.  The  historian  has  not  yet  risen  to  do 
justice  to  the  intellect  of  this  great  man  and  the  divine  philosophy  that 
was  underneath  all  his  mighty  plans  for  humanity.  You  quote  with  honest 
pride  from  Macaulay.  All  hail  to  his  splendid  intellect  and  his  marvelous 
resources !  Yet  he  has  failed  to  do  justice  to  the  founder  of  Methodism. 
His  memorable  words  are :  "A  man  whose  eloquence  and  logical  acuteness 
might  have  made  him  eminent  in  literature,  whose  genius  for  government 
was  not  inferior  to  that  of  Richelieu,  and  who,  whatever  his  errors  may 
have  been,  devoted  all  his  powers,  in  defiance  of  obloquy  and  derision,  to 
what  he  sincerely  considered  as  the  highest  good  of  his  species."    Had 


204  WESLEY    AND    HIS    MISSION. 

Macaulay  been  the  analytical  historian  which  Christian  history  required  he 
would  have  given  the  reason  why  Wesley  was  not  eminent  in  literature. 

Is  it  true  that  he  is  not  eminent  in  literature  as  men  count  eminence  ? 
that  he  has  not  written  some  one  great  work  now  universally  read  to  give 
immortality  to  his  name,  like  Gibbon's  Rome,  or  Bunyan's  Pilgrim,  or  Milton's 
Paradise,  and  that  he  is  not  to  be  ranked  with  Goethe  and  Dante,  Hume 
and  Burke,  Addison  and  Pope  ?  Of  his  ability  and  scholarship  to  have 
ranked  with  these,  and  to  have  written  with  the  splendor  of  Hall  and  the 
magnificence  of  Chalmers,  there  can  be  no  dispute,  but  he  chose  a  more  ex- 
cellent way,  and  sought  the  sanctification  of  the  intellect  of  the  world,  and 
the  subordination  of  learning  to  Christ  and  holiness.  He  assumed  that  the 
end  of  learning  is  usefulness,  and  beyond  this  all  is  impertinent  and  im- 
moderate. His  greater  mission  was  to  lift  the  whole  realm  of  mind  into 
the  influence  of  Christianity  and  make  it  a  sanctified  power  in  time. 

Lecky  has  been  deservedly  praised  by  Methodist  scholars  for  his  rec- 
ognition in  a  hundred  and  thirty-three  closely  printed  pages  in  his  noble, 
monumental  History  of  England  in  the  Eighteenth  Century  of  Wesley  and 
Methodism,  but,  like  Macaulaj^,  he  has  failed  to  appreciate  the  true  concep- 
tion of  AVesley  touching  learning  and  charity.  Of  Wesley  he  writes  thus: 
"He  has  no  title  to  be  regarded  as  a  great  thinker.  His  mind  had  not 
much  originality  or  speculative  power,  and  his  leading  tenets  placed  him 
completely  out  of  harmony  with  the  higher  intellects  of  his  times.  If  Wesley 
had  not  been  very  credulous  and  very  dogmatic,  utterly  incapable  of  a  sus- 
pended judgment  and  utterly  insensible  to  some  of  the  intellectual  tenden- 
cies of  his  time,  it  may  be  safely  asserted  that  his  work  would  have  been  far 
less.  He  does  not  rank  in  the  first  line  of  the  great  religious  creators  and 
reformers,  and  a  large  part  of  the  work  with  which  he  is  associated  was 
accomjilished  by  others.  Holding  the  doctrine  of  a  particular  providence, 
he  could  have  had  but  little  sympathy  with  scientific  thought."  (Vol.  ii, 
pp.  629-631.) 

But  Lecky  shall  answer  Lecky.  His  own  vivid  description  of  the  moral 
degradation  of  the  eighteenth  century  in  all  classes  of  society,  from  the 
peasant  to  the  prince,  and  from  the  hovel  to  the  throne,  is  proof  of  the  in- 
efliciency  of  learning  to  reform  society.  The  great  universities  of  Padua 
and  Paris,  of  Heidelberg  and  Leipsic,  of  Glasgow  and  Dublin,  of  Oxford 
and  Cambridge,  had  not  only  failed  to  restrain  and  refine  the  people,  but 
had  been  sources  of  unbelief  and  immorality. 

Wesley  knew  this,  saw  this,  felt  this.  He  wrote  on  light  with  Newton, 
on  applied  electricity  with  Franklin,  on  botany  with  Linnaeus,  but  he  wrote 
with  a  purified  heart  and  a  sanctified  intellect.  He  knew  that  the  moral 
monsters  of  history  had  been  men  of  imperial  intellects,  and  that  the  most 
cultivated  nations  of  earth  had  passed  from  the  vision  of  the  world.  He 
remembered  that  Bacon  had  said:  "  In  knowledge  without  love  there  is 
somewhat  of  malignity;  "  that  Coleridge  had  said:  "All  the  mere  prod- 
ucts of  the  understanding  tend  to  death ; "  that  St.  Paul  had  said : 
"Knowledge  pufl'eth  up.''  He  therefore  resolved  to  subordinate  learning 
to  piety,  and  control  the  intellect  of  the  world  for  Christ.     Has  he  sue- 


SERMON    OF    BISHOP    J.    P.    NEWMAN.  205 

ceeded?  Let  the  Christian  education  of  to-day  answer.  Let  the  great  cen- 
ters of  learning  reply.  Let  the  expurgated  literature  of  our  times  respond. 
Let  Oxford  tell  of  his  transforming  influence.  Let  the  munificent  gifts  of 
Christian  men  to  Chi'istian  culture  answer  for  his  love  of  learning:. 

Were  I  an  artist  I  would  paint  a  picture  for  immortality :  Wesley's  last 
sermon  before  the  University  of  Oxford.  It  was  on  Friday,  August 
24,  the  anniversary  of  St.  Bartholomew.  The  duty  came  to  him  by 
rotation,  and  he  who  failed  to  respond  paid  three  guineas  for  a  substitute. 
It  was  a  supreme  occasion.  It  was  his  last  appearance  in  that  venerable 
university,  dating  back  to  King  Alfred  and  cherished  by  the  great  Wol- 
sey,  where  royalty  had  reigned  and  parliaments  had  met.  He  was  less 
than  forty-one,  dressed  as  an  Oxford  scholar,  and  attended  by  his  brother 
Charles  and  his  two  friends — Piers  and  Meriton.  The  scene  was  the  an- 
cient St.  Mary's  Church,  from  whose  pulpit  Wiclif  had  denounced 
Rome,  where  Ridley  and  Latimer  had  been  cited  for  trial,  and  where 
Cranmer  "  had  flung  down  the  burden  of  his  shame"  and  thence  went  to 
the  stake.  The  martyr  spirit  was  in  the  air,  and  the  memory  of  heroes 
inspired  courage  for  the  hour.  The  great  church  was  thronged  with 
gownsmen,  proctors,  heads  of  colleges,  and  private  people ;  and  conspic- 
uous above  all  was  the  Vice-chancellor  of  Oxford.  In  that  illustrious  gath- 
ering was  Kennicott,  then  an  under-graduate  and  whose  vivid  pen  has  re- 
corded the  historic  event.  Wesley  had  preached  in  the  city  at  five  and 
again  at  eight,  and  at  ten  appeared  in  St.  Mary's,  his  long  black  hair  quite 
smooth  and  parted  with  care,  and  his  countenance  with  that  peculiar  com- 
posure which  gave  a  charm  to  his  appearance.  His  text  was :  ' '  They  were 
all  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  spake  the  word  of  God  with  boldness." 

Exposition,  argument,  exhortation,  bold  rebuke,  flaming  invective,  ter- 
rible censure,  awful  ajDpeals,  holy  invocations,  and  personal  ajii^lication 
followed.  The  vast  auditory  w^as  alternately  moved  to  tears  and  burn- 
ing indignation  by  the  pathos  and  the  fidelity  of  the  preacher.  It  was 
Wesley's  last  sermon  in  his  beloved  Oxford.  A  storm  of  persecution  en- 
sued. The  vice-chancellor  demanded  the  manuscript  of  the  sermon  that 
had  given  such  offense  and  which  Oxford  authorities  refused  to  pardon. 

Had  Wesley  been  other  than  a  faithful  minister  of  Christ;  had  he  dis- 
played his  great  scholarship  by  a  discourse  on  rocks,  or  stars,  or  the  har- 
monies of  the  universe,  or  delivered  a  sweet  homily  on  "Virtue  Hath  its 
Own  Reward,"  or  repeated  his  first  sermon  in  St.  Mary's,  given  at  the  age 
of  thirty-one,  on  the  "Trouble  and  Rest  of  Good  Men,"  he  would  have 
been  hailed  as  the  prince  of  orators.  But  he  nailed  his  immense  learning 
to  the  cross  and  said  with  One  greater  than  himself:  "  God  forbid  that  I 
should  glory  save  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  the 
world  is  crucified  unto  me,  and  I  unto  the  world."  Behold  the  change! 
To-day  Oxford  guards  Wesley's  room  as  a  sacred  shrine. 

Wesley  and  Philanthropy. 

And  perhaps  in  nothing  more  do  the  historians  misunderstand  and  mis- 
represent Wesley  than  in  his  relation  to  the  philanthropies  of  every-day 


206  WESLEY    AND    HIS    MISSION. 

life.  They  picture  him  as  a  religious  enthusiast,  all  absorbed  with  the 
great  problems  of  sin  and  salvation ;  that  the  burden  of  every  sermon,  of 
every  hymn,  of  every  book,  was  the  conversion  of  the  soul ;  that  holiness 
unto  the  Lord  was  more  than  to  feed  the  poor,  clothe  the  naked,  visit  the 
sick,  educate  the  ignorant,  and  house  the  homeless;  and  that  the  founder 
of  Methodism  was  a  religionist  rather  than  a  philanthropist,  a  man  of  de- 
votions rather  than  of  charities. 

But  Wesley  had  the  rare  sagacity  to  discern  that  philanthropy  without 
godliness  was  insufficient  to  reform  society  and  create  social  and  national 
happiness.  He  knew  that  sweet  charity  was  not  a  stranger  to  his  time 
and  nation ;  that  generous  hearts  had  yearned  over  the  miseries  of  the 
people ;  and  that  honorable  efforts  had  been  made  for  a  common  relief. 
Seven  years  before  his  birth  the  society  for  the  ' '  propagation  of  Chris- 
tian knowledge  "  had  been  founded  by  a  few  private  gentlemen,  by  which 
charity  schools  were  multiplied,  and  which  called  forth  a  eulogy  from 
Addison  as  the  "glory  of  the  age  in  which  we  live."  "Within  twenty 
years  two  thousand  such  schools  had  been  established  in  the  kingdom, 
containing  twenty-seven  thousand  charity  scholars ;  and  in  London  and 
Westminster  five  thousand  such  children  were  in  one  hundred  and  seven- 
teen schools.  Under  the  good  Bishojj  Horncck,  in  the  reign  of  James  IL, 
"  societies  for  the  reformation  of  manners  "  were  formed  to  combat  pre- 
vailing evils,  to  suppress  vice,  and  reform  the  vicious.  And  two  years 
before  the  birth  of  Wesley  the  society  "  for  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel 
in  foreign  parts  "  was  organized  to  spread  Christianity  in  jjagan  lands. 
But  Lecky  himself  testifies  that  within  fifty  years  these  societies  became 
extinct,  and  vice,  ignorance,  and  misery  resumed  their  awful  sway. 
Why  ?  Because  that  philanthropy  was  not  born  of  godliness ;  it  did  not 
touch  the  source  of  the  evil ;  it  did  not  reach  down  to  the  root  of  the 
matter.  Wesley  said  misery  comes  from  sin,  happiness  will  come  from 
purity.  Had  he  founded  universities  and  houses  of  mercy  the  very 
heavens  would  have  rung  with  his  praises.  But  he  shut  his  eyes  on  such 
worldly  glamour,  and  made  his  ear  heavy  to  such  vainful  voices.  He 
realized  that  human  nature  is  bad  and  must  be  saved.  He  relied  upon  no 
dogma,  old  or  new.  He  offered  the  people  the  promise  of  the  life  that 
now  is  and  that  which  is  to  come. 

Wesley  is  distinguished  from  the  philanthropists  of  his  day  by  this : 
they  sympathized  with  human  conditions ;  he  symjiathized  with  human 
nature.  Not  the  rags,  but  the  soul  of  Lazarus  touched  his  deepest  sensi- 
bilities. In  this  he  followed  the  example  of  his  divine  Master,  who  never 
founded  a  university  or  built  a  house  of  mercy  or  framed  a  political  con- 
stitution, but  cried,  "Eepent,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand;" 
and,  ' '  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and  all 
these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you."  And  were  Jesus  to  reappear  on 
earth  in  bodily  form,  he  would  do  as  he  did  eighteen  hundred  years  ago. 
His  divine  philosophy  changeth  not.  Were  he  to  visit  "Darkest  En- 
gland," or  "Darkest  America,"  he  would  not  come  with  a  banjo,  but  with 
his  old  Jerusalem  cry,  "Repent,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand." 


SERMON    OF    BISHOP   J.   P.    NEWMAN.  207 

He  would  discard  all  those  human  appliances  which  attract  but  do  not  in- 
struct. He  would  rely  upon  the  application  of  truth  to  the  conscience  to 
arouse  attention  and  create  a  desire  for  the  light.  If  not  welcomed  to  our 
cathedral  pulpits  he  would  mount  the  crest  of  a  wave  or  the  deck  of  a 
fish-boat,  or  sit  by  the  wayside  or  on  the  mountain  brow,  or  take  to  the 
fields,  or  stand  in  the  busy  marts  of  trade  or  in  the  haunts  of  vice.  He 
would  go  to  the  people  •,  go  where  they  do  most  congregate ;  go  where 
the  lost  sheep  are  astrayed.     Thus  did  Wesley  and  Whitefield. 

Would  you  see  how  Methodism  combined  godliness  and  philanthropy 
for  the  salvation  of  the  people,  "go  to  the  old  foundry  in  London  near 
the  Moorflelds  in  1739."  It  was  a  "  vast,  uncouth  heap  of  ruins,"  a 
rambling  pile  of  old  dilapidated  buildings,  once  a  government  foundry 
for  the  casting  of  cannon.  It  was  in  the  year  1739 ;  the  great  Christian  phi- 
lanthropist was  but  thirty-six ;  the  purchase-money  was  less  than  $600, 
and  that  was  borrowed,  and  with  the  sum  for  necessary  repairs  the  total 
was  $4,000.  Look  at  the  old  but  renovated  structure,  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet  of  frontage,  with  two  doors  and  two  stories.  How  prophet- 
ical of  godly  charity  and  the  subordination  of  all  human  agencies  to 
Christ.  There  were  the  seven  spirits  of  God.  All  the  great  benevolences 
of  to-day  can  be  traced  back  to  that  old-fashioned  building : 

1.  There  was  the  Christian  school  taught  by  Silas  Todd,  eleven  hours 
a  day  at  two  dollars  and  a  half  per  week,  prototype  of  sanctified  learning. 

3.  A  book-room  for  the  sale  of  Wesley's  publications  and  other  relig- 
ious works,  foreshadowing  the  consecration  of  the  press  to  Christianity. 

3.  A  house  of  mercy  for  the  poor  orphans  and  destitute  widows ;  for 
the  blind  and  helpless,  with  whom  Wesley  and  his  preachers  ate  a  common 
diet,  illustrative  of  the  hope  of  eating  bread  together  in  their  Father's 
kingdom . 

4.  A  dispensary  where  the  moneyless  sick  were  tenderly  received  by 
apothecary  and  surgeon;  where  one  hundred  patients  were  treated  a 
month;  and  where  Wesley,  by  his  knowledge  of  medicine,  made  skillful 
prescriptions  to  the  relief  and  cure  of  hundreds. 

5.  A  savings-bank  for  the  thrifty,  and  a  loan  office  to  relieve  the  tem- 
porarily distressed  by  the  loan  of  a  few  pounds,  which  rescued  many  a  one 
from  the  verge  of  ruin. 

6.  A  church,  wherein  thousands  daily  assemble  to  hear  the  greater 
truth  that  misery  comes  from  sin  and  happiness  from  Christian  i)urity. 

7.  And  a  Christian  home  where  Wesley  rested  from  his  labors,  and 
from  which  his  sainted  mother  passed  into  the  skies ;  it  was  the  gate  of 
heaven. 

Methodism  Equal  to  the  Present. 

Since  then  the  very  heavens  have  been  telling  that  he  was  right  and 
that  his  critics  were  wrong.  The  success  of  Methodism  is  the  marvel  of 
two  centuries.  The  vastness  of  her  population  belting  the  globe,  the 
multitudes  annually  converted,  the  saintliness  of  her  membership,  the 
spirituality  and  scholarship  of  her  ministers,  the  largeness  of  her  contri- 
butions, the  power  of  her  press,  the  number  of  her  temples  of  piety, 
schools  of  learning,  and  houses  of  mercy,  and  the  vigor  wherewith  she  is 
pushing  forward  the  conquest  of  the  world  by  her  home  and  foreign  mis- 
sions are  facts  that  indicate  that  the  Lord  is  with  his  people. 


208  WESLEY    AND    HIS    MISSION. 

Since  the  birtli  of  Meeliodism  there  has  been  no  other  distinctive  relig- 
ious movement  in  the  Church  of  God.  There  have  been  modifications  of 
creeds,  changes  in  church  polity,  revival  of  formal  churches,  organiza- 
tions to  meet  special  forms  of  vice  and  misery,  and  special  classes  in 
society,  but  nothing  that  rises  to  the  dignity  and  proportions  of  a  great 
reformation. 

Is  a  new  movement  needed  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  our  times?  What 
are  the  exigencies?  Political  corruption,  bribery  in  office,  and  instability 
of  government?  Is  the  present  worse  than  when  kings  delighted  to 
honor  such  statesmen  as  Bolingbroke  and  Chestei-field,  Walpole  and  New- 
castle ;  when  prime  ministers  bribed  the  king,  bribed  the  queen,  bribed 
the  Parliament;  when  elections  were  rated  on  the  Royal  Exchange,  and 
when  the  maxim  was  accepted,  "That  government  must  be  carried  by 
corruption  and  force? "  Are  the  clergy  more  worldly  and  the  Church 
more  formal  than  when  Toplady  said,  "  A  converted  minister  in  the  Es- 
tablished Church  is  a  greater  wonder  than  a  comet,"  and  when,  according 
to  Butler,  "Christianity  is  not  so  much  as  a  subject  of  inquiry?"  Is 
infidelity  more  audacious  and  assertive  than  that  which  gave  birth  to  the 
French  Revolution,  which  dissolved  the  very  elements  of  society?  Are 
the  masses  more  degraded  than  when  Whitefield  preached  to  the  colliers 
of  Kingswood  and  the  Merry  Andrews  of  some  Bartholomew's  fair?  Is 
literature  more  debased  than  when  fame  hailed  with  delight  such  authors 
as  Voltaire  and  D'Alembert,  Smollett  and  Paine,  who  ministered  to  the 
lowest  and  worst  of  human  passions  ? 

Methodism  met  all  those  social  conditions,  and  behold  the  change ! 

Is  it  true  that  we  are  threatened  to-day  with  new  perils? 

Is  the  lust  of  ecclesiastical  preferment  in  the  disguise  of  a  holy  zeal 
eating,  as  doth  a  cancer,  at  the  vitals  of  the  Church,  and  is  there  nothing 
better  and  greater  than  office?  Has  the  spirit  of  worldliuess  entered  our 
Zion  under  the  pretense  of  innocent  mirth,  and  at  the  expense  of  the 
means  of  grace?  Is  the  Bible  imperiled  as  never  before,  its  authorship 
denied,  and  its  histories  impeached? 

What  is  the  remedy?  A  new  religious  movement?  Has  not  Method- 
ism all  her  ancient  elements  of  strength?  Her  doctrines  are  as  sound, 
her  polity  is  as  adaptive,  her  Redeemer  is  as  great.  The  all-sufficient  and 
all-efficient  remedy  is  "holiness  unto  the  Lord."  Let  the  Church  have 
that  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  her. 

Give  us  a  ministry  full  of  faith  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  heaven-called  and 
heaven-inspired,  with  hearts  of  flesh  and  souls  afire.  Give  us  men  who 
will  preach  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus ;  of  dauntless  courage,  who  stand 
unblanched  before  the  mighty,  men  of  tenderest  sympathies,  untiring 
zeal,  and  purest  motives ;  give  us  the  men  who  can  write  in  lines  of  light 
and  speak  in  sentences  of  fire ;  who  can  enter  the  arena  of  debate  and 
maintain  the  Bible  as  the  w-ord  of  God  to  man ;  who  can  thrill  all  hearts 
by  the  power  of  their  own  experience;  who  will  turn  many  to  righteous- 
ness to  shine  as  stars  for  ever  and  ever. 


BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS.  209 


FIFTH  DA  T,  Monday,  October  12,  1891. 


TOPIC : 
THE  CHURCH  AND  HER  AGENCIES. 


FIRST  SESSION. 


THE  Conference  was  opened  at  10  A.  M.,  the  Rev.  Bishop 
J.  W.  Hood,  D.D.,  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion 
Church,  presiding.  The  Rev.  C.  H.  Phillips,  D.D.,  of  the 
Colored  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  read  the  Scriptures,  and 
the  Rev.  Bishop  W.  J.  Gtaines,  D.D.,  of  the  African  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  offered  prayer. 

The  Journal  of  the  session  of  the  fourth  day  was  read  and 
approved. 

The  following  memorials  were  read  by  their  titles  and  re- 
ferred to  the  Business  Committee  : 

1.  To  continue  the  Executive  Committee  as  a  permanent  committee. 

2.  Concerning  an  Ecumenical  Hymn-book. 

3.  Concerning  the  Columbian  Exposition. 

4.  Concerning  competition  between  Methodists  in  small  places. 

5.  Relating  to  the  death  of  the  Rev.  James  Leaton,  D.D.,  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  a.  delegate  to  this  Conference. 

6.  A  memorial  to  the  governments  of  the  world  concerning  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  liquor  traffic. 

On  the  recommendation  of  the  Business  Committee  the  Con- 
ference fixed  the  hour  of  adjournment  for  the  present  morning 
session  at  12  o'clock  and  the  hour  for  re-assembling  at  3  P.  M., 
on  account  of  the  reception  to  be  given  the  Conference  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States.  Notice  Avas  given  of  this  re- 
ception, and  the  Rev.  Bishop  J.  F.  Hurst,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  was  re- 
quested, as  Chairman  of  the  Business  Committee,  to  make  the 
presentation  of  the  delegates  to  the  President.  The  Rev.  L. 
T.  "Widerman,  of  the  "Washington  Entertainment  Committee, 
and  the  Rev.  John  Bond  were  requested  to  stand  at  the  end 


210  THE  CHURCH  AND  HEE  AGENCIES. 

of  the  East  Eooui  of  the  White  House  and  identify  the  dele- 
gates. 

The  topic  of  the  day  was  at  this  point  taken  up.  The  Rev. 
Bishop  E..  S.  Foster,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Chui-ch,  read  the  following  essay  on  "  The  Responsibility 
and  Qualifications  of  the  Preacher  :  " 

Mr.  President  and  My  Brothers  Beloved:  Feeling  a  sober  interest,  I 
think,  is  the  indispensable  condition  of  approach  to  a  dignified  and  re- 
spectable body  of  men.  I  have  to  confess  that  I  come  to  you  with  a  feel- 
ing of  abjectness,  of  absolute  humiliation.  It  has  been  announced,  and 
with  reason,  that  I  am  to  read  an  essay  on  "The  Eesponsibility  and 
Qualifications  of  the  Preacher."  I  am  here  without  a  single  word  of 
written  preparation.  And  I  have  a  certain  sense  of  degradation  in  making 
that  announcement. 

I  am  specially  desirous  of  securing  the  forbearance  of  my  foreign  breth- 
ren, as  I  am  thoroughly  satisfied  it  would  be  almost  impossible  for  me  to 
obtain  the  forgiveness  of  my  own  brethren. 

I  need  not  explain  how  it  is  that  I  am  here  without  a  written  prepara- 
tion ;  and  perhaps  it  would  be  wisdom  iu  me  to  retire  and  allow  other 
brothers,  who  are  prepared  with  carefully  considered  arguments  and  writ- 
ten preparation,  to  occupy  the  time.  I  have  not,  however,  that  deepest 
humiliation  of  feeling  that  I  am  here  to  extemporize  thoughts.  The  sub- 
ject is  one  which  has  long  engaged  my  mind,  and  upon  which  I  have 
spoken  many  times.  I  only  humbly  beg  pardon  that  I  have  not  found  the 
time  and  the  adequate  facilities  for  preparing  my  words. 

The  first  part  of  this  theme  I  shall  entirely  omit,  and  hasten  to  the 
consideration  of  the  second  part.  Not  because  the  first  part  is  unim- 
portant, but  because  to  my  thought  the  second  is  more  important,  and 
because  of  the  exceeding  limitations  of  time.  And  now,  Mr.  President, 
you  will  understand  that  this  is  no  part  of  my  address. 

I  am  known  at  home  as  a  tedious  preacher — I  preach  long  sermons, 
sometimes  two  or  three  hours.  I  find  it  hard  to  begin  to  talk  in  less 
than  an  hour,  and  I  am  by  your  arrangement  shut  down  to  say  all  that  I 
have  to  say  in  twenty- five  minutes,  and  that  is  the  time  that  I  require 
to  get  half  way  to  a  beginning. 

I  now  call  your  attention  to  the  part  of  the  theme  to  which  I  projjose  to 
speak — "  The  Qualifications  of  the  Preacher." 

The  preacher  is  an  instrument  as  really  as  the  sermon  is  an  instrument. 
I  am,  therefore,  to  speak  of  the  qualifications  of  an  instrument,  and  to 
conceive  properly  of  the  qualifications  of  an  instrument  we  must  consider 
and  know  what  the  instrument  is  intended  to  do — what  it  is  for.  Its . 
qualification  is  its  adaptation  to  the  thing  for  which  it  is  an  instrument. 
As  we  understand  it,  the  preacher  is  by  the  call  of  God  an  instrument  to 
the  regeneration  of  men.  Broadly,  in  the  Scriptures,  we  are  called 
"  preachers  of  the  reconciliation."  We  are  sent  as  embassadors  to  recon- 
cile men  to  God.     Our  utterances  and  all  our  personal  forthputting  to  the 


ESSAY    OF   BISHOP    K.    S.    FOSTER.  211 

public  has  that  specific  end,  and  has  no  other  end.  We  are  exclusively 
ordained  and  set  apart  with  that  function  to  be  co-workers  with  Christ, 
who  came  into  the  world  on  an  exclusive  mission  for  an  exclusive  object 
— came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  and  ultimately  to  save  the  world ; 
as  far  as  possible,  to  bring  about  on  earth  a  regenerate  state  of  mankind ; 
to  reach  each  individual  soul  of  humanity  with  the  message  of  salvation, 
and  those  instrumental  arrangements  which  he  created  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  that  purpose.  The  minister  is  but  supplemental  to  Christ.  He 
is  the  ' '  carrying  out "  complement  of  the  Christ  in  doing  this  great 
work. 

Salvation,  as  we  understand  it,  is  the  readjustment,  the  restoration  of 
man  to  right  relations  with  God ;  the  bringing  about  of  harmony  between 
human  souls  and  the  divine  Father.  Whenever  that  is  accomplished,  sal- 
vation is  an  accomplished  fact,  whether  in  this  world  or  in  the  world  to 
come.  The  minister  is  a  part  of  the  instrumentality  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  that  purpose,  and  his  qualifications  must  all  have  reference  to 
that  fact — they  must  be  qualifications  to  produce  and  bring  about  that 
result. 

And  now,  I  can  only  indicate  what  these  qualifications  are ;  I  cannot 
enter  upon  the  discussion  of  them. 

In  order  that  the  preacher  himself,  as  an  instrument,  may  be  under- 
stood, I  will  say  that  he  is  to  be  viewed  as  a  corporate  man — a  man  in 
body  addressing  his  fellow-men,  a  man  coming  to  the  conscience  and 
heart  and  intelligence  of  his  fellow-man  witli  a  message  which  is  intended 
to  effect  his  reconstruction  and  salvation.  And  may  I  say  the  imjjortant 
qualification  is  that  he  should  be  a  man — a  manly  man ;  that  there  should 
be  that  in  his  conscience  which  lifts  him  to  a  feeling  of  pride  in  a  digni- 
fied and  worthy  manhood — a  consciousness  Avhich  will  enable  him  in  de- 
livering his  message  to  look  his  fellow-men  in  the  face ;  to  search  and 
scrutinize,  and  himself  to  be  scrutinized,  and  after  the  most  careful  scrutiny 
to  reveal  an  honest  and  earnest,  candid,  intense,  intelligent  nature,  one 
that  wins  confidence  and  respect,  or  ought  to  win  and  will  win  confidence 
and  respect,  wherever  it  exists. 

I  think  that,  allowing  that  God  is  that  intelligent  being  that  we  con- 
ceive him  to  be,  that  he  has  all  wisdom  and  judgment  in  the  selection  of 
his  instruments  to  the  accomplishment  of  his  purposes,  we  must  conclude 
that,  although  there  are  insignificant  men  in  the  pulpit,  men  who  fail  to 
measure  up  to  the  ideal  that  I  have  presented,  still  it  is  the  rule,  with  ex- 
ceptions, that  God  in  seeking  his  servants  must  seek  such  men  as  will  bear 
out  this  character. 

The  preacher  needs  in  addition  to  a  manly  nature  high  qualities  of 
mind  and  proper  qualities  of  body  also,  that  can  be  instrumeutalized  to 
his  purposes.  The  preacher  must  be  a  man  who  knows  that  about  which 
he  preaches.  He  needs  to  be  a  man  of  exiierience.  It  is  indispensable, 
we  think,  to  the  successful  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  to  the  right  admin- 
istration of  this  function,  that  the  preacher  should  be  himself  a  partaker 
of  the  love  which  he  offers  to  the  people,  and  that  he  should  have  passed 


212  THE  CHUKCH  AND  HER  AGENCIES. 

through  all  those  experiences  and  divine  processes  by  which  he  has  come 
into  this  love. 

And  there  are  divine  experiences  and  processes.  Men  are  not  born  into 
the  image  of  God  and  fellowship  of  God ;  it  is  not  by  the  divine  powers 
seizing  upon  the  substance  of  a  man's  soul  and  intelligence  that  men  are 
reconstructed  and  brought  into  fellowship  with  God.  He  has  a  process, 
and  every  soul  that  enters  into  his  kingdom  must  enter  through  the  door 
of  the  divine  process.  That  process  is  the  realization  of  truth — not 
physical  force,  not  volitional  power,  but  truth  lodged  in  the  intelligence, 
producing  an  awakening  in  the  conscience,  arousing  the  fears  and  hope 
and  faith  of  the  heart,  leading  the  sinner  by  the  gate-way  of  repentance 
to  the  Saviour,  whose  business  it  is  to  pronounce  upon  him  the  burden  of 
his  sin  laid  there  by  the  Holy  Spirit  himself,  and  work  regeneration  in  his 
soul.  God  works  by  process  and  not  by  volitional  operations  or  direct 
power. 

The  preacher  to  be  qualified  for  these  things  need  not  simply  be  a  manly 
man.  There  are  thousands  of  as  manly  men  as  any  who  occupy  the  plat- 
form, but  who  have  no  business  on  the  platform  or  behind  the  pulpit. 
There  are  thousands  who  have  the  deepest  and  most  thorough  religious 
experience  and  consciousness  of  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  who 
have  no  right  to  stand  behind  the  pulpit  as  preachers.  God  has  made  it 
his  order  to  designate  his  ministers.  That  is  the  theory  of  our  Church 
from  the  beginning.  It  is  a  theory  to  which  we  in  this  country  to-day  hold 
with  great  tenacity.  It  is  the  theory  to  which  Methodism  in  all  parts  of 
the  world  holds  with  the  utmost  tenacity.  God  calls  the  minister.  It  is 
by  divine  invocation.  He  selects  and  makes  known  to  a  person  who  is  to 
do  the  work,  and  to  others,  that  there  may  be  no  mistake  in  it.  He  sets 
apart  a  person  to  do  this  work,  and  we  make  it  "  a  call  to  the  ministry." 
It  was  a  peculiar  language  among  us,  and  was  questioned  by  brothers  of 
other  Christian  faiths  who  did  not  understand  it.  But  they  do  not  ques- 
tion it  as  much  now  as  they  did  beforetime.  We  believe  that  the  essen- 
tial qualification  is  a  call  to  this  work. 

And  now  I  wish  to  say  we  hold,  further,  that  it  is  not  simply  personal 
manhood,  not  intellectual  and  native  powers,  personal  deep  religious  ex- 
perience, and  a  divine  call — we  hold  that  these  are  not  the  only  requisites. 
We  go  to  the  world  that  can  be  reached  only  through  certain  avenues  of 
approach.  They  must  be  reached  through  their  intelligence — their  under- 
standing. There  may  be  methods  of  approach  through  the  human  con- 
science, through  the  emotions  sheer  and  simple;  sometimes  imaginary 
statements  that  have  in  them  not  even  the  elements  of  truth;  but  God's 
method  is  to  deal  with  them  as  rational  men,  through  their  intelligence ; 
to  make  to  them  truths  which  ought  to  afTect  and  influence  their  lives; 
and  that  that  truth  may  come  to  them  the  instrument  that  is  employed 
must  know  and  understand  the  truth,  and  present  it  in  such  intelligent 
and  intelligible  forms  as  to  attract  attention. 

I  cannot  dwell  upon  these  truths ;  I  wish  to  reach  another  point. 

It  is  sometimes  assumed  that  the  preacher  of  the  Gospel  is  sent  to  iterate 


ESSAY    OF    BISHOP    K.    S.    FOSTEK.  213 

and  reiterate  the  substance  of  the  story  of  the  New  Testament.  I  do  not 
believe  it.  That  is  a  good  part  of  the  direct  mission,  but  he  does  not 
and  cannot  accomplish  his  mission  by  this  statement  alone.  He  is 
bound  to  consider  the  environments  in  which  he  delivers  his  message,  to 
consider  the  conditions  of  the  people  to  whom  he  delivers  the  message, 
to  be  able  to  clear  away  from  their  minds  the  obstructions  which  hinder 
the  reception  of  his  message.  We  are  in  an  age  when  the  avenues  of  ap- 
peal to  a  man's  conscience  are  obstructed  by  the  difficulty  of  tremendous 
opposition,  and  it  is  the  function  of  these  ministers  whom  God  calls  to 
understand  what  these  obstructions  are.  He  calls  them  and  sets  them 
apart  that  they  may  give  themselves  to  instruction  and  reflection,  that 
they  may  be  touched  with  the  state  of  the  mind  that  they  approach  and 
address.  They  are  to  gain  a  mastery  over  all  knowledge.  No  one  man 
is  equal  to  that.  But  the  Christian  pulpit  is  bound  by  the  authority 
vi^hich  sends  it  out  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  the  aggregate,  to  master  all 
knowledge,  and  to  be  able  to  approach  the  human  mind  through  all  the 
avenues  of  knowledge. 

We  forget,  sometimes,  the  state  of  things  about  us,  and  become  help- 
less imbeciles  because  of  that  failure.  Every  man  who  thinks  at  all 
knows  that  he  lives  in  an  age  where  there  is  a  huge  and  triumphant  doubt, 
a  difficulty  in  the  minds  of  all  thoughtful  men  who  have  not  been  rescued 
l)y  the  power  of  God  and  religious  experience.  No  man,  however  relig- 
ious, can  look  into  the  great  questions  involved  in  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples and  doctrines  of  God;  no  man  can  think  of  God  intelligently  and 
understandingly  who  does  not  think  of  God  through  his  work,  his  man- 
ifestations, and  what  he  has  done.  It  is  needful  and  necessary  that  we 
.should  be  able  to  penetrate  as  far  as  any  other  class  of  men  on  the  face  of 
the  earth  into  the  secret  things  of  God  as  they  are  contained  and  treasured 
up  in  this  great  universe  he  has  made.  So  that,  when  those  whom  we 
approach  come  on  with  doubt  or  with  objection,  it  is  our  function  to 
remove  this  doubt  or  objection.  It  is  our  function  to  be  prepared  to  grap- 
ple with  them  publicly  and  privately  in  a  manly  way,  and  with  such  spir- 
itual thoughts  that  they  will  be  compelled  to  acknowledge  that  we  have 
traveled  this  road,  gone  over  these  lines,  mastered  these  difficulties,  and 
that  we  are  able,  so  far  as  possible,  to  rid  them  of  the  paralysis  to  their 
minds,  and  open  them  to  the  reception  of  the  Gospel.  It  is  our  business 
to  know  all  that  can  be  known,  not  simply  from  the  word,  but  the  w^orks 
of  God. 

And  I  may  say  here  that  the  works  of  God  are  the  chief  revelation  of 
God.  They  set  forth  who  he  is  and  what  he  is.  They  indicate  what  his 
last  thought  is  and  what  the  method  of  reaching  his  thought  is.  So  that  the 
preacher,  to  ])e  prepared  for  his  work,  is  to  eat  up  all  knowledge  concern- 
ing these  things,  and  to  have  his  life  so  full  of  living  power  that,  touch 
him  where  you  will,  he  is  electric,  and  is  felt  upon  the  minds  and  con- 
sciences of  men. 

Qualiticatiou  for  this  work  should  lead  us  to  remember  that  we  ap- 
proach a  new  constituency  every  thirty  years.    Have  you  thought  of  that? 


214 


THE  CHURCH  AND  HER  AGENCIES. 


We  do  not  api^roach  to  the  people  who  have  been  hearing  the  Gospel  from 
the  time  of  Christ  or  Moses.  Since  then  more  than  a  score  of  generations, 
more  than  six  scores  of  generations  of  men  have  come  and  gone  from  the 
face  of  the  earth.  We  approach  new-born  minds.  We  go  to  men  who 
are  starting  to  think,  men  into  whom  God  has  put  it  to  try  and  feel  their 
way  to  truth.  The  deepest  instinct  in  human  nature  is  the  love  of  truth, 
being  influenced  by  truth.  All  men,  every-where  in  all  this  world,  bow 
to  the  imperial  scepter  of  truth.  Bring  truth  to  man  and  let  him  receive 
it,  and  you  concpier  him. 

These  new  minds  in  the  new  generations  know  nothing  of  truth ;  but 
they  are  full  of  desire,  full  of  longing,  to  find  their  way  to  truth.  There 
is  a  great  hidden  world  which  sense  does  not  give  to  them,  which  the  eye 
of  the  eagle  has  never  seen,  which  no  physical  sense  has  ever  traced,  com- 
pared to  which  all  this  is  dust  and  gravel,  and  amounts  to  nothing  at  all. 
And  we  are  sent  to  unfold  the  mysteries  of  this  divine  kingdom ;  to  bring 
forth  unto  these  young  consciences  the  great  God  who  built  the  sky ;  to 
bring  forth  the  great  ethical  and  physical  eye  in  the  great  scheme  of  the 
redemption ;  to  unfold  to  them  the  mysteries  of  their  own  consciences ; 
to  show  forth  their  sin,  their  guilt ;  to  make  them  know  themselves.  How 
little  preaching  is  there  in  our  pulpits  that  brings  men  face  to  face  with 
themselves,  that  brings  them  face  to  face  with  their  horrid  sins ! 

The  Rev.  John  Bond,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Cliurch, 
gave  the  following  appointed  address  on  the  same  subject  : 

I  will  begin  by  defining  the  topic  on  which  I  am  to  speak,  and  I  will 
say  that  I  have  not  understood  it  to  mean  the  qualification  of  the  pastor. 
In  England,  and  in  many  other  parts  of  the  world,  we  have  thousands  of 
preachers  who  are  not  pastors.  Looking  back  over  the  history  of  our 
churches,  we  can  find  the  names  of  men  of  the  highest  renown ;  such  names, 
for  instance,  as  William  Dawson,  or,  as  he  is  more  familiarly  known, 
"Billy"  Dawson  ;  William  Carvossa,  and  of  Charles  Richardson;  and  in 
the  present  day,  to  mention  one  as  representative  of  many,  whom  I  mention 
because  he  is  not  present  here,  Samuel  B.  Waddy,  Q.C.,  and  M.P.  in 
two  senses.  Member  of  Parliament  and  emphatically  Methodist  Preacher. 
These  men  are  not  pastors,  but  they  are,  nevertheless,  preachers  of  the 
highest  order,  and  we  rejoice  in  having  in  connection  with  us  in  all  parts 
of  England  thousands  of  men  of  this  class  whom  we  call  local  preachers. 

Now,  sir,  looking  at  a  preacher  as  a  preacher,  as  I  read  my  Bible,  he  is 
called  to  be  an  embassador  of  God ;  called  to  be  a  herald  of  the  kingdom 
of  Christ.  It  is  his  business  to  proclaim  the  Gospel  amnesty  with  its  con- 
ditions of  repentance  toward  God  and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
He  is  to  preach  Christ  as  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King.  He  is  to  jireach 
Christ  crucified,  understanding  in  that  designation  as  St.  Paul  understood 
it  from  the  interpretation  which  he  gives  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  First 
Corinthians,  Christ's  life,  death,  and  resurrection. 

He  is  to  preach  the  kingdom  of  Christ  with  its  paramount  authority 
above  all  the  authority  of  kings  or  peoples ;  his  word  is  not  to  be  removed 


ADDRESS    OF    EEV.    JOHN    BOND.  215 

from  its  directness  by  the  breath  of  popular  applause,  or  to  be  silenced 
by  the  storm  of  popular  hatred.  Christ  is  thus  to  be  preached,  and  his 
Gospel  in  all  its  fullness ;  the  great  principles  of  the  Gospel,  as  presented 
to  us  in  the  writings  of  the  apostles,  and  the  application  of  those  prin- 
ciples to  the  circumstances  of  the  eras  in  which  he  lives,  is  the  business 
of  him  who  has  the  honor  to  preach  the  Gospel.  How  great  is  the  respon- 
sibility of  that  man  who  has  this  work  to  do.  He  has  to  denounce  iniquity 
in  strongest  terms;  against  all  opinion  he  must  proclaim  the  law  of  Christ, 
and  must  maintain  the  supreme  and  paramount  authority  of  his  kingdom. 
Pre-eminently  he  is  to  seek  to  save  souls.  Woe  to  that  man  who  shall 
content  himself  by  simjily  brightening  the  sickle,  and  shall  not  cut  down 
the  Lord's  harvest,  but  shall  leave  it  to  perish !  Woe  to  the  men  who  shall 
go  forth  with  the  life-boat,  decorating  it  with  flags  and  making  it  gay 
with  banners,  but  who  shall  fail  to  gain,  and  shall  not  properly  seek,  the 
salvation  of  those  who  are  perishing ! 

The  business  of  the  preacher,  as  the  business  of  the  advocate,  is  to 
carry  the  jury,  not  to  convulse  the  court  with  laughter,  but  to  win  the 
verdict,  and  to  win  the  verdict  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  the 
business  of  the  Christian  preacher. 

How  far  is  that  man  responsible  for  the  actual  salvation  of  souls?  He 
is  not  responsible  for  the  actual  salvation  of  the  hearers ;  but  he  is  re- 
sponsible for  the  fulfillment  of  all  the  conditions  of  a  successful  ministry. 
"The  word  preached  did  not  profit  them  that  heard  it,"  writes  the 
apostle,  "not  being  mixed  with  faith  in  them  that  heard  it." 

It  is  said  the  word  of  God  shall  not  return  to  him  void.  It  does  not 
return  void  to  him  that  preaches  it,  or  to  God,  but  shall  prosper  in  the 
thing  to  which  it  is  sent ;  and  it  is  sent  forth  for  the  purpose  of  winning  men's 
souls  and  not  coercing  them.  But  men  may  rebel  against  the  word. 
Felix  may  say  to  Paul,  "  Go  thy  way  for  this  time;  when  I  have  a  more 
convenient  season  I  will  send  for  thee." 

What  is  wanted  by  a  preacher  is  a  spirit  of  faith.  A  man  who  lives  in 
doubt  will  not  accomplish  any  thing.  The  political  man  must  have 
strong  convictions  if  he  is  to  have  success,  and  these  convictions  will  influ- 
ence his  whole  conduct  and  carry  conviction  to  the  hearts  of  his  hearers. 

There  was  a  man  in  the  French  convention — a  short  man,  with  face 
marked  with  small-pox,  insignificant  in  his  appearance,  puerile  in  his 
manner;  and  when  he  arose  to  speak  the  delegates  burst  into  laughter. 
Yet  said  Mirabeau,  "That  man  will  ultimately  triumph,  because  he  be- 
lieves all  he  has  said ; "  and  in  a  modified  sense,  and  for  a  time  only,  for 
the  triumph  of  the  wicked  is  but  for  a  day,  of  Robespierre  it  may  be  said : 
"  He  spake,  and  it  was  done;  he  commanded,  and  it  stood  fast." 

How  shall  a  man  speak  the  Gospel  who  is  filled  with  this  spirit  of 
faith !  He  shall  speak  so  as  to  carry  conviction  with  him.  He  will  say 
to  the  mountain — to  the  mountain,  not  to  God — be  thou  removed,  and  be 
thou  cast  into  the  midst  of  the  sea,  and  it  shall  be  done.  We  want  this 
faith  in  our  object  and  faith  in  our  message.  John  Wesley  used  to  put 
three  questions  to  those  j^roposed  as  preachers.     Has  he  grace,  gifts,  and 


216  THE  CHUKCH  AND  HEK  AGENCIES. 

fruits?  As  to  grace,  I  need  say  nothing  here.  As  to  gifts,  God  no  more 
calls  a  man  who  has  not  gifts  to  the  ministry  than  he  calls  an  elephant  to 
fly  or  an  eagle  to  swim.  He  qualifies  every  man  for  the  work  he  intends 
to  do. 

Among  other  gifts  the  preacher  must  possess  the  gift  of  clear,  lucid, 
persuasive  speech.  He  may  acquire  this  to  a  great  extent.  Mr.  Parnell 
was  said  to  be  one  of  the  feeblest  speakers  when  he  entered  the  House  of 
Commons,  but  became  a  most  powerful  speaker.  There  is  a  record  of 
James  Dixon  when  a  candidate,  "a  weak  brother,  but  we  hope  he  will 
improve."  And  he  became  a  mighty  man,  one  of  the  greatest  preachers 
by  whom  the  pulpits  of  Methodism  were  ever  occupied. 

Itis,  more  over,  desired  that  the  preacher  should  possess  a  wide  acquaint- 
ance with  every  form  of  literature,  but  more  especially  an  acquaintance 
with  humanity.  The  man  who  lives  a  lonely  monastic  life  does  not  know 
how  to  arrest  men.  He  must  be  possessed  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  I 
hold  that  the  Sjiirit  of  God,  like  the  sunshine,  throws  light  every-where. 
At  the  siege  of  Syracuse  the  sunshine  fell  directly  on  the  Roman  fleet  and 
that  fleet  was  not  injured  by  it;  but  when  Archimedes  focused  it  in  burn- 
ing-glasses, and  threw  it  indirectly  on  the  triremes,  he  set  them  on  fire. 
God  sends  his  Spirit  down  directly  on  men  as  the  sunlight,  but  when  he 
makes  his  preachers  into  burning-glasses  and  focuses  his  Spirit  in  them, 
and  thus  indirectly  throws  his  Spirit  with  the  truth  on  men,  then  he 
melts  and  fuses  them,  and  they  get  run  into  the  mold  of  a  new  creature 
in  Christ  Jesus.  It  seems  to  me  this  is  what  is  wanted  more  than  any 
thing  else. 

I  will  say  just  a  word  upon  another  point,  as  to  the  preacher  being  a 
man,  not  a  mere  trumpet  through  which  a  message  is  given.  A  man — 
no  parson,  no  priest,  no  ascetic  who  will  refuse  to  look  through  the 
telescope  lest  he  should  see  the  stars  another  has  discovered,  no  preju- 
diced man,  not  a  child  who  shall  delight  himself  with  every  new  toy  and 
dance  it  round  for  the  jubilation  of  others,  but  a  man,  clear-headed  and 
warm-hearted.  Henry  Broadhurst  once  said  to  a  minister  whom  he  had 
heard,  "  Thank  you  for  preaching.  You  preached  like  a  man,  not  like  a 
parson  ;  and  if  you  will  preach  like  a  man  the  working-men  of  England 
will  listen  to  you." 

We  want  a  cultivated  manhood.  We  want  a  good  physical  condition. 
On  the  tombstone  of  Dr.  Charles  Lowell  in  Mount  Auburn  Cemetery,  I 
read,  "  God  hath  not  given  us  the  spirit  of  fear,  but  of  power  and  of  love 
and  of  a  sound  mind."  And  a  sound  mind  is  coujiled  with  a  sound  body. 
And  if  we  want  common-sense  preaching  we  want  a  sane  mind  in  a  sound 
body.  We  want  strong  men,  who  will  not  whittle  down  their  sermons  to 
their  end  of  nothing,  or  give  those  lengthy  utterances  which  neither  we 
nor  our  fathers  were  able  to  bear.  We  do  not  want  a  stick,  cold,  hard, 
lifeless,  inflexible,  laid  upon  the  face  of  dead  humanity,  but  the  proi^het 
himself,  with  his  eyes  on  its  eyes,  his  hands  on  its  hands,  his  feet  upon 
its  feet,  his  great,  generous,  full-throbbing  heart  upon  its  heart,  and  then 
the  dead  shall  live. 


ADDRESS  OF    KEV.    W.    H,    DAY.  217 

The  Eev.  W.  H.  Day,  D.D.,  of  the  African  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Zioii  Church,  gave  the  following  address : 

Mr.  President  and  Brethren  of  the  Ecumenical  Council :  In  a  general 
way  I  remark,  first,  that  that  is  the  agency  to  be  desired  for  the  Church 
which  will  utilize  most  completely  the  individuality  of  its  members. 

Tiie  Church  is  not  man-made,  but  God-made.  In  this,  when  I  say  the 
Church  I  do  not  mean  merely  a  Methodist  Church,  a  Lutheran  Church,  a 
Baptist  Church,  the  Evangelical  Church  (technically  so  called),  the  Pres- 
bytei-ian  Church,  the  Episcopal  Church,  or  any  other  distinctive  body 
with  some  man-conferred  name,  but  God's  Church — the  Church  uni- 
versal ;  the  Church  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  slain  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world ;  the  Church  registered  by  God  as  his  reliable 
and  reliant,  devoted,  conquering  host,  or  gathered  beyond  the  vale  on  the 
bright  fields  of  everlasting  bliss  as  his  for  ever  and  ever;  the  Church 
militant,  and  the  Church  triumphant. 

The  peculiar  honor  of  the  Church  is  that  it  is  the  only  organized  body 
which  the  almighty  God  condescends  to  lend  to  this  world.  To  be  a 
member  of  the  Church  is,  therefore,  to  be  a  member  of  God's  society,  God's 
family.  He  established  it,  he  l)lessed  it,  he  built  it  up,  he  founded  it, 
as  he  says,  upon  the  rock  Christ  Jesus,  and  he  has  promised  that  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it. 

God  never  did  his  work  at  random  or  by  halves.  He  did  not  throw  dis- 
cordant elements  together — discordant  dispositions,  many-minded  men — 
without  some  system.  He  laid  down  the  law.  He  dictated  the  service 
and  ceremonies.  He  called  the  men  and  women  to  fill  the  niches  of  work 
in  this  grand  organization ;  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest  he  designated 
the  kind  of  work  they  should  do ;  and,  like  the  grand  worlds  which  at 
creation  he  rolled  off  his  hand  and  sent  swinging  on  nothing  away  out 
into  the  fathomless  depths  of  immensity,  he  saw  that  his  work  was  per- 
fect. It  met  his  honor  and  glory  as  the  everlasting  Father,  and  it  met 
man's  need  of  worship  as  he  felt  up  and  beyond  himself  for  "  the  unknown 
God." 

He  officered  the  Church  as  it  pleased  him.  The  Scripture  says:  "  And 
he  gave  some,  apostles ;  and  some,  prophets ;  and  some,  evangelists ;  and 
some,  pastors  and  teachers ;  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work 
of  the  ministry,  for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ :  till  we  all  come 
in  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  unto 
a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measiu-e  of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ " 
(Eph.  iv,  11-13). 

God's  Church,  therefore,  is  systematic,  established  for  a  purpose,  and 
officered  to  produce  that  result.  But  God's  Church  was  not  only  God- 
planted  and  officered  to  secure  systematic  results,  but  it  was  made  up  of 
individual  souls.  Each  man  and  woman  was  intended  to  be  as  completely 
the  representative  of  God's  Church  as  the  Church  itself. 

"We  are  apt  to  think  of  the  Church  simply  as  an  organic  body.  We 
forget  that  wherever  away  down  the  dim  past  there  was  a  worshiper 
17 


218  THE  CHUKCH  AND  HER  AGENCIES. 

there  was  the  essence  of  God's  Church.  And  even  when  the  organized 
thousands  in  the  Avilderuess,  or,  after  their  captivity,  near  the  pulpit,  near 
the  Avater-gate,  knelt  in  adoration  before  the  incense  altar,  or  wept  their 
penitent  tears  and  shouted  their  "  Amens"  at  the  newly  opened  word  of 
God,  they  were  simply  congregations  of  individual  worshipers. 

Individuality  is,  therefore,  stamped  upon  the  work  of  the  Church ;  and 
a  live  Chiirch  becomes,  therefore,  the  aggregation  of  simple  individualities. 

Therefore,  that  is  the  agency  desired  for  the  Church  which  utilizes 
most  completely  the  individuality  of  its  members.  No  wonder  the  apostle 
puts  it  in  this  way:  "The  whole  body  fitly  joined  together  and  com- 
pacted by  that  which  every  joint  supplieth  .  .  .  maketh  increase  of  the 
body  unto  the  edifying  of  itself  in  love  "  (Eph.  iv,  16). 

Having  thus  briefly  outlined  the  scope  of  church  agencies,  I  would  ex- 
amine a  little  more  closely  agencies  themselves. 

In  the  modern  changes  of  thought  and  worship  the  question  might 
very  properly  be  asked.  What  are  church  agencies — true,  legitimate  agen- 
cies? If  the  fashion  in  many  of  the  Methodist,  and  also  in  some  other 
Churches  conferming  to  worldly  customs,  were  to  be  denominated  an 
agency  of  the  Church,  it  might  well  be  doubted  if  the  sainted  John  Wes- 
ley, returning  to  earth,  would  recognize  these  fashions  designed  to 
attract  members  to  the  Church  as  agencies  at  all,  but  corruptions,  traves- 
ties upon  the  fair  record  of  a  Church  God-made,  not  man-made.  Per- 
haps some  would  denominate  these  as  "  secondary  agencies ;  "  it  is  certain 
that  from  a  Methodist  Christian  stand-point  they  are  not  church  agencies 
at  all,  but  corruptions  of  the  Church,  lapses  from  the  Bible  land-marks 
and  the  Methodist  Discipline. 

If  by  the  subject  "Church  Agencies"  is  meant  an  exposition  of  the 
agencies  legitimate  in  the  Church — agencies  which  are  a  part  of  the 
Church's  life — then  we  need  only  to  cast  our  eyes  back  along  the  line  of 
the  Church's  path,  and  see  what  has  in  that  past  contributed  to  her  life, 
her  growth,  her  aggressiveness,  and  her  sanctification. 

The  first  of  these  has  been  prayer.  And  I  have  time  only  to  call  atten- 
tion to  this.  Whatever  importance  has  been  or  may  be  attached  to  other 
agencies,  this  stands  pre-eminent. 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  a  live  Church  is  a  praying  Church,  and  a  non- 
praying  Church  a  dead  Church.  Not  exactly.  A  non-praying  Church 
is  not  a  Church  at  all,  for  it  lacks  the  elements  essential  to  its  daily 
existence.  A  man  whose  eyes  are  closed  in  death,  whose  pulses  are 
stilled,  whose  heart  has  ceased  forever  to  beat,  is  not  a  man;  he  is  a 
dead  clod  in  the  form  of  a  man ;  for  that  which  made  him  useful  in 
life  has  departed.  With  reverent  address  and  sobbing  hearts  we  lay 
that  lifeless  clod  out  of  the  way  under  earth's  broad  bosom. 

The  highest  encomium  passed  by  the  word  of  God  upon  any  Church  is 
recorded  in  Acts  (i,  4),  saying:  "These  all  continued  with  one  accord  in 
prayer  and  supplications."  The  history  of  the  Church  is  a  history  of 
prayer.  It  has  been  the  only  evener-up  of  the  disparities  between  differ- 
ent Churches  in  their  worldly  circumstances;  for  the  Church's  prayers 


ADDRESS    OF   EEV.    W.    11.    DAY.  219 

have  ever  outweighed  the  importance  of  all  worldly  considerations,  and, 
reaching  the  ear  and  heart  of  God,  have  made  the  weak  strong,  the  faint 
hearts  bold,  the  timid  souls  confident  in  God  and  thereby  in  themselves. 
By  this  God's  rule  has  ever  prevailed.  "  The  weak  things  of  earth  to  con- 
found the  mighty,  and  the  things  are  not  to  bring  to  nought  the  things 
that  are.'' 

There  are  other  divinely  appointed  agencies  of  the  Church,  and  among 
the  first  the  preaching  of  the  word  of  the  Lord;  and  in  the  coldest 
Churches  w^e recognize  this  agency — an  agency  of  power — for  "how  shall 
they  hear  without  a  preacher?  "  but  the  preacher,  to  be  effective  for  God 
and  man,  must  live  near  the  throne.  His  message  must  be  saturated  with 
prayer  ;  and  the  Church  must  pray  for  reception  of  the  living  word  to 
properly  emphasize  the  message  as  coming  from  God. 

Does  the  history  of  God's  Church  prove  that  it  is  great  preaching  which 
has  led  men  to  the  Saviour,  which  has  changed  the  current  of  men's  lives, 
which  has  enlarged  the  borders  of  the  Church,  and,  above  all  things  else, 
brought  honor  to  God  and  his  cause?  Is  it  great  preaching — preaching 
scholarly  in  diction,  exact  in  formula,  logical  in  statement?  No;  it  is 
great  prayer — not  great  preaching,  except  as  made  great  in  the  atmos- 
phere of  prayer.  And  however  humble,  however  broken  in  words,  how- 
ever beneath  the  intellectual  line  along  which  the  minister  is  supposed  to 
walk,  in  God's  great  government,  every -where,  the  ' '  fervent  prayer  of  a 
righteous  man  availeth  much."  It  reaches  the  hand  of  the  almighty 
God,  and  that  hand  moves  the  world. 

Who  have  stopped  the  mouths  of  lions?  Men  of  prayer.  "Who  have 
wrought  righteousness?  Men  of  prayer.  Who,  out  of  weakness,  were 
made  strong  ?  Men  of  prayer.  Who  have  in  God's  name  swept  their 
wand  over  the  world,  met  the  opposing  forces,  changed  the  opinion  of  whole 
kingdoms,  and  swept  them  into  Protestant  Christianity?  Men  of  prayer. 
Strong  in  the  pulpit  as  God's  armor-bearers,  powerful  as  men  in  the  con- 
troversies of  the  times,  but  far  stronger  on  their  knees  in  prayer,  bringing 
heaven  down  to  earth,  and  humbly  commanding  to  their  aid  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  and  "the  armies  which  were  in  heaven  "  that  "followed  him  I  " 

For  confirmation  of  this  examine  the  history  of  the  lives  of  Martin 
Luther,  John  Wesley,  and  other  saints  of  God  who  have  led  God's  hosts 
to  victory. 

What  we  most  need,  then,  brethren,  in  the  Church — in  the  Christian 
Church  of  to-day — as  a  church  agency,  is  the  wide-spread  spirit  of  prayer. 
We  need  less  of  theological  platitudes  and  more  of  prayer.  Less  of  the 
spirit  which  contents  itself  with  erecting  masterpieces  of  architecture 
for  the  house  of  God  and  more  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  dwell  in  God's 
house.  Less  of  the  exact,  cold  form  of  formal  worship ;  less  of  the  wor- 
ship of  men,  and  more  of  the  sincere  sin-sick  protestation :  ' '  God  be  mer- 
ciful to  me  a  sinner. " 

We  are  swinging  away  from  prayer  now,  and  in  many  cases,  for  the 
Church,  are  seeking  agencies  which  are  doubtful.  Let  us  rise  in  the 
strength  of  God  to  the  prayer-plane  of  apostolic  times. 


220  THE  CHURCH  AND  HEK  AGENCIES. 

With  this  devotion  the  Church  would  sweep  the  world,  aud  lift  it  year 
by  year  up  toward  heaven.  And  on  the  turreted  plains  of  the  eternal 
city  the  welcome  will  be  ours,  to  preacher  and  people  alike :  "  Well  done, 
good  and  faithful  servants." 

The  Eev.  Bishop  C.  D.  Foss,  D.D,,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  opened  the  discussion,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  Chairman:  I  desire  to  emphasize  two  indispensable  qualifications 
for  a  successful  ministry,  the  first  chiefly  intellectual,  the  second  chicily 
sjDiritual,  but  both  having  close  relations  to  both  the  intellectual  and  the 
spiritual  aspects  of  a  minister's  character  and  work. 

1.  A  minister  should  devote  himself  to  "the  daily,  nightly,  everlasting 
reading  of  the  great  book  of  the  world."  One  of  the  most  elegant  and 
versatile  men  Methodism  has  ever  produced  on  either  side  of  the  ocean, 
Dr.  John  McClintock,  used  to  say:  "  Seven  minutes  and  a  half  arc  enovigh 
for  a  minister  to  give  to  the  morning  newspaper."  He  held  that  five 
minutes  are  sometimes  too  little,  and  ten  generally  too  much,  and  so  would 
split  the  difference,  meaning  thus  to  rebuke  a  minister's  waste  of  time  in 
dawdling  over  things  irrelevant  or  trivial.  If  the  man  of  God  would  be 
"apt  to  teach"  and  "thoroughly  fore-furnished,"  let  him  study  great 
authors.  Let  him  stretch  himself  on  great  books  and  give  scant  hospital- 
ity on  his  literary  shelves  to  bad,  weak,  or  goodish  books.  The  master- 
ing of  a  dozen  great  books  is  worth  more  to  a  minister  than  a  sinful  famil- 
iarity with  a  thousand  medium  books.  Let  him  spend  five  hours  a  day 
(I  think  that  was  Mr.  Wesley's  injunction)  with  the  noblest  minds  of  the 
race,  and  he  will  have  something  to  say  woith  the  hearing,  and,  moreover, 
his  audiences  will  be  attracted  and  inspired  by  the  evidences  of  his  ever- 
increasing  intellectual  culture  and  power. 

2.  A  minister  must  also  (if  he  would  succeed)  proclaim  the  great  evan- 
gelical doctrines.  We  hear  a  great  deal  in  this  Conference  about  Mr. 
Wesley's  unprecedented  catholicity  as  to  doctrinal  tests  of  membership  in 
his  societies,  and  it  has  been  well  and  wisely  said.  No  doubt  such  raw 
catechumens  as  he  and  his  co-laborers  swept  into  Christian  fellowship  by 
the  thousand,  by  the  door  of  a  quick  repentance  and  a  joyful  conversion, 
ought  not  at  once  to  have  been  confronted  with  an  elaborate  creed.  But 
it  must  be  remembered  that  he  finally  selected  a  creed  with  thirty-nine  ar- 
ticles, and  that  he  was  an  eminently  doctrinal  preacher.  He  preached  sin 
and  guilt  as  real  and  awful  facts ;  hell,  not  as  the  shadowy  possibility  of 
a  remote  inconvenience,  but  as  a  pit  of  perdition  into  which  any  impen- 
itent sinner  might  fall  upon  the  next  morning;  salvation  as  the  j^resent 
privilege  of  every  repenting  sinner;  the  new  birth;  the  witness  of  the 
Spirit ;  growth  in  grace ;  perfect  consecration ;  perfect  cleansing ;  and  perfect 
love.  It  was  by  the  perpetual  proclamation  of  these  great  truths  nar- 
rated in  God's  word  that  he  won  his  victories.  The  preaching  of  the 
very  same  doctrines,  wuth  Churches  changing  forms  of  utterance  as  shall 
best  adapt  them  to  the  needs  of  different  communities,  will  win  victories 
for  Christ  in  any  age  and  in  any  land. 

The  Kev.  Frank  Ballard,  M.A.,  B.Sc,  of  the  "Wesleyan 
Metliodist  Church,  made  the  following  remarks : 

Mr.  President:  It  will  be  remembered  that  on  Saturday  morning  I 
ventured  to  quote  an  opinion  to  the  effect  tihat,  in  some  respects  of  relig- 
ious thought  American  opinion  was  twenty  years  behind  English.     But 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  221 

I  have  been  so  much  impressed  by  the  vigorous  statements  of  Bishop 
Foster  this  morning  that,  on  condition  that  his  attitude  may  be  fairly 
taken  as  representing  that  of  our  American  brethren,  I  will  withdraw  my 
quotation  and  say  that  I  fear  the  American  position  is  some  years  ahead  of 
the  English. 

I  should  like,  indeed,  to  be  present  at  a  real  Conference  where  men 
such  as  the  bishop  just  now,  who  have  something  to  say  and  know  how 
to  say  it,  may  not  be  ruthlessly  hewn  down  by  the  chairman's  hammer 
at  a  precise  moment. 

In  my  humble  judgment  we  are  somewhat  in  danger  of  forming  differ- 
ent camps  in  these  respects.  There  are  parties — I  do  not  say  that  they 
■would  commit  themselves  to  definite  statements  either  in  print  or  in 
speech — but  there  are  parties  in  our  midst  who  strongly  incline  to  lean, 
on  the  one  hand,  to  the  emotional  side  almost  alone,  and  on  the  other 
hand  to  the  intellectual.  Thus  it  comes  to  pass  that  not  a  few  among  us 
are  occasionally  disposed  to  sneer  a  little  at  the  intellectual  side. 

I  have  nothing  to  withdraw,  because  I  speak  of  what  I  have  myself  dis- 
tinctly heard  on  this  as  well  as  on  the  other  side  of  the  water. 

Now,  Mr.  President,  I  do  not  think  that  Methodism  is  in  any  danger  of 
forgetting  the  emotional.  But  the  time  has  surely  come  when  intellect- 
ual and  modern  aspects  of  truth  should  receive  more  attention  at  our 
hands  as  Methodist  preachers.  Thus,  I  say,  very  respectfully,  that  the 
suggestions  and  anecdotes  to  which  we  have  listened,  even  here,  about 
silencing  skeptics  by  wit  and  sending  doubters  home  to  pray  are  unworthy 
of  our  dignity  as  Christians  and  as  Methodists. 

This  was  made  abundantly  clear  by  Bishop  Foster  in  his  very  able  ad- 
dress. Here,  for  instance,  is  the  son  of  my  good  friend  Mr.  Snape  (Sec- 
retary of  the  Conference),  a  Doctor  of  Science  of  London  University, 
and  a  professor  in  one  of  the  rising  colleges  of  Great  Britain.  This  fact 
is  typical  of  others  which  indicate  processes  taking  place  all  over  the 
world.  Our  children  are  rising  iip  to  know  in  a  few  years  more  science 
and  philosophy  than  we  do  in  mature  age.  We  are  not  seldom  in  danger 
of  forgetting  this  possibility.  If,  dismissing  priestcraft,  we  are  to  be  the 
teachers  of  men  in  the  greatest  and  most  comprehensive  and  most  diflS- 
cult  themes  conceivable,  it  is  surely  necessary  that  we  should  be  fully 
equipped  for  our  work.  But  it  is  becoming  seriously  possible  that,  with 
regard  to  large  portions  of  those  themes,  those  who  are  to  be  taught  may 
know  more  than  their  teachers.  That  is  a  danger  which  we  are  bound  to 
keep  in  view. 

In  regard,  for  instance,  to  our  candidates  for  the  ministry,  the  one 
question  which  above  all  others  is  pressed  on  our  side  of  the  water  is 
how  much  they  have  read  of  "  Methodist  theology."  Now,  I  have 
nothing  to  say,  of  course,  against  that  theology  save  this,  that  however 
dear  and  forceful  and  sufficient  the  works,  for  instance,  of  Richard  Wat- 
son may  have  been  in  their  day,  that  style  of  study  is  not  and  cannot  be 
sufficient  for  this  generation. 

The  Rev.  J.  Surman  Cooke,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  spoke  as  follows  ; 

Mr.  President :  There  is  just  one  point  among  the  many  so  ably  brought 
before  us  this  morning  which,  I  think,  has  scarcely  had  sufficient  prom- 
inence, and  that  is  the  supernatural  element  which  ought  to  be  taken  into 
account  in  our  study  of  preaching.  It  is  this  that  differentiates  preaching 
from  every  other  agency  of  the  Church,  and  no  issue  is  so  momentous  to 
us  as  a  great  Methodist  Church,  with  our  previous  traditions  of  ' '  power  from 


222  THE  CHURCH  AND  HEE  AGENCIES. 

on  high,"  as  that  we  should  preserve  that  great  article  of  our  creed,  "I 
believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  There  seems  some  danger  just  now  of  our 
losing  the  expectation  that  God  vrill  save  men  under  his  word,  and  while 
we  preach,  and  transferring  this  expectation  too  much  to  the  methods  of 
the  inquiry-room  and  the  after-meeting.  I  am  not  here  to  say  a  single 
word  against  these  methods  which  have  been  developed  almost  to  a  sacred 
science,  and  which  I  rejoice  myself  to  use  constantly ;  nor  can  I  forget  the 
vivid  scene,  one  that  will  be  to  me  one  of  the  most  interesting  memories 
of  this  Conference,  which  Ave  witnessed  in  this  church  last  Sunday  night 
when,  after  the  president's  sermon  and  Mr.  Hughes's  address,  the  bishop, 
the  preacher  of  the  morning,  vinited  with  the  workers  of  the  evening  in 
directing  awakened  seekers  to  the  Saviour  in  the  rooms  below. 

But  there  is  a  danger  of  our  failing  to  look  for  conversions  under  the 
word  of  God  as  we  preach  it.  We  must  work  back  to  the  New  Testament, 
the  Pentecostal  ideal.  We  must  work  back  to  the  example  of  our  fathers 
in  the  ministry.  They  expected  conversions  while  they  ])reached.  They 
had  no  after-meetings,  but  men  repented  and  men  believed  in  Christ  un- 
der the  truth.  I  can  wish  for  myself,  and  for  every  preacher  in  this  Con- 
ference, nothing  higher  than  the  record,  "And  while  he  j-et  spake  the 
Holy  Ghost  fell  as  at  the  beginning." 

And  I  may  be  allowed  to  say  that  the  most  hopeful  sign  of  Methodism 
on  our  side  of  the  Atlantic  is,  I  believe,  the  fact  that  so  many  of  our 
preachers  and  our  people  are  expecting  direct  and  immediate  results  un- 
der the  ministry  of  the  word.  We  are  sometimes  told  that  our  central 
missions  are  the  hope  of  English  Methodism,  but,  much  as  we  thank  God 
for  these,  we  cannot  forget  that  they  are  on  a  scale  which  cannot  be  largely 
repeated.  The  hope  of  our  future  is  in  our  quickened  circuit  life  gener- 
ally, and  in  scores  and  hundreds  of  quiet  places  and  circuits  throughout 
our  laud  men  are  expecting  more  than  ever  immediate  results  by  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  This  is  our  highest  hope.  Let  us  have  all  that 
culture,  all  that  preparation  can  give,  but  the  Plymouth  Rock  of  our  his- 
tory was  preaching  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  Here  we  landed,  and  such  preach- 
ing' alone  can  be  the  secret  of  still  greater  future  for  the  world-wide  Meth- 
odism which  is  represented  here  to-day. 

The  Eev.  G.  W.  Clinton,  B.  A.,  of  the  African  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Zion  Church,  continued  the  discussion,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  We  only  need  to  consider  what  a  preacher  is  in  order  to 
have  a  right  coi)ce])tion  of  what  his  responsibilities  are.  If  we  are  to  take 
the  word  of  God  for  it  and  Paul's  definition,  he  is  an  embassador  for 
Christ,  a  witness  for  Christ.  He  is  to  declare  the  whole  counsel  of  God. 
If  this  is  to  be  his  office — an  embassador,  and  Ave  all  have  some  idea  what 
are  the  responsibilities  of  an  embassador  for  the  great  governments  of 
earth — we  have  only  need  to  consider  the  difference  betAveen  the  impor- 
tance of  the  governments  of  earth  and  the  government  of  God,  and  we 
have  an  idea  of  the  great  and  important  responsibility  of  the  Christian 
minister. 

Bishop  Foster  gave  us  a  most  forcible  definition,  so  far  as  he  was  per- 
mitted to  go,  of  the  qualifications  of  a  preacher.  Others^  have  dwelt 
upon  that  theme.  But  I  regard  as  a  most  essential  qualification,  or  char- 
acteristic, of  the  true  preacher  of  the  Gospel  singleness  of  purpose.  While 
I  agree  that  he  ought  to,  as  nearly  as  possible,  have  knowledge  of  all 
things,  yet  I  believe,  on  the  other"^  hand,  that  he  should  concentrate  and 
turn  the  whole  force  and  power  of  that  knowledge  in  the  one  grand  and 
noble  direction  of  saving  the  souls  of  men. 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  223 

And  just  here  comes  to  me  the  question,  Why  is  it  that  men  of  ad- 
vanced years  that  occupy  the  pulpit  do  not  compare  favorably  with  men 
in  the  medical,  legal,  and  other  leading  professions?  And  the  answer 
comes — if  I  am  wrong  I  hope  I  may  be  corrected — that  men  in  these 
other  professions  make  it  a  point  to  study  all  along  the  line,  to  bend 
their  energies  in  that  one  direction.  And  I  think  the  Christian  pulpit 
of  to-day  would  do  well  to  follow  the  example  of  men  in  the  medical  and 
legal  professions.  Men  at  sixty-five  and  seventy  in  these  professions  are 
considered  at  the  top  of  the  ladder.  In  our  line,  unless  they  be  officers 
in  the  Church,  few  ministers  who  have  reached  that  advanced  age  are 
desired  as  pastors  among  the  people.  We  want  to  feel  that  the  work  of 
preaching  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  of  such  importance 
that  from  the  day  we  are  called  to  the  day  we  cease  to  live  our  aim 
should  be  to  qualify  ourselves  to  declare  the  Gospel  of  Christ  and  save  the 
souls  of  men. 

I  want  to  emphasize  this  in  addition.  Next  to  having  a  divine  call  and 
having  an  intellectual  qualification  of  a  high  order  and  the  possession  of 
diversified  knowledge  is  having  spiritual  endowment.  The  man  who 
would  preach  the  Gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  successfully  must  not 
only  be  intellectually  qualified,  not  only  be  called,  but  he  must  tarry  at 
some  Jerusalem  until  he  is  endowed  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  When  he  has 
obtained  this  great  qualification  in  connection  with  the  others  he  is  sure 
to  succeed.  And  I  should  say  if  he  is  to  be  lacking  in  any  one  quality,  if 
any  is  to  be  left  out,  let  him  feel  that  the  Holy  Ghost  and  tongue  of  fire 
have  fallen  upon  him,  and  abide  with  him  wherever  he  may  go. 

The  Rev.  William  Arthur,  M.A.,  of  tlie  Wesleyan  Meth- 
odist Church,  made  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President:  After  what  we  have  heard  there  are  only  two  things 
about  which  I  would  like  to  say  a  word.  I  believe  that  for  a  preacher 
there  is  nothing  more  essential  than  a  deep  conviction  of  the  things  of 
which  he  has  to  speak.  It  is  a  remarkable  thing  that  many  men  "who 
have  the  power  of  convincing  have  in  no  respect  the  power  of  persuading. 
And  it  is  equally  remarkable  that  men  who  are  all  but  omnipotent  in  per- 
suading a  multitude  have  not  the  power  of  convincing.  But  to  whatever 
order  a  man  may  himself  belong,  conviction  in  the  speaker  is  the  most 
powerful  instrument  of  persuasion.  If  he  himself  believes,  that  belief  is  a 
spiritual  force^using  spiritual  not  in  the  religious,  but  in  the  philosophical 
sense — that  cannot  be  measured. 

Now,  sir,  I  believe  that  our  fathers  believed,  and  therefore  spoke,  and 
men  knew  that  they  believed.  It  is  easy  to  be  intense  and  narrow.  John 
Wesley  was  intense,  but  he  was  not  narrow.  It  is  easy  to  be  broad  and 
loose.  John  Wesley  was  broad,  but  he  was  not  loose.  A  leading  English 
churchman  said  to  me:  "  Was  not  the  broad  churchism  of  John  Wesley 
very  like  that  of  Dean  Stanley?  "  "No,"  said  I;  "it  is  very  unlike."  He 
asked,  ' '  In  what  are  they  unlike  ? "  Said  I,  ' '  Before  stating  that  I  shall 
say  in  what  they  were  like.  John  Wesley  would  not  lay  down  the  meas- 
ure of  this  belief  that  would  cause  a  man  to  lose  his  own  soul." 

He  set  not  himself  to  judge  the  law.  But  if  there  ever  lived  or  spoke 
a  man  in  whose  case  it  was  easy  to  know  what  he  himself  believed  and 
what  he  would  teach  you  to  believe,  that  man  was  John  Wesley.  No  man 
ever  followed  him  and  inquired,  What  does  he  think  about  Christ  ?  No 
man  ever  followed  him  and  inquired,  What  does  he  think  about  the  atone- 
ment? what  does  he  think  about  justice?  what  does  he  think  about  pun- 
ishment? about  the  eternity  of  punishment?  what  does  he  think  about 
any  of  the  cardinal  principles  of  the  Christian  religion? 


224  THE  CHUECH  AND  HEK  AGENCIES. 

We  have  had  sayings  here — and  with  all  love  for  the  men  who  have 
said  them  I  mention  this — that  they  have  been  simply  setting  the  gates 
ajar  that  all  sorts  of  floods  may  enter  in. 

Now,  I  desire  to  say  that  I  believe  I  have  a  deep  conviction  that  there 
was  nothing  that  helped  the  power  of  our  fathers  in  preaching  more  than 
their  power  in  public  prayer.  But  when  Dean  Stanley,  on  Good  Friday, 
preaches  before  the  heir  to  the  English  throne  a  sermon  which  he  prints 
and  only  refers  to  the  death  which  purchased  my  soul  as  "  the  event  of 
the  day,"  he  sets  the  gates  ajar,  and  floods  may  enter  in. 

The  Rev.  A.  B.  Leonakd,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  conchided  the  discussion,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  In  the  two  minutes  which  it  appears  are  left  before  the 
close  of  this  discussion  I  shall  endeavor  to  say  all  that  I  had  intended. 
There  are  two  elements  of  a  Christian  preacher  that  need  a  little  more 
attention  than  they  have  received  in  these  discussions.  The  first  is  com- 
mon sense.  There  are  a  good  many  preachers  in  the  pulpit  to-day  who 
are  discussing  learned  questions  in  the  presence  of  the  people  and  are 
starting  doubts  that  they  never  anticipated,  and  in  that  way  are  dam- 
aging the  people  more  than  they  help  them.  I  knew  of  a  presiding  elder 
who  went  up  and  down  the  country  preaching  on  the  theory  of  Darwin 
and  the  views  of  Huxley,  and  the  people  sat  in  their  pews  and  said, 
"  Who  is  Darwin  and  who  is  Huxley  ?  " 

The  doxology  was  sung,  and  the  Conference  closed  with  the 
benediction  by  Bishop  T.  H.  Lomax,  D.D.,  of  the  African  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Zion  Church. 


RECEPTION  AT  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

At  1:30  P.  M.  the  members  of  the  Conference,  with  the 
ladies  accompanying  them,  were  received  at  the  Executive  Man- 
sion by  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  Mrs.  Harri- 
son, to  whom  they  were  introduced  by  the  Rev.  Bishop  J.  F. 
Hurst,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  resi- 
dent at  Washington,  and  Chairman  of  the  Business  Committee 
of  the  Conference. 


ESSAY    OF    KEY.    HUGH    PRICE    HUGHES.  225 


SECOND  SESSION. 

The  Conference  opened  at  3  P.  M.,  the  Kev.  M.  T.  Myers, 
President  of  the  United  Methodist  Free  Church,  in  the  chair. 
The  devotional  exercises  were  conducted  by  the  Rev.  J.  S. 
Balmer  and  the  Rev.  David  Brook,  M.A.,  B.C.L.,  of  the 
United  Methodist  Free  Church. 

The  order  of  the  afternoon  was  taken  up,  and  the  Rev.  Hugh 
Price  Hughes,  M.A.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Churcli,  read 
the  following  essay  on  "  The  Religious  Press  and  the  Religious 
Uses  of  the  Secular  Press :  " 

In  the  modern  history  of  Christendom  there  is  only  one  thing  more  aston- 
ishing than  the  gigantic  growth  of  the  press,  and  that  is  the  blindness 
of  so  many  of  our  Churches  to  the  portentous  significance  of  that  growth. 

The  origin  of  journalism  is  somewhat  obscure.  A  small  daily  official 
gazette  was  published  in  Rome  imtil  the  downfall  of  the  Western  Empire. 
After  the  invention  of  printing  news-letters  ap^Jeared  in  Germany  and 
Italy.  The  earliest  English  journal  was  a  small  quarto  pamphlet  in  the 
reign  of  James  I.  The  epoch-making  struggle  of  the  Commonwealth  gave 
a  considerable  impetus  to  journalism.  But  there  was  so  much  difficulty 
even  at  that  time  in  getting  sufficient  "copy,"  that  passages  of  Scripture 
were  use  as  padding,  and  in  one  instance  the  following  notice  appeared: 
"  Blank  space  is  left  that  any  gentleman  may  write  his  own  private  busi- 
ness." 

Marlborough's  victories  led  to  the  issue  of  a  newspaper  three  times 
a  week.  The  first  English  daily,  The  Daily  Courant,  appeared  in  1709. 
From  that  time  journalism  has  been  growing  and  spreading  until  it 
has  appeared  in  every  civilized  and  semi-civilized  country.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  there  are  more  than  four  thousand  daily  newspapers  with  a 
circulation  of  above  twenty-one  million  copies,  and  twenty-one  thousand 
weekly  newspapers,  with  a  circulation  of  nearly  fifty-eight  million  copies. 

Tlie  rapid  growth  of  English  journalism  may  be  shown  by  a  comparison 
of  figures.  In  1843  there  were  79  London  newspapers;  in  1874  there  were 
289,  10  of  them  daily,  in  1843  there  were  330  provincial  newspapers;  in 
1874  their  number  had  risen  to  717.  In.  Scotland  the  progress  between 
the  same  dates  was  from  69  to  150. 

In  addition  to  political  and  general  newspapers,  every  trade,  profession, 
art,  pleasure,  and  almost  every  fashion  have  their  own  particular  journals. 
Is  it  not  strange  that  this  immense  agency,  which  confronts  lis  at  every  turn 
and  pours  its  ceaseless  influence  through  city,  town,  village,  and  liamlet, 
has  rarely  received  the  careful  consideration  of  the  Churches  and  has  been 
permitted  to  attain  its  present  magnitude  entirely  outside  their  sphere  of 
influence  ? 

If  we  attempted  to  extend  to  it  any  sympathetic  patronage  now,  we 


220  THE  CHUKCH  AND  HER  AGENCIES. 

should  provoke  the  same  crushing  retort  that  Dr.  Johnson  administered  to 
Lord  Chesterfield.  Journalism  has  passed  through  its  early  struggles  and 
become  the  fourth  estate  of  the  realm  and  the  mightiest  agency  in  the  civil- 
ized world — without  our  aid  and  without  our  blessing. 

The  result  of  our  long  and  cold  neglect  is  painfully  and  sufficiently 
indicated  by  a  statement  in  Dr.  Nicholl's  interesting  biography  of  Mac- 
donald,  one  of  the  principal  leader-writers  of  the  Times.  That  brilliant 
journalist  said  that  in  the  whole  circle  of  his  journalistic  acquaintances 
he  scarcely  knew  an  avowed  Christian.  That  statement  is  not  literally 
correct,  for  there  are  several  Christians  on  the  staff  of  the  Times  and  of 
the  otlier  great  London  dailies.  The  provincial  press  is  to  a  much  greater 
extent  under  the  influence  and  control  of  Christian  men.  Nevertheless, 
the  statement  of  "  Macdonald  of  the  Times  "  remains  sadly  true,  and  Chris- 
tian Churches  must  face  the  fact  that  they  have  allowed  a  gigantic  social 
institution  to  grow  up  entirely  independent  of  their  influence,  and  in. 
the  hands  of  men,  many  of  whom  know  nothing  of  Christianity,  and  some 
of  whom  positively  hate  our  faith. 

Mr.  Frederick  Harrison  has  said  with  great  force  that  ' '  Journalism,  like 
every  other  fixed  institution,  has  its  own  traditions,  its  own  world,  its 
standard  of  opinion,  its  prejudices,  its  limits — all  the  idols  of  the  cave 
where  it  dwells  and  toils.  Enormous  indeed  are  the  functions  which  are 
thrown  upon  it  in  the  absence  of  great  popular  statesmen,  of  high  public 
education,  and  the  abdication  of  all  Churches  from  the  care  of  daily  life ; 
and  it  needs  every  assistance  it  can  find  in  its  high  task  as  the  one  organ- 
ized spiritual  power  for  counsel,  progress,  and  justice." 

We  can  scarcely  accept  that  statement  in  its  entirety,  although  there  is 
too  much  ground  for  the  accusation  that  we  have  abdicated  the  care  of 
daily  life,  and  left  the  advocacy  of  human  progress  and  justice  to  the  press. 
But  the  first  part  of  the  quotation  is  profoundly  true,  and  any  one  who 
has  ever  entered  the  realm  of  journalism  has  found  himself  in  a  new  world 
and  one  which  is  scarcely  touched  by  ordinary  religious  society.  It  is  high 
time  for  us  to  consider  what  are  the  true  and  therefore  religious  functions 
of  this  gigantic  modern  institution. 

I.  In  the  first  place,  as  its  very  name  implies,  one  of  its  functions  is  to  col- 
lect news  from  all  parts  of  the  world. 

The  energy  and  the  enterprise  with  which  this  is  done  are  amazing. 
The  Times,  for  example,  has  private  wires  to  Paris  and  Berlin,  at  an  out- 
lay of  $500,000.  That  journal  paid  |4,000  for  the  telegraphed  result  of 
the  Berlin  Congress.  Another  illustration  of  the  splendid  enterprise  of 
journalism  was  the  way  in  which  the  New  York  Herald  found  Livingstone. 
The  great  journals  do  their  work  on  a  gigantic  scale  in  comparison  with 
which  our  efforts  for  the  evangelization  of  the  world  look  very  small  and 
tame.  It  may  be  said  that  these  great  newspapers  incur  this  enormous 
expense  and  undertake  these  vast  enterprises  in  the  hope  of  financial  gain. 
That  is  not  the  whole  explanation,  l)ut  if  it  were,  we  ought  to  be  capable 
of  doing  deeds  as  costly  and  as  daring  under  the  impulse  of  the  constrain- 
ing love  of  Christ. 


ESSAY   OF   REV.   HUGH   PRICE   HUGHES.  22 


'Jd'Ji  i 


Through  the  instrumentality  of  the  electric  telegraph  modern  journalism 
enables  every  civilized  man  to  know  every  event  of  imjDortance  that  takes 
•  place  in  every  part  of  the  world.  This  in  itself  is  an  invaluable  public 
service.  The  late  Bishop  Bloomfleld,  of  Loudon,  used  to  say  that  the  clergy 
of  his  diocese  would  be  far  more  efficient  in  the  discharge  of  their  pastoral 
duties  if  they  read  the  Times  every  day.  Can  there  be  any  doubt  that  the 
excellent  prelate  was  right  ?  Christ  himself  severely  condemned  the  re- 
ligious men  who  did  not  "mark  the  signs  of  the  times."  The  modern 
newspaper  enables  us  to  know  what  God  does,  and  what  God  permits  in 
every  part  of  the  world,  as  men  were  never  able  to  know  before.  This 
diffusion  of  news  widens  the  horizon  of  our  sympathies,  helps  us  to  real- 
ize more  and  more  the  solidarity  of  the  human  race,  and  enables  us  to  avert 
a  thousand  evils  and  to  promote  a  thousand  blessings  iu  a  way  which  was 
impossible  a  century  ago. 

II.  But  there  is  one  department  of  news  which  is  so  important  that  it 
must  be  classed  as  a  separate  function  of  journalism,  and  that  is  news 
about  Public  Opinion.  One  of  the  shrewdest  of  modern  English  statesmen, 
the  late  Lord  Palmerston,  used  to  say  that  the  great  fact  of  this  century 
was  the  influence  of  public  opinion.  A  distinguished  publicist  has  declared 
that  "the  great  task  of  the  future  is  to  organize  and  define  the  action  of 
Public  Opinion,"  and  he  has  admirably  denned  public  opinion  to  be  "  the 
intelligent  co-operation  of  citizens  in  modifying  the  action  of  the  commu- 
nity." 

But,  first  of  all,  it  is  of  immense  importance  to  know  what  the  jDublic 
opinion  of  any  country  is.  Mr.  Stead  has  suggested  an  eIa])orate  scheme 
by  which  a  great  newspaper  could  in  forty-eight  hours  discover  the  jjublic 
opinion  of  a  community.  There  is  little  doubt  that  Mr.  Stead's  idea  will 
some  day  be  carried  out.  Already  the  great  newspapers  have  correspond- 
ents every-where,  and  when  corres])oudents  are  duly  instructed  to  rejiort 
the  opinions  of  the  real  rejjresentatives  of  every  phase  of  life,  we  can  dis- 
cover swiftly  and  with  practical  certainty  what  are  the  predominating  senti- 
ments of  a  nation  upon  any  great  issue  of  importance.  It  is  well  to  know 
the  prevailing  opinion,  whether  it  is  right  or  wrong.  Nothing  could  be 
more  al:)surd  than  to  shut  our  eyes  to  unj^leasant  facts.  For,  as  Bishop 
Butler  said,  ' '  Things  are  what  they  are,  and  the  consequences  of  them 
will  be  what  they  will  be.     Why,  then,  should  we  desire  to  be  deceived  ? " 

Hence  one  of  the  greatest  functions  of  modern  journalism  is  to  discovei 
and  express  that  public  opinion  which  is  gradually  becoming  supreme  iix 
all  civilized  communities. 

III.  There  remains  a  third  function  of  journalism — the  most  important  oi 
all.  No  newspaper  worthy  of  notice  is  contented  merely  to  collect  news, 
whether  of  events  or  of  opinion.  It  has  an  honorable  ambition  to  influ 
ence  opinion.  It  has  an  individuality  and  a  policy  of  its  own.  Very 
few  newspapers  exist  merely  to  make  money.  Every  really  capable  editor 
has  convictions,  and  uses  his  mighty  instrument  to  impress  those  convic- 
tions upon  his  readers.  This  is  the  function  of  journalism  which  specially 
demands  the  careful  attention  of  Christian  men.     Carlyle  has  spoken  with 


228  THE  CHUECH  AND  HER  AGENCIES. 

great  contempt  of  "penny  editors,"  and  has  declared  that  through  their  in- 
fluence we  have  arrived  at  the  gates  of  death.  That  he  said  at  a  dyspep- 
tic moment.  In  his  reasonable  hours  he  was  far  too  clear-sighted  to  over- 
look the  tremendous  influence  of  the  editors  of  newspapers  for  good  as  well 
as  for  evil.     Ponder,  for  example,  this  characteristic  outburst: 

"There  is  no  Church,  sayest  thou  ?  The  voice  of  prophecy  has  gone 
dumb  ?  This  is  even  what  I  dispute :  but  in  any  case  hast  thou  not  still 
preaching  enough  ?  A  preaching  friar  settles  himself  in  every  village  and 
builds  a  pulpit  which  he  calls  newspaper.  Therefrom  he  preaches  what 
most  momentous  doctrine  is  in  him  for  man's  salvation ;  and  dost  not  thou 
listen  and  believe  ?  Look  well  ;  thou  seest  every- where  a  new  clergy  of  the 
mendicant  order,  some  bare-footed,  some  almost  bare-backed,  fashion 
itself  into  shape  and  teach  and  preach  zealously  enough  for  copper  alms 
and  the  love  of  God." 

Yes  !  the  newspaper  is  "  a  pulpit,"  and  a  pulpit  from  which  vaster  audi- 
ences are  addressed  than  any  pulpit  in  church  or  cathedral.  Let  me 
supplement  the  opinion  of  a  great  Englishman  by  quoting  the  equally 
striking  words  of  a  great  American.  James  Russell  Lowell  wrote  thus  of 
journalism : 

"  I  know  of  no  so  responsible  position  as  that  of  the  public  journalist. 
The  editor  of  our  day  bears  the  same  relation  to  his  time  that  a  clerk  bore 
to  the  age  before  the  invention  of  printing.  Indeed,  the  position  which 
he  holds  is  that  which  the  clergyman  should  hold  even  now.  But  the 
clergyman  chooses  to  walk  off  to  the  extreme  edge  of  the  world  and  to  throw 
such  seed  as  he  has  clear  over  into  that  darkness  which  he  calls  the  next 
life.  As  if  next  did  not  mean  nearest,  and  as  if  any  life  were  nearer  than 
that  immediately  present  one  which  boils  and  eddies  all  around  him  at 
the  caucus,  the  ratification  meeting,  and  the  polls !  .  .  .  Meanwhile,  see 
what  a  pulpit  the  editor  mounts  daily,  sometimes  with  a  congregation  of 
fifty  thousand  within  reach  of  his  voice,  and  never  so  much  as  a  nodder, 
even,  among  them.  And  from  what  a  Bible  can  he  choose  his  textr— a 
Bible  which  needs  no  translation  and  which  no  priestcraft  can  shut  and 
clasp  from  the  laity — the  open  volume  of  the  world,  upon  which  with  a  pen 
of  sunshine  or  destroying  fire  inspired  Present  is  even  now  writing  the 
annals  of  God !  Methinks  the  editor  who  should  understand  his  calling 
and  be  equal  thereto  would  truly  deserve  the  title  which  Homer  bestows 
upon  princes.  He  would  be  the  Moses  of  our  nineteenth  century;  and 
whereas  the  old  Sinai,  silent  now,  is  but  a  common  mountain  stared  at 
by  the  geologist,  he  must  find  his  tables  of  new  law  here  among  factories 
and  cities  in  this  wilderness  of  Sin  (Num.  xxxiii,  13)  called  Progress  of 
Civilization,  and  be  the  captain  of  our  exodus  into  the  Canaan  of  a  truer 
social  order." 

I  confess  I  do  not  think  Lowell's  ideal  too  lofty.  It  has  always  seemed 
to  me  that  in  these  demonstrative  days  the  journalist  ought  to  occupy  the 
place  which  the  prophet  filled  in  ancient  Israel.  His  duty  is  to  denounce 
wrong  and  promote  righteousness,  to  protest  incessantly  against  stag- 
nation which  breeds  death,  and  against  the  substitution  of  mere  routine 


ESSAY    OF   KEV.   HUGH    PRICE    HUGHES.  229 

for  vital  progress.  Men  must  be  incessantly  reminded  that  the  letter 
killeth,  but  the  spirit  giveth  life.  All  existing  organisms  must  be  con- 
tinuously adapted  and  re-adapted  to  their  ever-changing  environment. 
The  words  which  Lowell  wrote  of  the  ideal  poet  are  fulfilled  in  the  ideal 
journalist: 

' '  Nothing  to  him  were  fleeting  time  and  fashion ; 

His  soul  was  led  by  the  eternal  law ; 

He  did  not  sigh  o'er  heroes  dead  and  buried 

Chief  mourner  at  the  Golden  Age's  hearse, 

Nor  deem  that  souls  whom  Charon  grim  had  ferried 

Alone  were  fitting  themes  of  epic  verse : 

He  could  believe  the  promise  of  to-morrow, 

And  feel  the  wondrovis  meaning  of  to-day." 

The  power  of  journalism,  when  used  on  the  right  side,  is  immense  and 
almost  irresistible.  One  of  the  earliest  illustrations  of  this  was  in  1840, 
when  the  Times  exposed  a  gigantic  bank  fraud  which  would  have  ruined 
thousands.  One  of  the  persons  involved  brought  an  action  against  the 
Times,  and  on  some  technical  ground  obtained  a  verdict  of  one  farthing. 
The  public  instantly  raised  $25,000  to  cover  the  cost  of  the  defense. 
The  proprietors  of  the  Times  nobly  refused  to  pocket  the  money  and  em- 
ployed it  to  create  two  Times  scholarships  at  the  universities. 

Again  in  1875  the  Times  sacrificed  very  valuable  advertisements  in 
order  to  check  a  disastrous  railway  mania. 

Quite  recently  Mr.  Stead,  when  he  was  editor  of  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette, 
disclosed  the  outrages  practiced  upon  little  girls,  and  although  a  well- 
meant  blunder  enabled  the  infuriated  enemies  of  social  purity  to  imprison 
him  for  a  few  months,  the  great  work  was  done,  and  public  opinion  was 
so  roused  that  in  one  week  revolutionary  changes  in  British  law  were 
made,  changes  which  under  ordinary  circumstances  could  not  have  been 
achieved  in  a  generation.  The  friends  of  the  poor  and  the  helpless  had 
long  been  familiar  with  the  unspeakable  facts,  but  until  those  facts  were 
laid  bare  in  a  great  daily  newspaper  the  conscience  of  the  country  was 
not  aroused. 

Mr.  Stead  subsequently  gave  another  illustration  of  the  way  in  which 
a  newspaper  can  obtain  justice,  even  in  a  private  sphere,  when  all  the  offi- 
cial representatives  of  justice  have  utterly  failed.  A  certain  very  wealthy 
man  had  treated  his  wife  outrageously.  The  courts  vainly  attempted  to 
bring  him  to  justice.  The  Pall  Mall  Gazette  lifted  up  its  voice.  The 
echoes  of  it  reverberated  round  the  world ;  and  the  man  who  had  so  long 
evaded  even  the  long  arm  of  English  justice  found  himself  compelled 
to  provide  for  his  wife  and  child  to  the  amount  of  $150,000.  Thus  equally 
in  dealing  with  questions  of  broad  national  importance  and  with  the 
wrongs  of  obscure  individuals  the  modern  journalist  can  often  do  what 
without  his  assistance  is  impossible.  Let  me  give  one  other  illustration. 
That  extraordinary  social  ferment  which  has  ultimately  culminated  in 
General  Booth's  plan  for  the  abolition  of  pauperism,  and  which  has  done 
so  much  to  stimulate  the  Forward  Movement  in  British  Methodism,  was, 
humanly  speaking,    originated  in  a  pamphlet  entitled   TTie  Bitter  Cry  of 


230  THE   CHURCH    AND    HER   AGENCIES. 

Outcast  London.  But  that  pamphlet  (like  many  similar  pamphlets)  would 
probably  have  dropped  unnoticed  from  the  press  had  not  the  Pall  Mall 
Gazette  taken  it  up  and  given  it  the  publicity  and  patronage  of  its  brill- 
iant Images. 

The  fact  is  that  the  great  majority,  even  of  Christians,  are  so  pre- 
occupied with  their  own  private  affairs  that,  like  the  men  in  the  days  of 
Isaiah,  ' '  They  have  eyes,  but  they  see  not ;  they  have  ears,  but  they  do  not 
hear."  They  are  not  deliberately  indifferent  to  the  wrongs  and  sorrows 
of  their  fellow-creatures,  but  they  have  a  wonderful  capacity  for  being 
ignorant  of  what  is  taking  place  under  their  very  eyes;  and  until  their 
attention  is  called  to  great  evils  with  the  impressive  emphasis  which  a 
newspaper  alone  commands  they  do  not  realize  those  evils.  No  doubt 
a  powerful  personality  using  the  great  modern  institution  of  the  public 
platform  can  produce  effects  more  immediate  and  more  profound  even 
than  the  newspaper.  The  pen  is  never  equal  to  the  tongue.  The  living 
personality,  inspired  by  the  living  enthusiasm  of  humanity,  pleading  for 
justice  and  for  righteousness,  has  electrical  and  magnetic  influences  which 
the  editor  writing  in  his  study  cannot  emulate.  But  even  in  this  case 
journalism  has  its  share,  for  the  vast  influence  of  a  great  popular  speaker 
like  John  Bright  is  indefinitely  multiplied  by  the  circulation  of  his 
speeches  in  the  newspapers. 

On  the  whole,  therefore,  the  fact  remains  that  for  the  creation  of  public 
opinion  in  these  swift  days  the  press  is  supreme.  Quarterly  periodicals 
have  almost  disappeared.  We  cannot  wait  three  months.  Monthly 
magazines  are  at  a  discount,  except  for  purjioses  of  study  and  literary  rec- 
reation. Even  weekly  newspapers  are  at  considerable  disadvantage.  The 
editors  of  the  great  dailies,  if  they  were  disposed,  could  render  incalculable 
and  imperishable  service  to  the  kingdom  of  God. 

But,  hitherto,  as  I  have  admitted,  the  Churches,  with  few  exceptions, 
have  ignored  or  distrvisted  the  press.  Only  three  religious  communities 
in  England  have  yet  seemed  to  have  an  adequate  conception  of  the  im- 
mense importance  of  enlisting  journalism  on  their  side — the  Roman  Cath- 
olics, the  Unitarians,  and  the  Salvation  Army.  All  three  are  immensely 
indebted  to  the  friendly  relations  which  they  have  shrewdly  and  assidu- 
ously cultivated  with  journalists.  My  own  Church  has,  until  recently, 
done  less  than  any  other  to  enter  into  friendly  relations  with  the  press. 
Now,  however,  there  is  a  great  change.  The  reporter  is  welcomed  even 
in  the  Conference. 

We  ought  to  lose  no  opportunity  of  establishing  a  cordial  understand- 
ing with  journalism. 

The  representatives  of  business  and  of  pleasure  have  from  the  beginning 
realized  the  importance  and  influence  of  the  press.  The  result  is  that  all 
they  do  and  all  they  want  are  advertised  and  encouraged.  When  we 
treat  the  press  with  equal  discretion,  and  recognize  its  reciprocal  claims 
upon  us,  even  in  the  direction  of  suitable  advertisements,  we,  too,  shall 
secure  its  invaluable  co-operation. 

Further,  we  ought  not  to  allow  Roman  Catholics  and   Unitarians   to 


ESSAY    OF   REV.   HUGH    PKICE    HUGHES.  231 

surpass  us  in  training  young  men  as  journalists  and  reporters.  We  ought 
to  realize  that  a  Christian  citizen  could  have  no  more  important  and  hon- 
orable career  than  that  of  an  upright  journalist.  We  ought  to  encourage 
our  children  to  take  their  proper  share  in  leavening  that  mighty  institu- 
tion with  humane  and  Christian  principles. 

As  regards  religious  journalism,  on  which  also  I  have  been  requested  to 
touch,  the  general  remarks  apply.     But  there  are  one  or  two  peculiarities. 

In  the  first  place,  religious  journalism  ought  not  to  identify  itself  in- 
dissolubly  with  any  political  party.  Even  religious  journalists  must  have 
their  tendencies  toward  one  or  other  of  the  great  parties  into  which  hu- 
man minds  are  divided.  But  religious  journals  should  hold  aloof  from 
all  such  party-political  bonds  as  would  prevent  them  from  denouncing 
wrong  perpetrated  by  parties  with  which  they  generally  sympathize,  or 
from  advocating  right  when  it  happens  to  proceed  from  their  political 
opponents. 

The  duty  of  religious  journalists  is  to  regard  all  questions  from  a  dis- 
tinctly Christian  stand-point.  Religious  newspapers  might  do  a  great 
deal  more  than  they  have  done  to  secure  information  with  respect  to  the 
progress  of  work  of  God  at  home  and  abroad.  But  all  this  involves  gen- 
erous expenditure,  and  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  as  a  rule  English  Chris- 
tians have  so  inadequate  a  conception  of  the  importance  of  journalism  that 
the  amount  of  money  which  they  are  prepared  to  use  for  the  purpose  of 
starting  and  pushing  successful  journalism  is  simply  ridiculous.  Men 
who  will  give  thousands  of  pounds  for  the  erection  of  sanctuaries  or 
schools  hesitate  to  expend  pennies  for  the  institution  and  promotion  of 
a  mighty  agency  which  in  some  directions  is  more  influential  either 
than  the  school-master  or  the  preacher. 

We  are  now  beginning  to  realize  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  to  be  es- 
tablished on  earth ;  that  it  has  its  social  as  well  as  its  individualistic  as- 
pects ;  and  for  the  advocacy  of  the  social  aspects  of  Christianity  the  re- 
ligious newspaper  has  a  peculiarly  appropriate  sphere.  Much  in  that  di- 
rection may  be  done  in  the  pulpit,  but  during  the  limited  time  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Christian  minister  he  must  spend  his  main  strength  in  dealing 
with  that  "  improvement  of  the  soul "  which,  as  Bushnell  has  so  well  said, 
is  the  "  soul  of  all  improvement."  In  the  religious  newspapers,  however, 
there  are  ample  room  and  time  to  discuss  wathout  haste  and  without  pas- 
sion those  applications  of  the  principles  of  Christ  upon  which  human 
society  must  ultimately  be  reconstructed. 

I  have  referred  to  the  fact  that  too  many  journalists  have  been  either 
atheists  or  agnostics,  and  only  a  minority  in  avowed  sympathy  with  evan- 
gelical Christianity.  But  I  must  not  close  without  adding  that  there  are 
certain  aspects  of  Christianity  which  it  seems  to  me  even  so-called  ag- 
nostic journalists  have  been  advocating  much  more  thoroughly  and  much 
more  successfully  than  the  evangelical  pulpit.  We  have  learned  much 
from  secular  journalists  with  respect  to  our  human  and  civic  duties.  God 
grant  that  they  may  now  learn  a  little  from  us  with  respect  to  the  ulti- 
mate realities  of  the  highest  duties  of  all !     United,  we  and  the  journalists 


232  THE  CHURCH  AND  HEE  AGENCIES. 

can  greatly  hasten  the  completion  of  the  great  city  of  God ;  the  city  of 
justice  and  purity  and  pity  and  peace,  which  Christ  is  building  in  all 
lands ;  the  city  in  which  there  is  no  room  for  sin  or  misery. 

The  Rev.  E.  H.  Dewakt,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
Canada,  gave  the  first  appointed  address,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President:  Our  estimate  of  the  value  of  any  thing  largely  deter- 
mines the  use  we  shall  make  of  it.  I  venture  to  say  that  the  Church  has 
not  even  yet  formed  a  sufficiently  high  estimate  of  the  influence  of  the 
religious  press,  and  consequently  has  not  used  it  to  the  full  measure  of 
its  capacity  for  good.  Those  who  regard  the  Church  as  too  sacred  to 
do  any  thing  but  proclaim  doctrines  and  maintain  religious  ordinances 
are  apt  to  regard  the  press  as  an  agency  outside  of  the  proper  work  of 
the  Church.  But  this  is  altogether  too  narrow  a  view  of  the  sphere  of 
the  Church.  Any  work  that  brings  relief  and  comfort  to  the  burdened 
souls  of  men  and  lifts  humanity  up  nearer  to  God  is  good  enough  work 
for  the  Church;  and  any  agency  that  can  be  made  the  instrument  of 
carrying  light  and  truth  to  darkened  minds  is  sacred  enough  to  be  vised 
in  the  Master's  service  by  the  saintliest  hands. 

If  we  are  asked.  Why  is  it  right  for  the  Church  to  publish  papers  and 
periodicals  for  her  people?  we  answer  that  the  same  reasons  which  jus- 
tify the  use  of  the  pulpit  and  platform  in  the  main  apply  to  the  church 
journals.  We  train  and  send  forth  preachers  to  occupy  our  pulpits,  be- 
cause we  believe  we  have  a  message  of  truth  respecting  what  God  would 
have  us  to  be  and  to  do  that  is  adapted  to  the  world's  need. 

If  we  do  not  believe  this,  we  have  no  right  to  claim  a  place  among  the 
great  religious  forces  of  the  world,  and  we  ought  to  get  out  of  the  way 
and  make  room  for  some  agency  that  has  faith  in  the  reality  of  its  own 
mission.  So  with  regard  to  the  religious  press,  we  have  views  and  con- 
victions of  truth,  duty,  and  social  reform  which  we  believe  are  adapted 
to  brighten  and  bless  the  world,  and  if  we  do  not  faithfully  use  this 
million-tongued  Mercury  to  diffuse  these  thoughts,  we  are  guilty  before 
God  of  inexcusable  neglect. 

We  should  never  regard  the  religious  press  as  a  rival  to  the  pulpit. 
It  supplements  and  backs  up  the  teaching  of  the  preacher.  The  press  is 
the  artillery  under  whose  protecting  fire  from  the  heights  the  musketeers 
and  riflemen  in  the  valley  maintain  the  battle  at  close  quarter  with  the 
enemies  of  truth. 

The  amazing  extent  to  which  the  printing-press  is  used  to  spread 
knowledge  and  advocate  opinions  on  all  subjects  is  a  suggestive  lesson 
for  the  Church.  If  it  is  the  great  educator  of  public  opinion  on  social, 
political,  and  scientific  subjects,  it  is  equally  well  adapted  to  communi- 
cate truths  and  arguments  that  shall  form  the  views  and  mold  the  relig- 
ious character  of  the  people. 

As  the  press  is  the  chief  means  of  i^ropagating  unscriptural  and  skep- 
tical teaching,  we  must  use  the  same  agency  to  repel  and  refute  those 
theories  that  undermine  Christian  faith.     For  unless  in  exceptional  cases 


ADDRESS    OF    EEV.    E.    H.    DEWAET.  233 

the  Christian  preacher  cannot  leave  the  word  of  God  to  serve  the  tables 
of  speculative  controversy. 

The  Church  must  have  her  own  press  as  well  as  her  own  pulpits.  We 
have  o-reat  principles  to  defend  against  plausible  and  powerful  attacks. 
To  trust  to  the  secular  or  so-called  independent  press  to  defend  our 
doctrines  and  evangelistic  methods  is  like  trusting  to  somebody  else's 
gun  to  defend  you  in  a  time  of  peril.  When  the  emergency  arises  the 
gun  may  not  be  within  reach ;  or,  what  is  worse,  it  may  be  in  the  hands 
of  an  enemy,  and  turned  against  you  instead  of  heing  available  for  your 
defense. 

I  dislike  to  hear  the  religious  paper  called  the  "  organ  "  of  the  Church, 
SLS.  if  its  main  business  was  to  voice  the  authoritative  utterances  of  the 
denomination,  like  a  papal  syllabus;  or  as  if  it  was  an  instrument  on 
which  certain  tunes  were  to  be  played  to  order.  Such  conceptions  are 
an  unjust  caricature.  While  the  denominational  paper  speaks /or  the 
Church  as  well  as  to  the  Church,  its  true  mission  is  to  be  to  the  families 
to  which  it  comes  an  inspirer  and  an  instructor,  quickening  the  con- 
sciences and  ennobling  the'  lives  of  its  readers.  It  should  accomplish  this 
result  by  promoting  an  intelligent  interest  in  all  Christian  work ;  by  ex- 
pounding and  defending  the  faith  of  the  Gospel  against  all  that  is  false 
in  teaching  and  wrong  in  conduct ;  and  by  enforcing  those  great  Chris- 
tian lessons  respecting  life  and  duty  that  are  adapted  to  build  up  a  noble 
Christian  manhood  and  womanhood,  fruitful  in  every  good  work. 

The  religious  paper  should  be  wisely  adapted  to  the  spirit  and  tenden- 
cies of  the  times.  We  cannot  determine  its  character  and  sphere  without 
a  proper  knowledge  of  the  helpful  and  hurtful  forces  that  are  operating 
in  the  society  in  which  its  work  is  to  be  done.  Without  this  knowledge 
It  cannot  successfully  combat  current  errors  and  wrongs,  or  supply  cur. 
rent  wants. 

In  times  of  light  and  progress  the  religious  newspaper  must  keep  in 
intelligent  sympathy  with  the  progressive  spirit  of  the  times  and  the 
great  questions  that  are  demanding  solution.  In  times  of  doubt  and 
skeiDtical  questioning  the  church  press  should  give  no  uncertain  sound 
respecting  the  truth  and  authority  of  the  religion  of  Christ.  In  times  of 
moral  degeneracy,  when  the  public  conscience  is  paralj^zed  by  low, 
selfish  views  of  duty,  the  religious  press  should  fearlessly  rebuke  prevail- 
ing sins,  in  high  and  low  places,  whether  it  brings  popularity  or  opposi- 
tion and  reproach.  A  time-serving  press  is  the  curse  of  any  country.  In 
times  of  luke-warmness  and  worldliness,  when  the  fires  of  Christian  zeal 
are  dying  out  and  the  powers  of  evil  seem  to  prevail,  the  Christian  press, 
like  the  old  Hebrew  prophets,  should  call  back  the  recreant  Church  to  the 
old  paths,  and  fan  the  smoldering  embers  of  religious  life  into  a  living  flame. 
Even  if  the  pulpit  should  so  far  forget  its  mission  as  to  bow  down  to 
the  golden  images  which  our  modern  Nebuchadnezzars  may  set  up,  the 
press  should  ring  out  above  the  din  of  mammon-worship  the  great  trath, 
that  "a  man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  the  things  which  he 
jjossesseth."  It  inspires  faith  by  its  religious  news. 
18 


234  THE    CHURCH    AND    HER    AGENCIES. 

The  church  paper  should  be  liberal  in  spirit,  but  loyal  to  Christian 
truth.  While  open  to  the  reception  of  all  duly  attested  truth,  whether  in 
hai-mony  with  previous  beliefs  or  not,  the  religious  paper  that  will  be  a 
power  for  good  must  not  be  a  temporizing  weather-cock.  It  must  have 
some  clear  message  of  truth  and  some  definite  stand-point  with  regard  to 
the  great  burning  questions  of  the  day.  No  hazy  sentimentalism  or 
vague  declamation  about  free  thought  and  the  love  of  truth  can  satisfy 
the  souls  who  have  been  drifted  about  by  the  winds  and  waves  of  doubt 
and  distrust,  and  who  want  some  solid  foundation  on  which  their  faith 
and  hope  may  rest. 

I  remember  when  the  prevalence  of  skeptical  speculations  tending  to 
undermine  the  authority  of  the  Bible  was  regarded  as  a  strong  reason 
why  we  should  "earnestly  contend  for  the  faith  which  was  once  deliv- 
ered unto  the  saints."  Now  the  jorevalence  of  such  theories  is  sometimes 
urged  as  a  reason  why  we  should  hold  our  beliefs  about  the  Bible  loosely, 
that  we  may  be  ready  to  receive  the  conjectures  which  the  anti-supernat- 
ural school  call  the  results  of  modern  critical  research.  There  is,  doubt- 
less, something  in  both  vicAvs. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  editor  of  a  religious  paper  is  more  likely  to 
be  conservative  and  dogmatic  than  others.  This  is  only  true  in  so  far  as 
all  men  who  are  the  advocates  of  a  creed  or  a  cause  are  in  danger  of  be- 
coming partial.  But  an  editor's  familiarity  with  what  is  going  on  in  the 
world  of  thought,  as  seen  in  the  books  and  periodicals  of  different  schools 
of  thinkers,  must  tend  to  broaden  his  range  of  mental  vision  and  prevent 
him  running  in  the  narrow  ruts  of  any  sectarian  system. 

There  is  need  of  a  better  recognition  of  the  importance  of  the  editor's 
work.  If  the  way  in  which  the  people  regard  and  treat  their  pastors  and 
teachers  virtually  determines  whether  their  work  shall  be  a  success  or  a 
failure,  the  degree  in  which  the  editor  of  a  religious  paper  is  sustained 
by  the  loyal  symioathy  of  the  peoj^le  has  an  intimate  relation  to  his  suc- 
cess. Any  man  to  whom  an  important  and  difficult  trust  of  this  kind  is 
committed,  so  long  as  he  faithfully  and  conscientiously  perfonns  the  du- 
ties laid  upon  him  according  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  has  a  right  to  the 
sympathy  and  support  of  ministers  and  laymen  whether  they  agree  with 
all  his  opinions  or  not.  And  ;yet  the  kind  of  support  v/hich  editors  often 
receive  while  honestly  battling  for  what  they  believe  to  be  right  reminds 
one  of  the  message  of  David  to  Joab :  ' '  Set  ye  Uriah  the  Hittito  in  the 
forefront  of  the  hottest  battle,  and  retire  ye  from  him,  that  he  may  be 
smitten,  and  die." 

Some  time  ago  a  curiously  worded  and  suggestive  law  was  adopted  in 
one  of  the  Western  Territories.  It  was  to  this  effect:  *'No  iDcrson  shall 
be  allowed  to  carry  a  loaded  gun  or  pistol  on  or  near  any  highway,  ex- 
cept to  destroy  a  ferocious  wild  beast,  or  a  public  officer  in  the  perform- 
ance of  his  duty."  Is  not  the  editor  too  often  regarded  as  the  public 
officer  who  is  a  proper  target  for  every  man's  shot,  instead  of  a  friend  and 
brother  who  is  doing  battle  for  truth  and  righteousness  ? 

The  use  of  the   religious  press  by  the  Church  means  more  than  the 


ADDEESS    OF    REV.    JOSEPH   FERGUSON.  235 

simple  publication  of  suitable  literature.  This  is  not  enough,  unless  what 
is  published  is  read  by  the  people.  Ignorance,  apathy,  and  illiberality 
characterize  thousands  who  have  a  name  to  be  members  of  the  body  of 
Christ,  because  they  do  not  read  what  the  Church  publishes  for  their  edi- 
fication. This  is  a  fruitful  cause  of  weakness  and  failure.  One  of  the 
great  practical  questions  we  have  to  solve  is  how  to  enlist  ministers  and 
laity  in  earnest  systematic  efforts  to  promote  a  more  general  circulation 
of  the  publications  which  the  Church  provides  for  the  religious  educa- 
tion of  the  people.  We  want  our  people  to  be  more  largely  a  reading 
people ! 

There  are  two  important  religious  uses  that  we  can  make  of  the  secular 
press.  It  can  be  made  the  medium  of  communicating  a  knowledge  of 
the  operations  of  the  Church  to  thousands  who  are  beyond  the  reach  of 
our  religious  papers.  The  secular  press  can  also  be  used  to  correct  false 
notions  of  our  methods  and  beliefs,  and  to  vindicate  them  from  the  mis- 
representation by  which  they  are  assailed.  It  is  surprising  what  dense 
ignorance  about  church  affairs  prevails  among  large  circles  otherwise 
intelligent.  The  Roman  Catholics  are  wise  in  their  generation.  In  spite 
of  their  claims  to  speak  with  infallible  authority,  their  leaders  frequently 
present  plausible  defenses  of  their  teaching  in  periodicals  that  circulate 
chiefly  among  Protestants.  Many  a  time  we  see  some  things  in  the  papers 
or  magazines  which  we  think  ought  to  be  answered  and  corrected.  But 
we  imagine  we  are  too  busy,  or  we  content  ourselves  by  saying  that  we 
cannot  answer  every  thing,  and  so  a  false  and  misleading  impression 
is  left  to  do  its  evil  work  on  many  minds.  This  ought  not  so  to  be. 
No  misrepresentation  of  truth  should  be  allowed  to  go  without  correc- 
tion. 

The  Rev.  Joseph  Ferguson,  D.D.,  of  the  Primitive  Meth- 
odist Church,  gave  the  following  appointed  address  on  the 
subject  of  the  afternoon  : 

Mr.  President  and  Fathers  and  Brethren :  We  are  not  sure  that  we  can  say 
amen  to  every  part  of  the  Rev.  Hugh  Price  Hughes's  paper— a  paper  of  an 
excellent  and  comprehensive  character.  He  opines,  unless  we  misunder- 
stood him,  that  it  is  not  wise  to  discuss  party  politics  in  a  religious 
paper.  If  he  refers  to  purely  party  politics  we  are  one ;  but  if  he  includes 
some  of  those  political  questions  that  involve  great  moral  issues,  and  those 
religio-political  subjects  that  endanger  our  connectional  existence  in 
country  parishes,  then  we  cannot  agree.  There  is  the  great  question  of 
education  as  it  affects  us,  as  parents  and  ministers,  and  the  thousands  of 
children  God  has  committed  to  our  trust.  There  are  thousands  of  the 
toiling  classes  in  our  towns  and  agricultural  districts  politically  enfran- 
chised who  only  read  the  paper  of  their  own  denomination,  and  polit- 
ically form  their  judgment  according  to  its  teaching.  They  need  the 
guidance  and  instruction  of  the  godly,  or  they  will  be  led  by  party  poli- 
ticians that  hate  our  Methodism.  In  this  country,  as  well  as  in  the  land 
whence  I  come— a  land  which  to  me  is  a  "  sweeter  and  a  dearer  spot  than 


236  THE  CHURCH  AND  HER  AGENCIES. 

all  the  rest  " — there  is  a  system  complete  iu  organization  and  strong  in 
strength  that  seeks  not  so  much  the  interests  oi  the  nation  as  the  partic- 
ular advancement  of  its  own  claim.  Its  officers,  as  a  class,  hate  freedom, 
unless  it  be  the  freedom  to  enslave  others.  They  hate  it  where  it  antago- 
nizes the  supremacy  of  the  priests  and  the  will  of  the  Roman  see.  Fifty 
years  ago  a  statesman  whose  departure  we  yearly  commemorate  by  the 
modest  primrose,  observing  the  encroachments  of  Romanism  and  ritual- 
ism, inquired,  "What  power  is  this  beneath  whose  sirocco  breath  the 
fame  of  England  is  fast  declining  ?  Were  it  another  bold  bastard  with  his 
belted  sword  we  might  gnaw  the  fetters  we  could  not  burst;  were  it 
against  the  genius  of  another  Napoleon  we  w^ere  now  struggling  we  might 
commit  our  cause  to  the  God  of  battles,  with  a  sainted  confidence  in  him 
and  in  our  national  resources.  But,"  said  he,  '•  we  are  sinking  beneath  a 
power  before  which  the  proudest  conquerors  have  grown  pale,  and  by 
■which  nations  most  devoted  to  freedom  have  been  enslaved — the  power 
of  a  foreign  priesthood."  If  these  eloquent  words  were  true  fifty  years 
ago  they  are  true  to-day  wath  an  additional  and  painful  emphasis.  The 
Protestants  on  this  great  continent  are  double  the  number  of  Romanists, 
and  yet  the  latter  are  entering  all  offices  possible  to  their  intrigue  and 
perseverance,  and  are,  in  many  of  the  cities,  largely  influencing  their 
politics  and  local  policy.  Is  it  not  time  the  Protestants  awoke  out  of 
sleep  ?  Their  divided  condition  is  a  weakness  and  a  danger,  and  in- 
creases the  chances  of  the  enemies  of  personal  liberty  and  the  evangelical 
faith. 

In  the  old  land  the  week-day  education  of  the  children  of  the  working 
classes,  especially  in  country  districts,  is,  in  a  large  measure,  in  the  hands 
of  clerics  that  in  some  cases  persecute  our  children  and  teach  them  doc- 
trines contrary  to  tlie  convictions  of  their  fathers.  Our  religious  press 
should  expose  this  unchristian  conduct,  and  instruct  the  people  in  their 
legal  prerogatives  and  political  responsibilities. 

The  press  is  the  mightiest  educational  agency  in  the  world.  It  instructs 
all  classes,  deals  wdth  all  subjects,  and  pours  light  upon  the  doings  of  all. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  give  the  history  of  the  religious  press.  Its  past  light 
does  not  shadow  the  present.  God,  in  all  branches  of  the  Church,  is  rais- 
ing up  men  of  learning,  whose  faith  in  divine  revelation  is  so  certain  that 
they  fear  not  to  searchingly  inquire  into  its  chronology,  its  authenticity, 
its  genuineness,  and  its  claim  upon  the  reason  and  faith  of  the  world  as 
God's  message  of  salvation  to  the  race.  Such  is  the  number  of  these 
men,  within  Methodism  and  without,  that  it  would  be  invidious,  if  not 
unjust,  to  mention  names.  Their  numljcr  in  Europe  and  America  is  legion, 
and  the  liglit  which  God  shines  through  them  for  us  warms  our  devo- 
tion and  kindles  our  gratitude. 

Some  weekly  papers  of  Christian  name  sneer  at  orthodoxy  as  the  old 
clothes  of  the  ancients  and  the  sign  of  evident  weakness  or  a  lack  of 
mental  industry.  Evolution,  which  we  accept  within  the  limit  of  facts ; 
development,  which  we  doubt  not  when  properly  defined;  and  the  discov- 
eries of  modern  science,  which  we  thankfully  accept,  are  assumed  to  be  in 


ADDRESS    OF   EEV.    JOSEPH    FERGUSON.  237 

oposition  to  the  theology  taught  by  our  fathers.  We  readily  admit  that 
some  of  their  semi-scientific  deductions  needed  some  modification  in  the 
greater  light  of  the  present.  But  their  doctrinal  fundamentals  are  sound 
and  their  truth  is  confirmed  by  the  divine  experience  of  the  godly  past 
and  present.  We  desiderate  positive  religious  teaching  in  all  our  period- 
icals— this  is  the  need  of  our  times.  God  and  the  soul  stand  sure. 
Through  all  changes  the  kingdom  has  not  been  moved,  and  its  mysteries 
are  still  to  be  declared.  As  Methodists  we  need  to  be  wisely  positive. 
Our  thoughtful  young  men  and  maidens  are  critically  and  anxiously 
watching  us.  Our  articles  must  be  earnest  and  full  of  the  light  God 
shines.  There  was  a  time  when  we  almost  by  necessity  went  to  the  Ger- 
man for  biblical  criticism,  if  not  for  theological  accuracy;  but  you  in 
America  and  we  in  Europe  have  brethren  whose  ripe  scholarship  and  crit- 
ical skill  are  known  throughout  the  Christian  world.  Such  claim  more 
leisure  than  the  Methodist  ministry  allows,  and  more  money  to  buy  the 
needful  to  help  them  subsequently  to  even  greater  success. 

The  religious  press  must  more  earnestly  defend  the  sanctity  of  domestic 
life.  Have  we  not  already  seen  the  "fruits"  of  a  vile  "philosophy," 
heard  the  portentous  mutterings  about  the  "failure"  of  marriage,  and 
the  increase  of  population  ?  Who  among  us  is  ignorant  of  the  secret 
literature  that  poisons  our  young  life,  and  the  impure  novelettes  which  like 
demons  possess  and  corrupt  thousands  ?  We  must  expose  these  would-be 
fiends  of  the  people  who  would  license  impurity,  unrein  passions,  and 
rupture  the  most  delectable  relationships  of  life.  These  are  the  enemies 
of  God  and  man,  and  no  soft  words  shall  greet  their  ears,  but  sentences 
whose  lightning  and  thunder  are  made  by  the  intense  hatred  of  evil  and 
a  passionate  love  of  the  people  for  whom  Christ  died.  Our  religious  press 
should  be  ia  sympathy  with  the  struggling  life  of  the  poor.  In  London 
one  fifth  of  the  population  die  in  hospitals,  workhouses,  or  jails.  What 
are  we  doing  to  lift  these  wretched  people  into  the  sunshine  of  God?  Are 
the  religious  papers  speaking  as  earnestly  and  as  plainly  as  they  ought 
about  the  overgrown  rich  men  who  are  doing  nothing  but  pulling  down 
barns  to  build  greater  while  myriads  buried  in  our  large  towns  perish 
with  hunger  ?  Our  religious  press  should  not  ignore  the  claims  of  labor 
and  the  rights  of  capital.  We  see  men  in  a  few  years,  by  processes  we 
will  not  characterize,  amass  vast  wealth,  while  their  employees  live  in 
comparative  poverty,  in  old  age  enter  the  pauper-house,  and  at  last  lie 
hidden  in  a  grave  purchased  by  rates. 

Our  religious  press  must  advocate  temperance,  and  hasten  the  time 
when  the  people  every- where  shall  have  control  of  a  traffic  that  has  jjau- 
perized  millions,  robbed  the  churches,  and  darkened  the  destiny  of  not  a 
few.  If  our  religious  press  is  to  do  the  work  for  which  it  is  capable,  we 
must  secure  the  best  talent.  Our  young  people  crave  knowledge  and  need 
culture.  The  questions  of  life  and  immortality  need  the  attention  not  of  a 
novice,  but  of  one  whose  personal  struggles  have  created  power  and  sym- 
pathy, and  whose  intelligence  can  bring  relief.  Our  religious  press  should 
be  more  highly  developed.    Thousands  of  our  people  do  not  read  the  liter- 


238  THE  CHURCH  AND  HEE  AGENCIES. 

ature  prepared  for  their  learning  and  special  benefit.  How  to  get  it  into 
the  hands  of  the  people  is  a  question  we  should  answer.  We  need  »  daily- 
religious  paper  that  will  not  only  give  the  needful  secular  news,  but  the 
religious ;  and  discuss  all  matters  affecting  national  policy  and  morality 
in  the  vitalizing  spirit  of  Christ.  In  our  monthly  magazines  we  need  less 
novelistic  literature  and  more  Methodist  biography  of  the  character  of 
your  Cookman  and  our  Collins.  We  need  the  Christly  life  they  had  and 
the  consequent  power.     Then  our  churches  would  reap  a  fuller  harvest. 

While  listening  to  Mr.  Hughes's  paper  we  sincerely  thanked  God  that 
the  secular  press,  as  well  as  tlie  religious,  has  left  behind  the  day  when  a 
man  could    not  print  without  a  license;    when    every  work  had   to    go 
under  the  scrutiny  of  the  Primate  or  the  Bishop  of  London ;  and  when 
a  word  disparaging    the    court,   however  vile,   meant  punishment    and 
loss.     Within  memory,    even,    some  religionists  were  afraid  of  the  sec- 
ular  press,    and  would  not  read  its  pages,   and  some   still  dread,   and 
not  without  foundation,  those  portions  that  give  a  few  lines  to  report 
the    doings    of    an    important    Conference   of    Christian    workers    and 
columns  to  sport,  horse-racing,  a  divorce  case,  and  some  dirty  scandal. 
The  secular  press  exists  to  tell  us  what  is  going  on  in  the  heavens  above, 
in  the  earth  beneath,  and  in  the  markets  and  parliaments  of  the  world. 
The  secular  press  must  pay  to  proceed,  and  the  staff  assume  that  they 
must  cater  for  the  greater  number  of  their  readers.     Many  men  do  not  go 
to  the  secular  press,  if  to  any,  for  religious  thought  or  for  canons  of  mo- 
rality, but  for  information  relative  to  government  and  trade,  and  perhajis 
to  see  the  trend  of  national  life.    We  ask  the  secular  press,  in  addition  to 
other  duties  well  known,  to  glorify  the  good  and  to  expose  the  bad  in 
such  a  way  as  not  to  fire  lust  and  feed  greed,  but  to  abash  the  evil-doer 
and  to  kindle  hatred  against  his  conduct.     In  the  past  the  secular  press 
has  largely  led  the  thought  of  the  free  countries,  and  still  leads,  and  did 
much  to  accelerate  those  revolutions  in  America  and  England  that  brought 
a  wider  freedom  and  a  higher  quality  of  manhood.     In  condemning  the 
press  that  is  feculent  and  vicious  we  do  not  disparage  those  mighty  dailies 
that  denounce  the  wrong  and  encourage  the  right  with  intelligent  enthu- 
siasm.    We  have  nothing  to  say  of  those  editors  who  alternate  between 
principles,  and  advocate  those  which  at  the  time  they  think  will  pay  best. 
The  press  needs  men  of  intellect  and  conscience,   men  who  will  discuss 
science  as  it  affects  religion    and  deal  in  the  spirit  of  Christ  with  all  the 
great  social  questions  that  are  puzzling  the  old  civilization.     These  great 
subjects  cannot  satisfactorily  be  discussed  in  pulpits.     Men  demand  that 
the  weekly  half  hour  be  given  to  things  of  most  vital  import,  and  even 
if  they  did  not  it  would  still  be  impossible  to  deal  with  every  question 
in  a  place  where  there  is  no  right  of  reply,  and  no  time  for  more  than  the 
indication  of  outlines  and  frontier.     The  secular  press  can  also  be  used 
religiously  in  advocating  temperance,  education,  and  in  denouncing  im- 
morality, political  intrigue,   and  jobbery,  and  the  diversified  selfishness 
that  is  cursing  the  body  politic. 

We  regret  to  say  that  the  secular  press  is  chiefly  in  the  hands  of  men 


ADDRESS    OF    KEY.    E.    E.    HOSS.  239 

not  decidedly  Christian.  In  some  cases  tlie  men  are  skeptical,  others 
notoriously  wicked  and  drunken,  and  others  Jesuitical — seeking  by  all 
means  an  increase  of  priestly  power  and  the  advance  of  the  Roman  see. 
The  Methodists  and  Protestants  of  diversified  name  should  come  into 
closer  contact  with  the  secular  press.  Its  men  and  women  who  know 
the  face  of  God,  and  are  educationally  prepared,  should,  where  possible, 
accept  the  post  of  editor  or  take  a  place  on  the  staff.  The  people  who 
are  not  in  the  Church  are  in  want  of  teaching  and  inspiration.  The  news- 
paper teacher  is  universally  attended  to  because  he  deals  only  with  live 
questions.  The  Church  cannot  afford  to  give  up  three  fourths  of  the  field 
of  life  to  the  journalists,  who,  often  enough,  have  broken  with  the  Chris- 
tian system  both  in  doctrines  and  morals. 

The  Eev.  E.  E.  Hoss,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  gave  the  following  appointed  addi'ess  on  the 
topic  of  the  afternoon  : 

Mr.  President:  When  Dr.  Edward  A.  Freeman,  the  historian  of  the  Nor- 
man Conquest,  was  appointed  to  the  Chair  of  Modern  Language  in  Oxford 
University,  he  found  himself,  so  he  tells  us,  greatly  puzzled  to  determine 
the  exact  limits  of  the  province  that  had  been  assigned  him.  The  best  au- 
thorities, moreover,  gave  him  scant  assistance  in  reaching  a  satisfactory 
conclusion.  Baron  Bunsen,  for  example,  contended  that  modern  history 
really  began  with  the  call  of  Abraham.  Another  eminent  scholar  stoutly  in- 
sisted on  drawing  the  line  at  the  outl^reak  of  the  French  Revolution.  After 
much  thought,  Dr.  Freeman  professed  a  readiness  to  compromise  between 
these  extreme  views  by  accepting  the  first  Olympiad  as  the  projjer  starting- 
jioint.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  entered  the  stream  of  events  at  a  point 
about  twelve  hundred  years  lower  down. 

Saving  the  gracious  presence  of  the  Programme  Committee,  may  I  not 
say  that  the  topic  which  is  now  up  for  discussion  is  equally  indefinite  in 
character  ?  The  religious  press  by  itself  offers  a  wide  field  for  consider- 
ation. When  we  add  to  this  the  religious  uses  of  the  secular  press,  we 
have  staked  off  more  ground  than  we  can  jjossibly  occupy  in  the  brief 
limits  allowed.  In  view  of  these  things,  I  take  it  for  granted  that  the 
Programme  Committee  had  it  in  mind  that  each  speaker,  instead  of  ad- 
hering strictly  to  the  lines  laid  down  by  the  essayist,  should  be  at  liberty 
to  dwell  upon  any  such  aspect  of  the  general  subject  as  might  commend 
itself  to  his  taste  or  judgment.  The  particular  topic,  therefore,  on 
which  I  shall  speak  is  "The  Religious  Newspaper."  If  I  barely  touch 
the  various  points  which  I  bring  forward,  you  may  understand  that  this 
is  because  the  time  will  not  allow  me  to  do  more. 

That  Methodism  has  never  been  indifferent  to  the  religious  newspaper 
needs  no  proof.  If  proof  were  needed  it  could  be  commanded  in  abun- 
dance. Should  I  call  the  roll  of  the  men  that  in  the  past  have  been  as- 
signed to  editorial  work  you  would,  no  doubt,  be  startled.  Pardon  me 
if  I  confine  myself  here  to  my  own  Church.  Of  the  Christian  Advocate 
with  which  I  have  the   honor  to  be  connected  the  following  gentlemen 


240  THE    CHURCH    AND    HER    AGENCIES. 

have  been  editors:  John  Newland  Muffit — Irishman  and  orator — (two 
words,  Mr.  President,  for  one  thing) ;  Thomas  Stringfield,  whose  militant 
temper  made  him  a  brave  soldier  under  Andrew  Jackson  at  the  age  of 
sixteen,  and  who  sjient  the  larger  part  of  his  ministerial  life  in  smiting 
hip  and  thigh  the  various  forms  of  Calvinism ;  John  Berry  McFerrin,  a 
genuine  product  of  the  Scotch-Irishry,  the  great  tribune  of  our  Ameri- 
can Church,  who  stood  squarely  against  all  the  enemies  of  Methodism  and 
of  Jiis  Metliodism,  but  the  dream  of  whose  closing  years  and  the  prayer 
of  whose  dying  hours,  as  I  know,  were  that  all  fraternal  strifes  might 
cease  and  all  fraternal  misunderstandings  be  perfectly  adjusted ;  Holland 
Nimmons  McTyiere — the  greatest  man,  take  him  all  in  all,  that  I  have 
ever  known — whose  career  of  ever-increasing  power  and  usefulness  contra- 
dicted the  current  maxim  that  extreme  precosity  means  early  decay — 
editor  of  the  New  Orleans  Advocate  at  twenty-seven,  of  the  Nashville  Ad- 
vocate at  thirty-two,  and  bishop  at  forty-one — on  whose  granite  tombstone 
is  cut  the  simple  inscription:  "A  leader  of  men,  a  lover  of  children;" 
Thomas  O.  Summers,  as  bluff  and  hearty  an  Englishman  as  ever  set  his 
face  toward  the  New  World,  behind  whose  loud  and  genial  bluster  there 
lay  the  kindest  of  human  hearts — an  omnivorous  reader  of  all  sorts  of 
books,  knowing  especially  John  Wesley's  sermons  and  Charles  Wesley's 
hymns  by  heart,  and  so  extremely  orthodox  that  Dr.  Albert  Taylor 
Bledsoe  once  charged  him,  though  unjustly,  with  measuring  all  things 
in  heaven  and  earth  by  Watson's  Institutes  ;  and  Oscar  Penn  Fitzgerald, 
of  whom  I  dare  not  say  all  the  thoughts  that  are  in  my  heart,  but  of 
whom  I  will  say  this,  that  the  exquisite  delicacy  of  his  literary  touch  is 
equaled  only  by  the  perfect  brotherliness  of  his  temper.  Were  I  to  go  to 
the  other  of  our  papers  I  should,  of  course,  mention  William  Capers, 
scholar  and  gentleman,  first  fraternal  delegate  from  America  to  British 
Methodism,  whose  fitting  epitaph  records  the  two  facts  that  he  was  "A 
Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  and  founder  of  the  Mis- 
sions to  the  Slaves;  "  William  M.  Wightman,  courtly,  cultivated.  Christ- 
like ;  Leroy  M.  Lee — the  nephew  of  that  Jesse  Lee  who  once  upon  a  time 
preached  on  Boston  Common — who  could  hit  a  tremendous  blow  and 
follow  it  up  with  a  succession  of  others  in  the  same  place ;  Thomas  E. 
Bond,  Jr.,  the  greater  son  of  his  great  father,  man  of  science  and  man  of 
letters,  the  most  erudite,  incisive,  and  resourceful  of  American  Methodist 
editors ;  Linus  Parker,  a  gift  of  New  York  to  New  Orleans,  whose  edi- 
torials were  Addisonian  essays  in  finish  and  elegance,  and  who  modestly 
shunned  notoriety  as  much  as  common  men  seek  it ;  John  C.  Keener,  who 
never  said  a  stupid  thing  and  never  did  a  cowardly  one;  and  John  J. 
Laffcrty,  a  true  wizard  of  the  ink-horn  and  magician  with  words.  I  wish 
I  could  go  further  on  this  line,  but  I  cannot. 

The  developments  that  have  taken  place  in  secular  journalism  in  the 
last  quarter  of  a  century  are  indeed  amazing.  To  accomplish  what  has 
been  done  money  has  been  spent  like  water,  and  the  best  brain  of  the 
world  has  been  called  into  use  and  service.  That  the  religious  newspaper, 
though  it  has  also  made  very  gratifying  progress,  has  not  kept  an  equal 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    E.    E.    HOSS.  241 

pace,  nor  reached  an  equal  degree  of  excellence,  is  an  unquestionable  fact. 
It  is  still  susceptible  of  vast  improvement.  To  secure  this  improvement 
as  rapidly  as  possible  is  the  duty  of  all  concerned.  Every  agency  em- 
ployed in  the  interest  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  ought  to  be  of  the  highest 
possible  character.  It  was  fit  that  the  initial  gifts  which  our  Lord  re- 
ceived after  he  "became  incarnate  for  us  men  and  for  our  salvation," 
should  be  ' '  gold,  frankincense,  and  myrrh."  We  must  set  up  an  ideal  stand- 
ard of  excellence  for  the  religious  press,  and  require  our  publishers  and 
editors  to  aim  at  reaching  it.  They  will  not  at  once  succeed,  but  the  ef- 
fort to  do  so  will  have  its  due  effect.  Here,  as  in  all  departments  of 
religious  activity,  the  empirical  method  must  be  dropped,  and  into  its 
place  must  be  put  a  rational  and  controlling  conception  of  the  ends 
sought  to  be  secured.     This  much  premised,  let  me  say: 

1.  That  the  religious  newspaper  must  be  under  the  control  of  the 
Church.  There  are  some  intelligent  persons  who  assure  us  that  what  they 
are  pleased  to  call  an  unmuzzled  and  dependent  press  is  a  prime  neces- 
sity of  healthy  ecclesiastical  growth.  This  assumes  that  an  oihcial  press 
is  both  muzzled  and  independent.  I  could  easily  show  the  fallacy  of 
such  an  assumption,  but  I  choose  to  refute  it  by  a  concrete  instance.  If 
it  were  true,  the  official  editors  w^ould  simply  echo  one  another  in  endless 
iteration ;  but  it  is  recorded  somewhere  in  the  ancient  history  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  that  when  a  certain  grave  question  in  which 
the  better  three  fourths  of  our  humanity  were  much  concerned  came  up 
for  settlement,  Drs.  Buckley  and  Warren  and  Smith  ranged  themselves 
definitely  on  one  side,  and  Drs.  Moore  and  Edwards  and  Fry  on  the  other. 
Without  pausing  longer,  I  wish  to  say  that  every  argument  which  can  be 
used  to  show  that  the  Church  should  exercise  some  sort  of  effective  su- 
pervision over  her  pulpits  can  also  be  used  to  show  that  she  should  be 
able  to  lay  her  directing  hand  ujion  the  press.  Independent  journalism 
is  on  the  outside;  it  stands  on  its  own  merits.  As  a  stimulus  and 
gad-fly  it  has  its  values ;  but,  descrying  ecclesiastical  machinery  as  it  does, 
it  has  no  right  to  use  this  machinery  to  promote  its  own  private 
interests. 

2.  The  religious  newspaper  ought  not  to  be  conducted  "for  revenue 
only,"  or  chiefly,  or  at  all.  Whenever  it  comes  to  be  considered  as  an 
instrument  for  money-making,  either  for  an  individual  owner  or  for  a 
company  of  stockholders  or  for  a  Church,  it  necessarily  suffers  some 
subtraction  from  its  power  for  good.  I  sincerely  doubt  whether  it  ought 
ever  to  be  allowed  to  make  more  than  just  enough  to  pay  its  own  way. 
Whatever  profits  may  accrue  from  its  publication  should  be  speedily  re- 
turned in  the  form  of  betterments.  From  this  general  statement  two 
practical  inferences  are  to  be  drawn. 

First,  there  are  probably  not  a  dozen  religious  newspapers  in  the 
United  States  that  have  each  an  editorial  staff  fully  equal  to  the  highest 
demands.  The  miserable  economy  which  grinds  the  life  out  of  a  few 
men  by  laying  impossible  tasks  upon  their  shoulders  in  order  that  divi- 
dends may  be  large  ought  to  cease.     Hard-headed  men  of  the  world  are 


242  THE   CHURCH    AND    HER    AGENCIES. 

not  guilty  of  such  folly,  and  the  Church  ought  by  this  time  to  have 
learned  wisdom  enough  to  avoid  it.  Every  editor-in-chief  should  be 
surrounded  and  supported  by  a  full  corps  of  competent  assistants.  Im- 
agine one  man  from  week  to  week  writing  leaders  and  paragraphs,  sum- 
marizing the  world's  news,  reviewing  books  and  periodicals,  answering 
queries,  clipping  the  best  things  from  his  exchanges,  reducing  the  bulk 
and  improving  the  quality  of  swollen  communications,  editing  obituaries, 
carrying  on  an  extensive  correspondence,  rearing  a  family  in  the  fear  of 
God,  and  cultivating  his  personal  piety!  There  is  no  man  within  the 
range  of  my  acquaintance  whose  nervous,  intellectual,  and  moral  resources 
are  equal  to  such  an  undertaking. 

In  the  second  place,  and  on  the  same  line,  the  use  of  the  columns  of  a 
religious  newspaper  for  advertising  purposes  ought  to  be  most  scrupu- 
lously guarded.  At  this  point  I  am  happy  to  say  that  there  has  in  recent 
years  been  a  great  change  for  the  better.  Whether  the  change  has  re- 
sulted from  an  improved  moral  sensitiveness  on  the  part  of  publishers,  or 
from  the  external  pressure  of  public  opinion,  it  would  be  difficult  to  tell. 
There  is  still  no  little  room  for  improvement.  What  is  more  common 
than  to  see  the  columns  of  a  church  journal  loaded  down  with  puffs  of 
patent  medicines  which  profess  to  be  sovereign  cures  for  all  the  ills  that 
flesh  is  heir  to,  but  which  are,  in  fact,  the  veriest  humbugs,  and  which 
must  be  known  to  the  editors  and  publishers  as  such !  How  does  it  look 
when  tw^o  pages  front  each  other,  one  lauding  the  merits  of  a  "  con- 
sumption cure,"  and  the  other  insisting  with  most  unctuous  entreaty 
upon  the  blessedness  of  the  "higher  life."  There  is  an  ex-editor  in  this 
body  who,  when  a  five  thousand  dollar  check  was  offered  him  for  space 
in  which  to  insert  a  standing  advertisement  of  a  commodity  of  doubtful 
quality,  answered:  "No;  not  if  you  would  make  it  fifty  thousand." 
Shall  a  mercenary  cupidity  be  longer  allowed  to  disgrace  the  cause  of 
Chi-ist  at  this  point?  Shall  we,  while  preaching  that  godliness  is  gain, 
act  upon  the  principle  that  gain  is  godliness?  Has  not  the  time  fully 
come  for  repentance,  for  reformation,  for  amendment? 

3.  The  religious  newspapers  ought  not  to  be  turned  into  a  mere  bul- 
letin board  for  the  recording  of  current  events.  True,  inasmuch  as  it  is  a 
newspaper  it  must  give  a  full  and  specific  account  of  whatever  important 
events  are  taking  place  in  any  part  of  the  world ;  and,  inasmuch  as  the 
Christianity  of  which  it  is  the  exponent  lays  claim  on  every  department 
of  healthy  secular  life,  it  must  not  be  indifferent  to  transactions  of  a 
political,  commercial,  scientific,  or  artistic  character.  But  at  the  same 
time  it  must  sift  and  winnow  the  great  mass  of  details,  throw  aside  what- 
ever is  ephemeral  in  character,  and  publish  only  what  is  of  general  signifi- 
cance and  permanent  value.  It  need  hardly  be  said  that  every  thing 
should  be  excluded  that  cannot  go  with  perfect  propriety  into  a  Christian 
home.  Sensational  features  are  a  blot  upon  even  our  "enterprising" 
secular  journalism.  In  connection  with  our  religious  press  they  are  not 
to  be  tolerated  for  one  moment. 

4.  On  the  other  hand,  the  religious  new^spaper  is  equally  not  a  quar- 


ADDRESS    OF    BEV.    E.    E,    HOSS.  243 

terly  review.  This  fact  limits  its  scope  in  one  direction  as  much  as  the 
fact  which  we  have  just  been  considering  does  in  another  direction.  It 
must  be  able  to  discuss  even  the  greatest  questions  of  science,  philosophy, 
and  religion,  but  in  a  brief  and  popular  way.  There  are  some  excellent 
and  intelligent  people  who  do  not  believe  that  this  is  a  possibility,  but  I 
am  not  of  the  number.  Even  the  highest  and  most  abstract  themes  can 
be  presented  in  such  a  fashion  as  will  make  them  apprehensible  by  the 
common  mind.  The  technical  language  of  the  books  and  the  schools 
can  be  translated  into  the  ordinary  speech  of  every-day  life.  The  people 
of  the  nineteenth  century  will  not  read  a  long  and  elaborate  article  in  a 
daily  or  weekly  paper.  Three  columns  of  "Trichotomy,"  "to  be  con- 
tinued in  the  next  issue,"  will  cut  down  the  subscription  list.  In  prepar- 
ing the  dishes  which  are  to  furnish  forth  our  feasts,  we  must,  within 
limits  at  least,  consult  the  tastes  of  the  guests  that  are  to  sit  at  our 
boards.  It  is  not  worth  while  to  supply  an  abundance  of  food  which  we 
know  they  will  not  eat.  The  same  general  principle  will  condemn  what 
is  known  as  "the  blanket  sheet,"  which  is  likely  to  be  a  mere  hodge- 
podge or  omnium  gatherum,  characterless  and  jjrofitless.  Not  quantity, 
but  quality  is  the  thing  to  be  aimed  at.  An  ounce  of  attar  of  roses  is 
worth  a  hundred  gallons  of  the  scented  waters  of  the  ordinary  drug- 
store. 

5.  The  religious  journal  is  not  a  pulpit.  This  is  a  very  widely  spread 
delusion.  Once  in  awhile,  under  the  influence  of  it,  an  eloquent  and 
ambitious  preacher  seeks  and  finds  an  editorial  post.  No  sooner  is  he 
safely  fixed  in  his  place  than  he  lifts  up  his  voice  and  begins  to  discourse 
as  if  he  had  an  audience  of  ten  thousand  souls  listening  to  him.  After 
he  has  cut  up  a  few  dozens  of  his  old  sermons  into  longitudinal  sections 
for  editorial  purposes  he  is  likely  to  find  out  his  mistake.  Somehow  or  other 
the  people  do  not  respond  to  him  as  they  did  when  he  stood  before  them 
in  his  own  proper  person.  The  sorry  stuff  which  sounded  well  enough 
when  set  out  with  fine  tricks  of  voice  and  manner  becomes  ' '  flat,  stale,  and 
unprofitable  "  when  committed  to  the  faithful  keeping  of  cold  types.  The 
habit  of  mind  which  is  superinduced  l>y  preparation  for  the  jjulpit  is  essen- 
tially different  from  that  which  is  required  on  the  trijiod.  This  is  saying 
nothing  against  either  the  pulpit  or  tlie  tripod,  but  only  insisting  that  two 
valuable  and  important  branches  of  religious  service  are  distinct  from 
each  other  in  their  methods,  though  they  wholly  agree  as  to  their  ultimate 
aims. 

6.  The  religious  newspaper  goes  its  full  length  for  all  just  reforms.  It 
must  be  a  leader  of  the  Lord's  hosts  if  it  is  to  do  its  full  work,  not  merely 
catching  and  reflecting  a  public  opinion  that  already  exists,  but  creating 
and  guiding  such  opinion  in  all  right  directions.  If  this  were  the  time  and 
place  I  could  name  manifold  instances  in  which  the  denominational  organs 
have  led  the  way  on  great  and  grave  issues.  But  the  religious  paper  must 
be  concerned  also  in  regard  to  secular  reforms.  The  editor  that  is  silent 
in  the  face  of  the  ravages  of  the  liquor  traffic  ought  to  be  cashiered.  The 
same  thing  may  be  said  of  him  who  has  nothing  to  say  concerning  that 


244  THE    CHURCH    AND    HER   AGENCIES.  \ 

slimy  octopus,  the  Louisiana  lottery.  But  there  must  be  discrimination! 
The  paper  that  shouts  itself  hoarse  over  every  proposed  change  in  social 
or  political  matters  soon  loses  influence.  There  are  reforms  and  reforms. 
There  must,  therefore,  be  a  due  proportion,  no  riding  of  hobbies,  but  a 
judicious  and  balanced  interest  in  all  human  affairs.  I  wish  especially  to 
enter  a  protest  against  the  delusion  that  a  religious  paper  can  best  advance 
the  interests  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  by  becoming  the  mouth-piece  of  any 
political  party ;  nay,  it  would  not  be  wise  for  it  to  do  so,  even  were  that 
party  formally  to  incorporate  in  its  platform  of  principles  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments, the  Apostles'  Creed,  and  the  Lord's  Prayer! 

7.  The  religious  newspaper,  in  brief,  must  be  devout,  but  not  sanctimoni- 
ous; courageous,  but  not  pugnacious;  enterprising,  but  not  sensational; 
alert,  but  not  pert ;  literary,  but  not  pedantic — so  bright  and  sweet  and 
brave  and  strong  and  pure  that  the  question  of  its  circulation  will  be  one 
requiring  only  smallest  thought. 

The  Rev.  J.  M.  Buckley,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  introduced  the  general  discussion,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  To  every  word  of  the  essay,  except  two  or  three  inci- 
dental observations,  I  heartily  subscribe. 

First,  as  to  the  prophetic  functions  of  the  editor.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  ancient  prophets  received  by  inspiration  knowledge  of  facts 
and  persons.  Therefore,  their  utterances  could  be  without  qualification, 
upon  a  higher  authority  than  their  own  fallible  judgments. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  editor  has  no  such  inspiration  of  God,  he 
must  be  extremely  cautious  in  respect  of  facts,  and  particularly  with 
regard  to  the  judgment  of  persons.  Accuracy,  so  far  as  it  is  possible  for  a 
man  to  obtain  it,  is  a  prime  qualification  of  a  religious  paper.  Especially 
is  this  so  because  a  religious  paper,  being  jmblished  once  a  week,  has  time 
for  the  discovery  of  errors — for  leisurely  investigation. 

Next,  I  doubt  whether  the  weekly  pajDer  is  at  a  disadvantage  with  resjiect 
to  the  manufacture  of  public  opinion ;  becfiuse  the  daily  paper  is  hastily 
scanned  and  thrown  aside,  the  editorials,  therefore,  producing  but  slight 
effect,  while  the  weekly  paper  is  taken  up  by  the  laymen  on  the  holy  Sab- 
bath or  at  some  convenient  time,  and  carefully  read. 

The  late  Horace  Greeley  once  observed  in  my  hearing  that  the  WeeMy 
Tribune  vfds  more  potent  in  shajjing  public  opinion  than  the  daily;  and 
one  of  the  most  celebrated  politicians  of  New  York  and  of  the  country, 
the  late  Roscoe  Conkling,  remarked  that  no  party  or  man  could  control 
the  State  of  New  York  who  could  not  control  the  weekly  papers  of  that 
State. 

Now,  in  respect  to  the  need  for  the  religious  press.  Notwithstanding 
all  that  the  secular  press  can  do,  it  cannot  be  accurate  and  fair  upon  relig- 
ious (luestious.  There  are  Protestantism  and  Romanism  in  the  editorial 
rooms  of  the  secular  press,  with  the  prejudices  and  prepossessions  of  the 
editors.  And  how  many  mistakes  are  made  in  the  secular  papers 
when  the  reporters  do  not  know  the  things  of  which  they  are  writing. 
A  New  York  paper  declared  on  one  occasion  that  at  the  laying  of  a  corner- 
stone of  a  jMethodist  church  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Harris,  of  the  Dio- 
cese of  New  York,  blessed  the  stone.  That,  no  doubt,  was  a  Catholic 
reporter.  Then  I  have  a  recent  case  from  the  Chicago  Trihune,  in  an  argu- 
ment between  that  paper  and  one  of  our  ministers.     The  editor  desired  to 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  245 

know  whether,  "  If  the  fish-story  were  eliminated  from  the  Book  of  Job, 
would  the  doctor  then  deny  the  authenticity  of  the  epistle?  " 

The  editor  of  a  religious  paper  should  be  free  or  not  edit  a  pajier.  I 
am  not  free  to  use  my  paper  against  the  true  interests  of  the  denomina- 
tion it  represents,  but  I  am  free  to  leave  the  denomination ;  and  when  I 
cannot  defend  it  on  any  fundamental  point  I  will  leave  it.  The  fact  that 
I  am  free  to  be  what  I  may  removes  the  assumed  limitation  from  me — that 
I  am  in  honor  bound  to  defend  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  denom- 
ination that  my  paper  represents.  Shall  I  defend  those  principles?  Yes; 
to  the  best  of  my  ability.  But  should  the  religious  paper  indulge  in  the 
«lang  used  by  a  numerous  majority  of  the  secular  papers  in  this  and  other 
lands?  By  no  means.  Shall  the  religious  paper  imitate  their  style  in 
laughingly  referring  to  suicides  and  divorce  cases — such  as  was  employed 
by  one  of  the  principal  papers  in  this  country  in  an  article  on  the  Parnell 
case?  By  no  means.  The  religious  press  should  hold  itself  aloof  from 
such  things. 

Mr.   Thomas  Sxape,   C.C,  of  the  United   Methodist  Free 

Church,  made  the  following  remarks : 

Mr.  Chairman :  Every  word  uttered  in  regard  to  the  jjress  I  indorse. 
The  statement  has  been  made  that  the  Church  ignores  the  press ;  but  no 
satisfactory  statement  has  been  made  as  to  why  the  Church  dislikes  the 
press.  Mr.  Hughes  mystified  me  when  he  said  we  shovild  have  a  semi- 
religious  press.     Where  are  the  funds  forthcoming  for  its  support? 

Mr.  J.  H.  LiLE,  CO.,  of  the  "Weslejan  Methodist  Clinrch, 
spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Members  of  the  Conference :  The  question  which 
we  are  discussing  this  afternoon  should  not  be  left  in  the  hands  of  the 
ministerial  part  of  the  Conference,  but  the  laymen  should  have  a  chance 
to  say  a  word  on  a  subject  so  important. 

Mr.  Hughes's  paper  is  full  of  interesting  facts ;  but  so  far  as  the  religious 
press  of  our  country  is  concerned — I  cannot  say  much  of  the  religious 
press  of  this  side  of  the  water,  because  I  have  gone  into  many  stores  in 
Boston,  New  York,  and  Washington  to  get  a  religious  paper,  and  as  yet 
have  not  been  able  to  find  one — but  so  far  as  our  own  country  is  concerned 
our  denominational  papers  are  not  largely  circulated  when  we  consider  the 
vastness  of  our  Church ;  and  I  trust  that  the  discussion  we  are  having 
to-day  on  this  question  will  be  the  means  of  improving  the  religious  press 
of  England.  As  regards  the  membership  of  our  Church  in  England — 
something  like  seven  hundred  thousand — I  would  say  that  we  have  not 
a  weekly  circulation  of  seventy  thousand.  There  is  room  for  improvement. 
Especially  is  this  the  case  Avhen  we  have  secular  pa^^ers  of  a  character  not 
creditable  to  be  seen  in  our  homes,  or  reading  in  a  railway  train,  with  a 
circulation  of  five  or  six  hundred  thousand.  So  that  I  say  our  religious 
press  has  room  for  improvement. 

A  word  with  regard  to  the  daily  press.  I  am  one  who  thinks  that  it  is 
to  be  deplored  that  there  is  scarcely  a  paper  published  in  London  but 
what  contains  the  betting  news  and  the  proceedings  of  the  courts  in  cases 
where  the  evidence  should  be  suj^jwessed.  In  such  cases  you  will  find 
column  after  column  of  cross  examination,  etc.,  unfit  for  publication.  But, 
sir,  I  wish  to  say  that  unless  the  religious  press  can  be  put  upon  the  same 
sound  footing  as  that  of  the  daily  secular  press  it  never  will  have  any  in- 
fluence for  the  Church.  Now,  the  thing  for  us  to  do  to  counteract  the 
influence  of  the  secular  press  is  for  us  to  comijete  with  them  on  their  own 


246  THE  CHUBCH  AND  HER  AGENCIES.     / 

ground ;  not  as  a  Church,  but  for  some  men  of  means  to  put  their  hands 
in  their  pockets  and  start  a  daily  paper  that  will  exclude  the  kind  of  read- 
ing which  we  are  ashamed  to  have  in  our  homes.     I  believe  it  would  pay. 

We  have  a  larger  circulation  of  the  siDortiug  papers  in  London  than  all 
the  other  papers  put  together.  When  we  go  to  our  places  of  business  in 
the  morning  we  see  in  the  railway  carriages  papers  in  the  hands  of  the 
young  men,  and  we  find  that  a  majority  of  them  are  reading  the  sporting 
news.  But  I  do  not  come  here  to  show  up  the  dark  side  of  our  country; 
we  are  discussing  this  question,  and  we  should  state  facts;  and  when 
we  get  home  we  should  make  an  effort  to  improve  matters. 

Then  as  to  the  social  questions  of  to-day.  While  we  should  not  take 
up  questions  of  party  politics,  we  should  discuss  the  temperance  movement 
and  the  purity  question,  no  matter  who  may  be  in  office.  We  should  give 
light  and  information  to  the  people,  and  agitate  them  so  far  as  jjossible 
for  the  benefit  of  temperance  and  purity. 

Mr.  H.  J.  Farmer-Atkinson,  M.P.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Meth- 
odist Church,  continued  the  discussion,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  Chairman :  The  last  speaker  gave  you  a  good  opportunity  of  judging 
what  his  views  are  on  the  subject  under  discussion  by  saying  that  the  polit- 
ical— I  do  not  think  he  used  the  word  "political,"  but  "ordinary" — as- 
pirations of  the  people  ought  to  have  been  taken  more  notice  of  by  the  relig- 
ious papers.  Well,  I  join  issue  with  him  there.  All  parties  have  their 
organs,  and  the  people  can  read  the  leaders  of  the  political  papers.  They 
simply  look  to  see  what  the  leaders  are  about,  without  troubling  them- 
selves about  the  aspirations  of  the  people,  which  aspirations  are  for  the 
the  present  day.  What  the  religious  paper  ought  to  do  is  to  stimulate  the 
aspirations  of  the  people  for  eternity  and  not  for  time. 

Sevekal  Voices  :  O,  no  ! 

Mr.  Farmer-Atkinson:  I  give  you  my  opinion.  Now,  you  will  re- 
member what  my  friend  said  about  the  party  that  was  purchased  by  the 
beer-barrel.  That  smells  very  much  of  the  hustings.  We  know  from 
which  side  that  comes. 

The  religious  papers  ought  not  to  have  any  thing  to  do  with  party  poli- 
tics. Why,  I  have  told  my  friend  Hugh  Price  Hughes  many  times  that 
if  I  could  preach  as  well  as  he  does  nothing  could  induce  me  to  come 
down  from  that  altitude  and  sling  political  printer's  ink  in  the  way  he 
does.  He  ought  to  do  that  thing  which  he  can  do  the  best,  and  which 
we  all  acknowledge  has  a  great  effect.  He  is  serving  his  God  and  his 
Church  when  he  preaches  as  he  does.  That  I  say  of  him  as  a  preacher ; 
but  as  an  editor  I  am  not  the  least  proud  of  him,  and  never  shall  be. 
The  remarks  he  made  on  what  Jesus  Christ  would  say  on  the  Irish  ques- 
tion, in  one  of  his  "  leaders,"  are  as  near  blasphemy  as  such  a  religious 
man  could  come. 

The  Rev.  E.  Lloyd  Jones,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  Chairman :  I  hardly  know  what  is  meant  by  the  phrase  "religious 
press."  But  I  hope  that  so  far  as  England  is  concerned  we  are  not 
pleading  for  the  multiplication  of  Methodist  papers;  two  are  quite  as 
many  as  we  can  bear. 

Several  Voices  :  Many  more  !     Many  more  ! 

Rev.  E.  Lloyd  Jones  :  I  speak  of  my  own  Church,  not  of  yours.  I  am 
simply  speaking  of  the  two  papers  that  we  have  in  our  country  as  Wes- 
leyan Methodists,  and  I  sincerely  hope  that  denominational  literature  in 


GENERAL    KEMAKKS.  247 

the  shape  of  newspapers  is  not  going  to  increase.  But  if  we  are  going  to 
have  a  religious  press  let  us  have  a  religious  daily  that  will  go  in  for  all 
those  questions  which  we  have  in  common.  If  we  have  a  religious  news- 
paper we  should  manage  it  without  infusing  politics  into  it — manage  it 
upon  a  strong  common  sense  basis.  Otherwise  it  would  mean  nothing  at  all. 
Again,  I  say,  what  we  need  is  not  a  multiplication  of  literature  such  as 
we  have  to-daiy,  self-advertising  papers,  contributed  to  by  men  who  send 
reports  of  their  own  sermons,  their  own  lectures,  and  of  their  own  move- 
ments. I  deny  that  they  are  religious  papers;  they  are  personal  puffers. 
We  want  a  religious  newspaper  that  is  not  the  advertising  medium  of  a 
clique  or  of  an  editor. 

The  Rev.  George  Douglas,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  Canada,  said: 

Mr.  President:  I  believe  in  Hugh  Price  Hughes;  I  believe  in  Dr. 
Buckley  and  the  gentleman  who  controls  the  Methodist  Church  down  in 
Nashville.  I  believe  in  the  men  who  wield  the  thunder  and  the  light- 
ning, who  mean  mischief  to  vice  in  its  manifold  forms.  If  I  were  an 
editor  I  would  take  off  the  kid  gloves  of  dilletanteism.  I  would,  u^)  to 
the  measure  of  any  ability  I  might  have,  drive  the  plowshare  through 
political  corruption.  I  would  rip  up  the  hatchways  and  let  the  light  in 
on  the  vices  of  society,  and  sympathize  with  the  White  Cross  movement. 
I  would  antagonize  to  the  death  the  liquor-saloons  that  control  the  poli- 
tics of  this  and  the  mother-land.  I  would  direct  my  shafts  against  the 
Jesuitism  that  is  defiant  in  Canada  and  knocks  at  the  door  of  authority  in 
this  city  of  Washington. 

I  believe  this  policy  would  give  strength  and  power  to  the  religious 
press.  The  demand  is  that  the  living  issues  of  the  day  should  be  thor- 
oughly discussed,  and  evil  exposed  and  denounced.  What  has  given 
William  Stead  and  the  Pall  Mall  (rasc^ie  a  notoriety  wide  as  the  world? 
It  was  his  valiant,  uncompromising,  and  terrible  exposure  of  villainy; 
his  effort  to  protect  sweet  English  girlhood.  If  our  church  pajiers 
would  follow  a  like  example  I  believe  it  would  enhance  their  influence 
and  extend  the  range  of  their  power  for  good.  Then  the  religious  press 
would  take  its  stand  and  rival  the  secular  press  in  molding  the  civiliza- 
tion of  the  twentieth  century.  With  this  conviction  I  bear  my  testimony 
for  a  bold,  defiant,  aggressive  religious  press  for  the  Methodism  of  the 
future. 

The  Rev.  J.  S.  Balmer,  of  the  United  Methodist  Free 
Church,  concluded  the  discussion,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  I  have  long  felt  that  for  the  most  part  we  are  saved  or 
lost  at  home.  I  have  a  very  vivid  recollection  of  those  days  when  my 
father  put  healthful  literature  in  the  way  of  his  children  with  as  much 
earnestness  and  care  as  he  put  milk  in  their  way.  And  in  discussing  this 
question  of  healthful  literature  for  our  families  and  churches  we  are  con- 
sidering the  question  of  our  social  and  national  well-being.  I  agree 
with  some  of  the  speakers  that  a  religious  newspaper  had  better  avoid 
uniting  itself  with  extreme  political  parties.  But  while  that  is  so 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  is  the  business  of  a  religious  newspaper 
to  enunciate  the  great  Christian  principles  which  ought  to  underlie  all 
political  parties.  And  here  I  may  say  that  while  I  have  no  special 
intimacy  with  the  Rev.  Hugh  Price  Hughes,  I  am  grateful  to  him  for 
the  good  work  he   has    done   in   connection  with   the   jiulpit  and   the 


248  THE    CHUKCH    AND    HEE    AGENCIES. 

press ;  and  I  have  learned  that  the  condemnation  of  some  men  may  be 
high  praise. 

Mr.  Farmer-Atkinson:  Mr.  President,  I  wish  to  inquire  whether  a 
Christian  brother  is  to  be  permitted  to  make  such  an  insinuation  as  that. 

Rev.  Mr.  Balmer  :  I  was  putting  it  in  a  logical  sense,  and  not  from  the 
least  desire  to  be  personally  offensive.  And  if  our  friend  is  offended  by 
what  I  have  said  I  withdraw  it. 

Mr.  Farmer-Atkinson  :  I  accept  the  withdrawal. 

Rev.  Mr.  Balmer:  I  consider  that  the  English-speaking  people  the 
world  over  are  interested  in  the  work  of  such  men  as  Hugh  Price  Hughes, 
and  I  trust  they  may  go  on  enunciating  political  principles  that  are  in 
harmony  with  religion. 

I  would  remark,  in  conclusion,  that  I  have  read  the  heroic  stories  of  the 
American  pioneer  Methodists,  and  feel  assured  that  if  our  young  minis- 
ters would  study  them  they  could  not  fail  to  receive  a  holier  inspiration 
for  their  work  than  is  afforded  by  all  the  heroes  of  Homer  and  the  other 
Greek  writers.  I  have  only  to  say  further  that  I  am  conscious  of  good 
feeling  toward  the  brethren,  but  cannot  always  see  how  logic  impinges 
on  personalities. 

On  recommendation  of  the  Business  Committee  the  Confer- 
ence appointed  the  following  committee  to  prepare  an  appro- 
priate expression  on  the  closing  of  the  Columbian  Exposition 
on  Sunday :  J.  H.  Carlisle,  Chairman^  C.  H.  Fowler,  L.  Curts, 
David  Allison,  O.  P.  Fitzgerald,  T.  B.  Stephenson,  W.  J. 
Gaines,  T.  Moi-gan  Harvey,  Thomas  Snape,  and  Thomas  Law- 
rence. 

The  Business  Committee  reported  its  approval  of  the  memo- 
rial on  an  address  to  the  Methodist  membership,  to  be  signed 
by  the  presidents  and  secretaries  of  the  Conference ;  and  rec- 
ommended the  appointment  of  the  following  committee  to  pre- 
pare the  address  and  report  the  same  to  the  Business  Connnit- 
tee :  T.  B.  Stephenson,  F.  "W.  Bourne,  Thomas  Bowman,  J.  C. 
Granbery,  A.  Carman,  William  Brimelow,  W.  Morley,  C.  W. 
Button,  and  B.  "W.  Arnett. 

After  the  singing  of  the  hymn  "  God  be  with  you  till  we 
meet  again,"  the  benediction  was  pronounced  by  the  Rev.  M. 
T.  Myeks. 


ADDKESS    OF    KEV.    TALBOT    W.    CHAMBERS.  2i9 


THIRD  SESSION. 

The  Conference  met  in  special  session  at  7:30  P.  M.  to  re- 
ceive fraternal  deleo-ates  from  other  religious  denominations. 
The  Rev.  T.  B.  Stephenson,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  President  of  the 
"Wesleyan  Methodist  Church,  occupied  the  chair. 

After  singing,  the  Rev,  W.  B.  Lark,  of  the  Bible  Christian 
Church,  offered  prayer,  and  the  Rev.  J.  H.  A.  Johnson,  D.D., 
of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  read  a  portion  of 
the  Scriptures. 

The  Rev.  J.  W.  Hamilton,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  Secretary  of  the  Programme  Committee,  read  the  cre- 
dentials of  the  following  representatives  of  the  AUiance  of 
the  Reformed  Churches  Holding  the  Presbyterian  System  :  The 
Rev.  T.  W.  Chambers,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  the  Rev.  John  Hall,  D.D., 
and  the  Rev.  W.  U.  Murkland,  D.D. 

After  introductory  remarks  by  the  president,  the  Rev.  Talbot 
W.  Chambers,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Chairman  of  the  Western  Section 
of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Alliance  of  Reformed 
Churches,  gave  the  following  address  of  fraternal  greeting  : 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Members  of  the  Conference :  I  think  the  president  was 
hardly  correct  when  he  stated  that  our  name  was  shorter  than  yours.  The 
body  is  known  as  "The  Alliance  of  the  Reformed  Churches  Holding  the 
Presbyterian  System."  You  are  aware  that  at  an  early  period  the  Prot- 
estants of  Europe  became  divided  into  the  Reformed  and  Lutheran — the- 
Reformed  being  characterized  by  the  holding  of  the  doctrines  of  grace, 
as  we  call  them,  and  the  purity  of  the  ministry.  That  name  is  retained 
all  over  the  Continent  and  in  Great  Britain,  and  in  those  portions  of  the 
world  which  have  been  settled  from  Great  Britain.  The  name  "Pres- 
byterian "  has  usurped  the  place  of  Reform.  I  say  usurped,  because 
Presbyterian  simply  denotes  order,  but  Reformed  denotes  doctrine  and 
^o^der. 

Now,  I,  individually,  belong  to  the  Reformed  Church.  It  used  to  be 
known  as  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  which  the  emigrants  from  Holland 
founded  more  than  two  centuries  ago  ;  and  the  individual  corporation 
which  I  serve  dates  from  1628,  when  the  first  church  was  organized  on 
Manhattan  Island. 

Now,  this  Alliance  was  conceived  in  187u;  in  1875  it  was  formed  in 
London.  The  first  council  was  held  in  Edinburgh  in  1877;  the  second 
council  in  Philadelphia  in  1880;  the  third  was  held  in  Belfast  in  1884; 
the  fourth  in  London  in  1888;  and  the  fifth  is  to  be  held  in  Toronto  next 
year,  please  God.  During  the  intervals  of  the  councils  there  is  a  body 
a,ppointed  to  conduct  the  business  of  the  Alliance.  This  is  called  the 
19 


250         KECEPTION  OF  FBATEKNAL  DELEGATES. 

Executive  Commission  and  is  divided  into  two  sections,  the  Eastern  em- 
bracing Great  Britain  and  the  Continent,  the  Western  embracing  the 
United  States  and  Canada. 

The  Western  Section,  of  which  I  have  the  honor  to  be  chairman,  met  in 
Toronto  on  the  first  day  of  the  present  month  to  make  provision  for  the 
meeting  of  the  council  in  that  city  next  September.  The  proposition  was 
then  made  to  send  a  delegation  to  this  council.  It  was  eagerly  and  unan- 
imously adopted.  The  same  would  have  been  the  case  with  the  Eastern 
Section  could  they  have  been  considted,  but  their  last  meeting  was,  I 
think,  in  Montreal  some  time  ago,  and  they  do  not  meet  again  until  No- 
vember. But  I  think  I  am  not  wrong  when  I  say  that  they  agree  heartily 
in  this  matter  with  the  Western  Section. 

Why  do  we  come  to  you  with  our  cordial  salutations  and  our  earnest 
good  wishes  ?  It  is  not  because  we  have  abandoned  our  faith;  it  is  not 
because  we  would  have  you  abandon  yours ;  but  because  you  with  us  are 
members  of  the  evangelical  Church,  and  in  the  circumstances  of  the 
times  we  feel  constrained  to  put  an  emphasis  on  the  points  upon  which 
we  agree  and  not  upon  those  with  regard  to  which  we  differ. 

For  instance,  what  is  the  use  of  us  contending  about  atonement,  whether 
it  is  definite  or  indefinite,  when  all  over  the  face  of  Christendom  there 
are  men  who  will  rise  up  and  tell  you  there  was  no  atonement  ?  What  is 
the  use  of  us  disputing  about  the  effects  of  the  fall  when  you  find  voices 
from  Great  Britian  and  from  our  own  country  telling  you  that  it  was  not 
a  step  downward  but  a  step  upward  ?  I  speak  that  which  I  know.  I 
could  bring  you  the  books  and  read  you  from  the  very  page,  printed 
within  sixty  days,  by  an  eminent  minister  in  a  communion  which  I  will 
not  name  but  which  has  evangelical  orthodox  articles.  It  is  time  for 
those  of  us  who  are  anxious  that  evangelical  principles  should  prevail  to 
come  together.  We  do  not  want  you  to  become  Reformed  or  Presbyterians ; 
we  have  no  intention  of  becoming  Methodists ;  but  we  believe  that  both 
parties  should  stand  together  like  different  divisions  in  the  same  army. 
We  are  contending  for  a  common  cause,  and  we  are  confronted  by  foes 
which  are  so  many,  so  insidious,  and  so  persevering  that  it  requires  all 
our  efforts  to  overcome  them. 

It  is  a  great  pleasure  for  me  to  occupy  the  position  Avhich  I  do.  I  can 
remember  the  time — for  I  have  passed  three-score  and  ten — when  in  the 
part  of  the  country  where  I  live  the  Methodists  and  the  Presbyterians  had 
no  more  dealings  together  than  Jews  and  Samaritans.  They  would  meet 
in  business,  in  trade,  in  social  life;  but  in  ecclesiastical  life  they  stopped 
short.  And  it  was  so  in  jilaces  where  I  began  my  ministry  in  the  Dutch 
Church.  At  that  time  there  had  been  no  communion  between  the  two 
bodies.  There  were  two  Dutch  churches,  as  we  call  them — the  preaching 
was  in  English — and  one  Methodist  church.  But  it  happened  that  I  went 
down  once  and  preached  in  the  IMethodist  church,  and  then  the  Methodist 
preacher  preached  in  my  church.  But  what  a  shaking  of  heads  there 
was;  what  apprehension  that  the  bottom  Avould  fall  out  of  every  thing. 

How  is  it  now?     Why,  ten  years  ago,   during  the  week  of  praj'er,  the 


ADDRESS    OF    BEV.    JOHN    HALL.  251 

Reformed  Dutch  minister  and  Methodist  minister  joined  hands,  and  held 
services  reciprocally  in  each  other's  houses  of  worship,  and  helped  one 
another  just  like  they  were  brothers  in  Christ. 

That  is  what  wc  want  to  have,  co-operation;  standing  shoulder  to 
shoulder;  respecting  each  other's  peculiar  views — prejudices,  if  you  choose 
to  call  them — or  principles,  but  still  remembering  that  we  are  soldiers  of 
the  Gospel ;  that  we  hold  the  faith ;  that  we  believe  in  the  depravity 
of  the  race,  and  absolute  dependence  upon  Christ  and  the  regenerating 
influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  "We  believe  in  the  individual  responsibility 
of  every  man  to  his  Judge,  and  that  no  man  can  come  between  him  and 
his  Judge  but  the  one  Saviour.  So  that,  when  we  hold  these  cardinal 
truths,  when  we  recognize  them  in  their  important  prominence,  let  us 
work  together.  Let  us  avoid  backbiting ;  let  us  avoid  fault-finding ;  let 
us  see  good  in  each  other;  and,  remembering  that  we  are  brothers,  rejoice 
in  each  other's  prosperity. 

Let  me  tell  you,  my  brethren — for  it  is  time  for  me  to  close — that  the 
meeting  of  this  Ecumenical  Conference  is  regarded  with  the  deepest  in- 
terest by  outside  brothers.  They  want  to  see  this  great  evangelical  body 
coming  together,  molded  into  one,  so  that  its  whole  force  may  be  thrown 
against  the  common  enemy  and  for  the  cause  of  our  adored  Master. 

The  Eev.  John  Hall,  D.D.,  of  New  York,  being  introduced, 
gave  an  address  of  fraternal  greeting,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President  and  Dear  Christian  Friends :  I  feel,  in  the  first  instance, 
that  a  great  honor  has  been  done  me  by  the  brethren  in  Toronto  in  con- 
fiding to  me  the  duty  which  I  attempt  now  to  discharge ;  and,  in  the 
second  place,  I  feel  a  great  deal  of  satisfaction  in  being  permitted  to  ap- 
pear among  you  here  in  the  happy  relations  in  which  the  Conference  has 
been  pleased  to  put  me. 

It  will  surprise  you  very  much,  perhaps,  if  I  tell  you  that  I  feel  very 
much  at  home  in  this  meeting.  From  my  childhood  up  I  was  acquainted 
with  Methodists  and  Primitive  Methodists  in  Ireland.  I  did  not  know 
the  word  Episcopal  in  that  connection  in  those  days.  I  learned  that,  like 
a  great  many  other  things,  when  I  came  to  these  United  States.  But  I 
think  I  have  learned  it  very  thoroughly  since  coming  here.  I  have  had 
some  training  under  one  of  your  distinguished  members.  I  have  been 
under  Bishop  Vincent  at  Chautauqua,  and  I  recognize  the  great  good 
he  has  done  in  initiating  a  movement  in  the  reforms  which  have  been 
felt  over  these  United  States.  I  have  had  the  satisfaction  of  working 
on  committees  with  him  for  eighteen  or  twenty  years,  and  it  has  been 
one  of  the  pleasantest  duties  ever  assigned  me  in  the  providence  of  God. 
I  remember  with  satisfaction  that  the  first  pulpit  I  was  permitted  to  oc- 
cupy was  a  Methodist  pulpit.  I  could  tell  you  how  the  thing  came 
about.  I  was  a  missionary  in  the  west  of  Ireland,  in  the  Province  of 
Connaught.  I  was  doing  a  great  deal  of  preaching  in  the  school-houses. 
It  was  my  duty  to  establish  schools  in  the  County  of  Roscommon,  and  the 


252         RECEPTION  OF  FRATEENAL  DELEGATES. 

Methodists  kindly  gave  me  the  use  of  their  church.  And  I  shall  never 
forget  the  services  we  had  there  on  week  evenings,  and  it  did  me  good 
when  I  heard  an  honest,  happy  "  Amen  "  from  the  peojjle  in  the  audience. 
And  it  has  been  a  part  of  my  plans  in  the  city  of  New  York  to  exchange 
annually  with  the  brother  ministers  of  the  Congregational,  Presbyterian, 
and  Methodist  denominations,  and  I  have  never  had  my  people  criticise 
me  because  of  my  Methodist  brother,  or  accuse  me  of  heterodoxy  because 
of  my  practice. 

But  I  want  to  say  to  you  that  I  am  a  Methodist.  Perhaps  I  ought  to  ex- 
2>laiu  to  you  how  that  was  brought  about.  In  the  oldest  Methodist  church 
in  New  York  I  preached — and  I  preached  as  well  as  I  could,  as  I  usually 
do.  At  the  close  of  the  services  one  of  the  members  of  the  congregation 
rose  and  stated  that  he  wished  to  make  a  motion.  It  was  carried  unani- 
mously. The  motion  was  that  Dr.  Hall,  the  preacher,  be  elected  an 
honorary  member  of  that  church.  And  I  was  so  elected,  and  not  only  so, 
but  it  happened  that  your  Bishop  Andrews  was  present  and  explicitly 
sanctioned  the  proceeding;  but  he  never  required  me  to  pronounce  the 
shorter  Catechism.  But  with  the  utmost  seriousness,  with  my  whole 
heart,  I  state  to  you,  my  dear  brethren,  may  God  bless  you  in  your  meet- 
ings, and  may  he  make  this  Conference  a  powerful  good,  not  only  in  the 
branches  of  the  Church  you  represent,  but  over  the  whole  English-siDcak- 
ing  world. 

And  I  can  speak  of  this  matter  with  interest,  because  I  have  watched 
the  proceedings  of  our  council,  to  which  allusion  has  been  made.  Dr. 
McKosh,  and  Dr.  Blakey  of  Scotland,  lectured  and  preached  upon  the 
advisability  of  having  such  a  council  for  the  Reformed  Churches  of  the 
Presbyterian  system.  The  meetings  have  been  held  from  year  to  year  with 
not  only  interest,  but  I  believe  blessings  have  attended  every  one  of  them. 
I  remember  the  interest  with  which  I  Avatched  the  proceedings  of  your 
Conference  held  in  the  jDlace  that  John  Wesley  made  the  center  of  his 
very  active  work — in  London;  and  remembering  what  was  done  there,  I 
cannot  but  look  with  the  liveliest  interest  on  what  you  are  doing  here. 
What  is  done  in  such  a  public  or  conspicuous  way  in  a  city  like  this  tells 
over  a  very  broad  land,  and  I  do  sincerely  trust  that  the  truth  which  you 
speak,  the  testimony  that  you  bear,  the  spirit  that  you  exhibit,  and  the 
work  that  you  do  will  be  a  help  for  good  over  the  whole  of  this  continent 
and  Christendom. 

We  realize  the  advantages  of  meeting  together  as  you  are  now.  One  of 
the  advantages  is  that  we  know  one  another  better  than  before ;  we  have 
an  intelligent  sympathy  with  one  another.  One  branch  learns  the  pecul- 
iarities and  the  difficulties  that  stand  in  the  way  of  another.  We  can 
comprehend  more  thoroughly  how  we  may  address  ourselves  to  the  great 
evangelical  work  we  have  to  do  the  world  over,  so  that  one  branch  may 
not  dissipate  its  powers  over  a  field  that  has  been  taken  uj^  by  another 
Ijranch  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ.  AYhen  we  come  together  in  this 
way,  dear  brothers,  there  is  an  opportunity  for  good  to  be  spread,  so  to 
speak,  and  for  that  we  are  to  be  thankful  to  God.     Good  as  we  are,  every 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    W.    U.    MURKLAND.  253 

institution  can  have  an  element  of  evil  imported  into  it,  and  probably 
something  that  is  not  good  may  be  brought  into  such  organizations  as 
this.  But  you  have  to  watch  against  that,  so  that  the  greatest  amount 
of  good  may  accrue  to  you  and  Christendom  with  the  least  possible 
evil. 

If  any  one  were  to  ask  me,  with  what  knowledge  I  have  had  of  church 
history,  what  has  been  the  benefit  of  Methodism  upon  Christendom,  I  should 
say  that  when  the  Church  was  down,  dead  to  truth,  God  raised  up  the 
founders  of  your  institution ;  when  Christianity  was  comparatively  dead, 
God  used  your  fathers  to  hold  it  up  before  Christendom.  Can  I  wish  you 
any  thing  better  than  that  you  may  be  helped  to  go  with  steadfastness 
and  Christian  courage,  and  witness  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  lifting  up 
people  to  Jesus,  Priest  and  King,  the  Saviour  that  men  need,  and  the 
Saviour  who  in  liis  work  has  adapted  himself  completely  to  every  human 
necessity  ?  May  God  help  you.  brothers  beloved,  ministers  and  office- 
bearers and  laymen  as  you  are  sometimes  called — may  God  help  you  to 
keep  uj^on  these  lines,  and  to  perpetuate  and  extend  the  work  which  you 
and  your  fathers  and  founders  have  done — a  work  of  benefaction  not  only 
to  the  English  race,  but  to  the  English-speaking  people.  If  you  keep  on 
these  lines  there  are  certain  things  you  will  gain.  One  would  be  a  gener- 
ally educated  and  a  deeply  spiritual  ministry.  Another  would  be  a  prac- 
tical catholicity  of  which  that  chapter  read  in  our  hearing  gives  us  such  a 
vivid  delineation — a  catholicity  that  is  not  mere  sentiment,  not  mere 
talk,  but  that  is  real,  that  is  practical,  substantial,  and  palpable  to  an  on- 
looking  and  hostile  world.  I  trust  that  by  the  influence  of  this  meeting 
there  will  be  deepened  in  the  hearts  of  your  people  a  spirit  of  consecra- 
tion to  God  Almighty.  Has  he  not  bought  us  with  the  blood  of  his  Son  ? 
Do  we  not  profess  to  be  his  ?  God  help  you  so  to  teach  and  live  that  this 
spirit  may  be  deepened  and  extended  among  all  your  people.  Then  you 
will  be  happy  and  God  will  be  glorified. 

The  Rev.  W.  U.  Murkland,  D.D.,  of  Baltimore,  being  intro- 
duced, gave  the  following  address  of  greeting  as  a  representative 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  South  : 

Mr.  President  and  Brethren,  Companions  in  tribulation  and  patience  of 
Jesus  Christ :  We  meet  on  this  platform  and  in  this  house  of  God  because 
we  have  God  in  our  home  and  hope  to  meet  beyond  the  river  in  the  pres- 
ence of  Him  to  whom  we  cry,  because  he  washed  us  from  our  sins  with  his 
blood.  I  come  bearing  the  greetings  of  that  great  historical  Church  of 
which  I  am  a  representative  to-night,  to  reach  forth  the  hand  of  Christian 
fellowship,  and  bid  you  God-speed  in  your  work. 

All  thoughtful  students  of  our  times,  and  all  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  have  read  the  story  of  your  marvelous  progress.  It  reads  like  a 
spiritual  romance.  You  have  a  magnificent  history  from  your  birth  in  the 
cloisters  in  old  England  down  until  your  banner  has  waved  over  every 
land  and  on  evei'y  sea.     We  glory  in  your  progress,  in  the  advancement 


254:         RECEPTION  OF  FRATERNAL  DELEGATES. 

you  have  made  in  education,  and  in  your  work  of  lifting  up  those  who 
arc  trodden  down — the  work  of  advancing  the  kingdom  of  God.  We  re- 
joice with  you  because  of  the  words  repeated  so  often  by  your  illustrious 
founder :  "  But  best  of  all  is,  God  is  with  us."  And  he  has  been  with  you 
in  your  century  and  a  half  of  magnificent  progress.  In  the  benediction 
of  my  heart  and  of  the  Church  which  I  represent,  I  say  to  you,  God  be 
with  you. 

I  come,  Mr.  Chairman,  from  that  neighboring  city  which  one  of  your 
eloquent  speakers  mentioned  to-day  when  he  was  worthily  speaking  the 
triumphs  of  your  progress.  He  spoke  of  the  city  of  happy  homes,  a  city 
fit  to  be  compared  with  this  city.  The  city  from  which  I  come  is  Balti- 
more, where  your  great  Church  was  cradled  in  this  land,  where  it  com- 
menced its  great  work  in  this  territory.  Washed  by  two  seas,  that  city 
has  been  accustomed  to  look  upon  this  city  as  a  younger,  smaller  sister; 
and  I  would  say  to  the  delegates  that  we  do  not  regard  Washington  as  a 
tit  companion  for  Baltimore — especially  during  the  session  of  Congress — 
when  this  great  city,  which  has  advanced  wonderfully  in  population,  is  not 
allowed  to  vote.  They  may  talk  as  much  as  they  please  about  politics, 
but  we  do  not  allow  them  to  vote.  They  may  talk  about  freedom,  but  it 
is  the  only  monarchy  in  the  United  States.  But  I  would  say  to  the  dele- 
gates from  all  over  the  world  that  it  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  cities  in 
the  world,  and  is  as  full  of  grace  as  any  city  of  the  continent. 

A  few  months  ago  I  stood  on  the  other  side  of  the  Red  Sea,  on  the 
border  of  the  Arabian  Desert,  and  looked  on  those  mountains  which  the 
children  of  Israel  passed  in  their  exodus.  I  stood  on  those  hills  where 
m:my  of  you  have  stood  and  looked  over  the  great  sea.  I  thought  how 
the  heart  of  Moses  must  have  swelled  with  pride  when  he  realized  that 
his  work  had  been  accomplished — two  or  three  millions  brought  out  of 
bondage  in  Egypt  and  brought  over  that  sea — singing  unto  the  Lord,  for 
he  had  triumphed  gloriously.  Vfhnt  will  the  illustrious  founder  of  this 
Church  say  as  from  the  great  Red  Sea  he  looks  down  upon  the  members 
of  this  Ecumenical  Conference  and  realizes  that  in  a  century  and  a  half 
millions — yes,  hundreds  of  millions — have  been  brought  in  out  of  a  greater 
Egyptian  bondage,  the  bondage  of  sin  and  despair,  to  the  throne  of  the 
King  because  of  that  impulse  which  God  gave  him  ? 

What  is  the  meaning  of  this  great  Conference  in  this  city?  What  is  the 
meaning  of  that  great  Ecumenical  Conference  of  Presbyterians  to  which 
reference  was  made  to-night?  Is  it  not  a  symptom  of  the  times?  Is  it 
not  a  mark  of  the  age  to  which  we  belong?  Is  it  not  a  tendency  to  look 
at  the  Church  in  its  imiversality?  The  apostle  Paul  has  dogmatically 
marked  the  doctrines  in  his  Epistles  to  the  Ephesians,  the  Romans,  the 
Corinthians,  and  emphasized  the  fact  of  a  personal  salvation.  "WTien  he 
is  in  Rome  he  writes  to  the  Ephesians,  the  Philippians,  and  the  Colos- 
sians.  He  speaks  of  the  magnificence  of  the  whole  Church  of  God,  as  if 
contact  with  the  heart  of  that  great  Roman  Empire  had  caused  him  to 
think  of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  he  rises  to  those  sentences 
that  ring  like  music  in  the  ear  of  every  thoughtful  student  that  in  time 


ADDKESS    OF    KEV.    W.    U.    MURKLAND.  255 

he  might  gather  all  things  in  heaven  and  on  earth  unto  Jesus  Christ. 
That  is  the  thought  which  j^ou  are  realizing  in  this  country.  That  is  the 
thought  which  we  have  been  trying  to  realize  in  the  council  to  which  we 
belong.  And  God  speed  the  day  when  men  shall  think  more  of  that 
unity,  that  catholicity  and  universality  of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ  on 
earth.  The  conflict  between  revelation  and  research,  between  discovery 
and  inspired  words,  will  only  be  reached  when  all  men  recognize  that 
grand  part  which  forms  and  inspires  these  epistles,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
head  of  creation,  and  behind  his  redeeming  work  stands  his  creative 
power.  He  is  the  one  through  whose  blood  we  have  redemption.  It  is 
the  working  oiit  of  that  divine  idea  which  fixes  the  position  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  the  firmament  of  thought,  and  extends  the  relations  of  Jesus 
Christ  to  things  seen  and  unseen.  It  is  through  that  idea  that  the 
Church  will  see  the  end  of  the  difficulty,  and  there  will  be  reconciliation 
in  all  her  struggles.  This  is  one  of  the  ends  to  which  we  are  working. 
This  is  one  of  the  ends  to  which  we  bid  you  God-speed. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  times  when  the  Methodists  and  Pres- 
byterians were  not  in  such  harmony  as  they  are  to-night.  My  memory 
does  not  go  back  so  far  as  that  of  my  friend ;  but  I  can  remember  when 
in  boj'hood  the  Presbyterians  and  Methodists  met  together  and  sharp 
words  were  exchanged.  Yes,  there  was  a  time  when  Methodists  believed 
that  Presbyterians  thought  a  good  many  things  that  were  bad,  that  they 
liked  to  burn  witches  and  make  blue-laws,  and  Presbyterians  liked  to  say 
bad  things  about  the  Methodists. 

In  our  city  we  tried  to  realize  the  Sunday  law  and  carry  it  out  if  we 
could.  The  other  day  I  was  reading  a  record  of  Augusta  County,  Vir- 
ginia. In  1753  Mr.  So-and-so  was  fined  for  driving  hogs  across  the  Blue 
Ridge  on  Sunday.  It  also  stated  that  the  court  discharged  the  present- 
ment against  Mr.  Shurky  "for  being  drunk."  the  court  being  of  opinion 
that  it  was  "  inadvertently  done."  That  is  the  way  we  forgive  you,  and 
you  must  forgive  us  for  things  inadvertently  done. 

"We  do  love  each  other;  we  do  honor  each  other.  We  do  say  in  our 
hearts,  Amen,  when  we  hear  you  preach.  And,  indeed,  sometimes  it 
would  do  our  hearts  good  if  a  warm-hearted  brother  would  say.  Amen. 
In  that  great  city,  the  capital  of  Damascus,  is  a  temjile.  It  was  first  a 
Greek  church  and  then  a  Mussulman  temple.  If  you  will  climb  with  the 
aid  of  a  ladder  until  you  reach  the  top  of  its  great  ancient  gate  you  will 
find  an  inscription,  which  in  the  mercy  of  God  has  not  l)een  erased  by 
the  Mussulman,  and  which,  as  a  propliecy,  will  stand  forever.  On  that 
door  is  cut  in  stone  in  Greek  these  words:  "Thy  kingdom,  O  Christ,  is 
the  kingdom  of  the  ages,  and  will  endure  throughout  all  ages."  That 
was  cut  by  Justinian,  and  it  will  be  a  testimony  as  long  as  the  ages  stand, 
a  prophecy  of  what  will  yet  be  when  Jesus  Christ  will  take  the  kingdom 
for  his  own.  The  day  is  coming  when  he  shall  gather  into  one  all  na- 
tions on  earth  and  in  heaven. 

Somctipies  in  my  vision  I  see  that  clear  ecclesiastical  face  of  John 
Calvin,  and,  beautiful  as  a  cameo,  John  Wesley,  and  they  are  standing 


256         RECEPTION  OF  FKATEENAL  DELEGATES. 

and  wonderiug  why  they  did  not  see  the  same  things  on  earth,  and  per- 
haps talking  of  Presbyterianism  and  grace.  John  Wesley  takes  hold  of 
John  Calvin's  hand,  and  they  bow  before  the  throne,  and  they  cry  unto 
Him  who  loves  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  and  made  us  free.  And  so 
they  walk  along  the  heavenly  streets  together,  looking  forward  to  that 
day  for  which  Christ  died,  when  the  heavens  shall  pass  away,  when  the 
divine  fullness  shall  be  realized,  when  waves  of  music,  beautiful  sym- 
phonies, shall  break  upon  the  throne  of  God  and  then  break  out  to  the 
boundaries  of  creation,  waking  up  men  and  angels,  creation  itself.  May 
you  and  I  hasten  the  coming  of  that  great  day ! 

The  Rev.  J.  W.  Hamilton,  D.D.,  announced  the  reception  of 
greetings  from  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Synod  of  Maryland, 
in  session  at  Hagerstown,  Md. ;  from  the  General  Conference 
of  the  Evangelical  Association,  in  session  at  Indianapolis ;  and 
from  the  Baptist  churches  of  Washington.  Dr.  Hamilton 
also  announced  the  reception  of  fraternal  greetings  from  the 
National  Association  of  Local  Preachers  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  in  session  at  Harrisburg. 

The  Rev.  S.  H.  Green,  D.D.,  then  gave  the  following  ad- 
dress of  greeting  from  the  Baptist  churches  of  Washington : 

Mr.  President  and  Brethren :  Had  the  annual  meetings  of  our  National 
Societies  occurred  at  a  later  period  in  the  year  a  body  of  delegates  Avould 
doul^tless  have  presented  in  a  more  dignified  manner  the  Christian  saluta- 
tions of  the  Baptists  of  the  United  States.  In  the  absence  of  such  repre- 
sentatives, by  the  assignment  of  the  Baptist  Pastors'  Conference  of  this 
district  I  am  commissioned  to  convey  to  you  the  greetings  and  congrat- 
ulations of  the  Baptists  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  a  people  numbering 
more  than  twelve  thousand,  with  church  and  school  property  valued  at 
$1,750,000,  and  a  Sunday-school  enrollment  of  7,000.  We  are  but  a 
fragment  of  that  larger  body  numbering  more  than  34,000  churches 
and  more  than  3,000,000  members  in  the  United  States.  During  the 
past  year  140,000  persons  were  added  to  this  membership  on  profession 
of  faith;  12  new  churches  were  organized  each  week;  |12,000,000  raised 
and  expended  for  the  cause  of  Christ  at  home  and  aljroad.  In  the  cause 
of  Christian  education  we  have  7  theological  seminaries,  34  colleges  and 
universities,  106  academies  and  seminaries,  with  property  valued  at 
$90,000,000,  with  more  than  23,000  students  in  attendance.  It  has 
pleased  God  to  most  wonderfully  bless  our  work  at  home  and  abroad, 
and  from  the  fullness  of  that  blessing  the  organizations  which  gave 
Fuller  and  Hall,  3Iaclaren  and  Spurgeon  to  England;  Carey,  Judson, 
and  Clough  to  foreign  missions ;  Wayland  and  Anderson,  Robinson  and 
Broadus  to  America,  turn  with  fraternal  greetings  to  the  representatives 
of  Methodism  throughout  the  world. 

It  is  with  no  ordinary  emotion,  sir,  that  I  bring  to  this  august  body  the 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    S.    H.    GREEN.  25T 

loving  salutations  of  their  Baptist  brethren.  We  have  diflEered  somewhat 
in  forms  of  doctrinal  statement,  as  in  organic  forms,  but  in  heart  and  pur- 
pose we  have  been  one.  The  same  blood  has  washed  away  our  sin,  the 
same  lips  commissioned  us  to  preach,  the  same  Gospel  is  the  message,  the 
salvation  of  the  lost  is  our  common  endeavor,  and  the  approval  of  the 
same  God  our  inspiration  and  reward. 

I  congratulate  you  on  the  fortunate  beginnings  of  your  denominational 
life.  Methodism  came  to  birth  in  the  fullness  of  time.  Against  the 
background  of  religious  formalism,  wide-spread  skepticism,  and  alarming 
vice  and  brutality  the  high  consecration  of  the  Wesleys  and  their  asso- 
ciates blazes  like  stars  on  the  bosom  of  the  night.  Their  high  spirituality, 
their  brilliant  gifts,  and  their  unflagging  zeal  constituted  a  power  irresist- 
ible among  men.  Every-where  the  true-hearted  hailed  the  revival  of 
apostolic  utterance  and  life  with  delight.  It  was  the  spiritual  "  drum-beat 
heard  round  the  world."  If  under  the  ban  of  religious  formalism  your 
spiritual  fathers  were  driven  from  the  chapel  and  cathedral,  till  houses, 
barns,  and  market-places  became  their  preaching-stations,  and  the  "  com- 
mon people  "  their  listeners,  it  did  but  furnish  those  conditions  of  humility, 
simplicity,  and  faith  under  which  their  grandest  triumphs  were  to  be 
won  for  Christ  and  the  world.  I  congratulate  you  on  those  early  days  of 
poverty  and  trial.     They  were  mighty  factors  in  later  growth. 

I  congratulate  you  on  the  simple  fidelity  with  which  you  have  uttered 
the  vital  truths  of  the  Gospel  through  all  these  years — the  sinner  lost 
and  ruined,  the  Crucified  the  only  and  all-sufficient  Saviour.  With  prac- 
tical and  tireless  zeal  you  have  faced  the  problem  of  saving  a  lost  world 
for  Christ.  Ignoring  secondary  topics  to  a  remarkable  degree,  you  have 
preached  "Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified."  The  sennon,  the  prayer, 
and  the  song  have  found  their  inspiration  at  the  cross.  In  these  days  of 
theological  drift  we  love  and  honor  the  man  who  stands  unflinchingly  beside 
the  cross  of  the  Crucified  and  finds  their  his  message  and  strength.  It  is 
not  strano-e  that  the  result  of  such  fidelitv  should  be  larjje  and  continuous 
growth.  The  word  has  not  returned  void,  the  promise  has  not  failed. 
The  body  of  humble  birth  has  become  large  and  the  tramp  of  its  toilers 
is  heard  throughout  the  world.  I  rejoice  in  this  growth  and  the  mag- 
nificent organization  it  has  called  forth. 

I  congratulate  you  on  the  growing  spirit  of  unity  manifest  in  your  dif- 
ferent organizations.  In  the  sweep  of  thought  and  feeling  here  apjmrent 
I  read  the  prophecy  of  dawning  union  among  Methodists  of  every  name, 
and  rejoice  in  the  prospect.  And  what  is  true  of  yourselves  I  hold  to  be 
true  of  most  evangelical  bodies.  However  slowly  organic  union  may  ap- 
pear, no  observing  mind  can  fail  to  discern  the  steady  coming  of  all  the 
real  essentials  of  Christian  union  in  the  growing  charity,  the  deepening 
sympathy,  and  the  closer  co-operation  of  Christians  of  all  names.  In  this 
we  do  most  heartily  rejoice  with  you. 

Mr.  President,  permit  me  to  say,  in  conclusion,  that  this  is  one  of  the 
sweet,  glad  hours  of  my  life.  Standing  face  to  face  with  these  toilers  for 
Christ  from  all  the  world,  bearing  to  them  in  all  tenderness  and  sincerity 


258        KECErTION  OF  FEATEKNAL  DELEGATES. 

the  loving  congratulations  of  my  own  people,  my  heart  turns  with  glad 
expectancy  to  that  time  when  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become  the 
kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  Christ,  and,  lifted  far  above  any  sectarian  zeal 
which  may  have  stirred  your  hearts  or  ours,  we  shall  lay  our  trophies  at 
the  feet  of  "  Him  who  hath  loved  us  and  given  himself  for  us,"  and  crown 
him  Lord  of  all. 

The  Rev.  T.  B.  Stephenson,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  President  of  the 
"Wesleyan  Methodist  Church,  spoke  as  follows  in  response  to 
the  foregoing  addresses  of  fraternal  greeting  : 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Dear  and  Honored  Brethren  :  It  is  with  very  great 
pleasure  that  the  Conference  has  received  you  and  heard  those  loving  and 
stirring  words  which  you  have  addressed  to  us.  Although  my  being  the 
President  of  the  British  Wesleyan  Conference  has  brought  me  many 
courtesies  since  I  came  to  this  land,  nothing  has  done  me  more  honor  than 
the  presidency  over  this  session  of  the  Conference.  I  scarcely  know  why 
it  was  determined  that  I  should  be  the  presiding  officer  of  this  session. 
I  am  sure  it  was  not  thought  that  any  of  you  would  be  uncomfortable  in 
the  presence  of  a  bishop  of  the  Methodist  order.  Perhaps  it  was  that 
on  this  continent  you  have  the  opportunity  of  frequently  meeting  brothers 
of  the  American  denominations,  and  that  it  might  be  a  novelty  to  you 
if  the  Eastern  Section  of  Methodism  should  be  represented  in  this  chair. 
But  be  that  as  it  may,  in  behalf  of  the  Methodism  of  the  whole  world 
we  give  back  to  you  the  loving  greetings,  not  only  of  the  Methodist 
Churches  of  this  continent,  but  of  all  the  world,  to  the  furthermost 
bounds  of  the  sea. 

This  is  a  large  Conference;  it  represents  an  immense  number  of  believ- 
ing people  ancl  a  great  many  Churches;  but  since  you  have  come  into  the 
room  our  horizon  has  grown  wider.  "We  believe  that  we  belong  to  a  still 
larger  Church  than  the  Methodist  Church,  and  are  here  to-night  enjoying 
a  still  wider  fellowship  than  that  which  we  have  enjoyed  in  each  other's 
society  during  the  last  few  days.  We  welcome  you  heartily  to  our  midst 
for  the  sake  of  what  you  are  and  for  the  sake  of  what  you  are  not.  The 
Methodist  Church  traces  its  pedigree  to  the  days  of  Pentecost,  for  we 
believe  that  John  Wesley  was  the  instrument  in  the  hands  of  the  good 
Lord  of  all  to  revive  primitive  Christianity  at  a  time  when  such  a  revival 
was  greatly  needed.  Though  we  reverence  his  memory  and  believe  him 
one  of  the  best  men  that  ever  lived,  and  call  ourselves  in  a  certain  sense  by 
his  name,  we  do  not  own  him  as  our  Master ;  we  lift  our  hearts  to  One 
higher  than  he — the  Head  of  the  universal  Church.  This  is  our  reply  to 
those  who  would  reproach  us  with  our  being  a  creation  of  yesterday.  AVe 
go  back  to  the  day  of  Pentecost ;  for  there  is  the  true  origin  of  the  great 
streams  of  religious  life  which  flow  in  different  channels  through  the 
world,  but  all  sjiringing  from  one  source,  and  these  streams  will  flow  on 
until  they  meet  at  la.st  in  the  same  ocean. 

You  come  to  us  as  elder  brothers,  and  we  cheerfully  recognize  that,  so 


ADDRESS    OF    KEV.    T.    B.    STEPHENSON.  259 

far  US  our  systems  are  to  be  dated  from  any  system  in  the  world,  you  are 
our  elder  brothers.  You  did  a  great  deal  for  us  before  we  came  into  ex- 
istence. We  do  not  forget  the  struggles  which  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church 
had  made  in  Holland,  nor  those  of  the  Baptists  in  England,  the  Presby- 
terians in  Scotland,  and  even  the  Presbyterians  in  Ireland,  in  times  past. 
Perhaps  there  has  been  no  struggle  in  the  history  of  the  world  equal  to 
that  magnificent  struggle  which  the  brave  Hollandei-s  had,  not  even  the 
Scotch  struggle,  not  even  the  struggle  of  the  Covenanters.  Nor  do  we 
forget,  I  would  say  to  Dr.  Hall,  who  has  come  to  visit  us,  that  Presljyte- 
rianism  has  its  honorable  record.  We  do  not  forget  that  there  was  a  mo- 
ment in  the  histoiy  of  Presbyterianism  in  Ireland  when  it  had  to  bear  the 
brunt  of  the  tyranny  of  Rome  and  to  maintain  the  liberties  of  the  En- 
glish race. 

After  all,  we  are  nearer  to  you  in  doctrine,  perhaps,  than  some  of  you 
and  our  fathers  thought.  Our  Arminianism  has  always  been  evangelical. 
We  have  always  believed  in  the  eternal  Godhead  of  the  Son,  fliat  he  with 
the  Father  and  the  Spirit  is  One,  God  blessed  for  evermore ;  and  we  be- 
lieve, I  think,  as  fully  as  you  believe  it,  although  we  have  not  expressed 
it  in  precisely  the  same  language,  that  the  inception  as  well  as  the  cultiva- 
tion of  spiritual  life  in  man  is  always  the  work  of  the  blessed  Spirit  of 
God ;  so  that  there  is  no  doctrinal  barrier  in  the  way  of  the  happiest  fel- 
lowship between  our  Church  and  yours. 

Then,  too,  brothers,  we  are  glad  to  greet  you  for  the  sake  of  what  you 
are  not.  You  have  nothing  in  your  system  that  would  prevent  you  in 
meeting  Christian  brothers  in  any  other  spirit  than  that  of  Christian 
brothers.  Then  you  are  near  to  us  in  this,  that  you  have  no  belief  in 
"apostolical  succession,"  that  dogma  which  creates  so  vast  a  chasm  be- 
tween Christian  Churches — a  chasm  so  deep  that  no  theory  can  till  it  up,  and 
so  wide  that  no  Christian  charity  can  pass  over  it.  Surely  the  devil  never 
laughed  in  his  sleeve  so  heartily  as  when  he  saw  good  and  wise  men  com- 
mitting themselves  to  a  dogma  which  would  rend  the  Christian  Church 
and  keep  the  rent  open  so  long  as  that  dogma  should  stand. 

Presbyterians  and  Methodists  get  along  well  together  Recently  I  was 
going  down  to  Glasgow  to  preach  for  the  outcast  children  whom  God  has 
committed  to  our  care.  As  soon  as  the  minister  of  the  cathedral  church 
heard  of  my  coming  he  sent  an  invitation  for  me  to  preach  in  his  cathe- 
dral and  let  the  children  sing  in  it  at  night.  That  is  the  Established  Church 
of  Scotland.  I  do  not  touch  on  the  question  of  establishment  here;  but 
I  found  then  that  it  was  not  the  establishment  of  the  Church  that  was  the 
greatest  difficulty  in  the  way  of  Christian  union,  it  is  this  miserable  fig- 
mient  of  apostolic  succession. 

It  is  the  policy  of  Methodism  to  be  the  friends  of  all  and  enemies  of 
none.  Unfortunately,  there  are  some  who  will  not  permit  us  to  be  their 
friends,  yet  we  desire  to  act  as  their  friends  more  and  more.  And 
Avhile  we  breathe  no  harsh  words  respecting  their  opinions,  we  claim  the 
right  to  judge  of  their  position,  particularly  when  that  position  affects 
their  attitude  toward  ourselves.    Heuce,  I  pray,  in  the  providence  of  God, 


260         RECEPTION  OF  FRATERNAL  DELEGATES. 

that  they  may  be  led  to  see  a  better  way,  for  it  is  certain  we  cannot 
associate  with  them  except  upon  terms  of  perfect  Christian  equality. 
Meantime  we  bid  them  God-speed  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  But  there  is 
no  such  difficulty  between  us,  my  brothers.  There  is  a  possibility  and 
certainty  of  a  growing  friendliness  between  the  Presbyterians  and  Meth- 
odists. 

There  is  among  our  Churches  throughout  the  world  the  anticipation  of  a 
speedy  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  We  dare  not  prophesy,  but  we 
feel  our  hearts  yearning  for  it,  and  our  ministers  and  jjeople  all  over  the 
world  are  looking  for  it ;  and  while  we  believe  we  are  entering  upon  a 
period  of  rare  prosperity,  we  desire  nothing  for  ourselves  which  we  do 
not  desire  for  you.  We  pray  that  the  heavens  may  open,  and  that  the 
Spirit  of  God  may  be  poured  out  on  us  as  the  flood  upon  the  dry  ground. 
We  pray  that  the  floods  may  come  on  you  also.  We  jjray  that  all  the 
Churches  of  the  Lord  Jesus  holding  the  one  Head,  believing  in  the  one 
Redeemer,  Waiting  for  and  looking  for  the  one  Heaven,  may  be  baptized 
with  a  power  which  shall  qualify  them  to  do  more  speedily  and  triumphantly 
than  either  our  fathers  or  yours  thought  it  would  be  done  the  great  work 
committed  to  Christ's  people  on  earth. 

I  will  not  take  advantage  of  the  position  which  I  occupy  by  making 
further  remarks ;  I  will  do  what  will  be  much  more  welcome  to  the  meet- 
ing and  to  the  visitors  of  the  Conference — I  will  ask  my  venerable  friend, 
the  Rev.  William  Arthur,  to  address  you. 

The  Rev.  William  Arthur,  M.A.,  of  theWesleyan  Method- 
ist Church,  gave  tlie  following  response  to  the  addresses  of 
greeting : 

Mr.  President  and  Brethren :  I  have  been  accustomed  throughout  life,  so 
far  as  I  know  how,  to  do  what  I  am  bidden.  I  did  not  expect  to  be  bid- 
den to  speak.  I  came  here  to-night  in  the  hojoe  of  hearing  and  profiting, 
for  I  confess  to  be  a  great  lover  of  pleasure  when  the  pleasure  comes  down 
from  above.  I  have  been  disappointed  in  one  thing — I  am  compelled  to 
speak ;  I  have  not  been  disappointed  in  the  other — I  have  had  the  pleasure. 
I  hardly  know  where  to  begin.  We  have  had  congratulations  from 
Presbyterian  brothers  and  congratulations  from  Baptist  brothers.  I 
wonder  with  which  of  the  two  my  memory  had  first  to  do.  I  can  hardly  tell. 
I  cannot  tell  when  I  first  met  Presbyterians;  I  can  when  I  first  had  to  do 
with  Baptists.  I  remember  having  a  book  in  my  hand  and  fumbling  over 
it,  thinking  it  very  strange,  and  troubling  every  body  about  me  to  know 
in  what  part  of  the  country  the  little  gate  was.  And  I  cannot  remember 
that  any  body  gave  a  satisfactory  answer.  Somebody  said  that  I  was  old- 
fashioned  ;  but  my  puzzle  was,  Where  was  the  little  gate?  The  only  light 
I  got  was  from  Betty  Cunningham,  a  servant  maid,  who  said  that  was  "a 
book  written  to  show  how  hard  it  was  to  get  to  heaven."  That  was  my 
first  beginning  with  Baptists.  And  I  am  quite  sure  my  beloved  brother 
will  say  it  was  not  a  bad  beginning. 


ADDRESS  OF    REV.    WILLIAM    ARTHUR.  261 

Now,  as  to  Presbyterians.  Being  a  native  of  Antrim,  brought  up  in 
Connaught,  of  course  I  have  known  Irish  Presbyterians;  and  Dr.  Hall  has 
reminded  me  of  a  story  that  Sir  William  McArthur  used  to  tell.  He 
was  once  on  a  deputation  to  Lord  Palmerston,  and  there  was  a  gentleman 
of  the  deputation  who  had  a  great  idea  in  his  head,  and  he  wanted  to  get 
it  into  the  head  of  Lord  Palmerston.  And  seeing  that  it  did  not  seem  to 
enter  readily  the  gentleman  reined  himself  up,  and  said:  "  Perhaps  your 
lordship  does  not  know  that  I  was  once  a  native  of  Ireland  myself."  Now, 
I  believe  Dr.  Hall  and  myself  are  very  much  in  that  position.  His 
name  has  long  been  familiar  to  me,  and  I  have  never  heard  it  men- 
tioned by  any  body  but  with  honor.  How  thick  Irishmen  are  in  this 
Conference  I  do  not  know.  We  can  shake  hands  and  shake  hands  con- 
stantly with  an  Irishman.  A  number  of  your  Americans  are  Irishmen — 
one  comes  from  California,  another  comes  from  far  South,  and  another 
from  far  North,  another  here  and  another  there,  and  so  on.  Go  where  you 
may,  there  resides  the  Irish  Methodist.  Wiien  your  first  Ecumenical  Con- 
ference met,  who  preached  the  first  sermon  ?  The  son  of  an  Irish  Method- 
ist, the  deathless  Matthew  Simpson.  And  when  your  second  Conference 
meets  an  Irishman  preaches  your  first  sermon.  I  have  heard  people  say 
that  the  Irish  Protestants  are  no  better  than  other  people.  There  are 
counties  in  Ireland  that  are  largely  under  the  Presbyterian  Church.  I 
do  not  know  whether  I  am  a  Scotch-Irishman  or  not.  The  oldest  Ijlood  I 
can  trace  in  my  veins  is  Irish,  the  next  to  that  is  English,  and  a  good  deal 
of  it  Scotch — so  that  I  am  mixed. 

Dr.  Hall  claims  to  be  a  Methodist  under  what  I  should  think  some 
rather  informal  proceeding.  And  Dr.  Murkland  reminded  me  that  I 
have  another  claim  to  your  attention.  When  I  was  traveling  in  those 
countries  to  which  he  alluded  I  took  a  very  lengthy  route  to  Mount 
Sinai.  The  tribe  there  adopted  me  and  called  me  a  Towara.  All  the 
way  from  just  above  Mount  Sinai  to  Beersheba  I  was  so  called  as  a  gen- 
uine and  good  Bedouin. 

May  God  bless  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Ireland ;  God  bless  them  of 
England  and  Scotland ;  God  bless  those  Presbyterian  Churches  scattered 
all  over  the  southern  soil  of  Europe  who  are  bearing  faithful  witness  and 
spreading  the  Gospel  effectively  !     May  they  all  be  blessed  ! 

As  to  our  Baptist  brethren,  I  would  say  that  Dr.  Steane,  the  first  Secre- 
tary of  the  Evangelical  Alliance,  was  my  close  friend,  and  Charles  Burrill 
and  others;  and  I  have  only  to  name  the  name  of  Charles  H.  Spurgeon  to 
mention  one  who  has  been  to  me  a  great  strength  and  a  great  comfort 
and  a  great  stimulus.  Though  I  have  seen  very  little  of  him  personally, 
throughout  my  life  I  have  felt  that  that  man's  labors  and  successes  have 
been  a  direct  blessing  to  myself.  The  testimony  that  he  has  borne 
throughout  the  world  and  the  memory  that  he  will  leave  will  never  die. 
He  has  done  a  work  that  will  appear  more  and  more  wonderful  as  time 
grows  old.  God  bless  the  Baptist  Churches  here  and  every-where !  Your 
prosperity  will  be  our  strength,  and  our  prosperity  will  strengthen  you. 
We  are  not  isolated  from  one  another — we  are  branches  of  one  stem;  and 


262  KEOEPTION    OF    FKxVTEKNAL    DELEGATES. 

while  there  is  health  in  one  branch  it  will  convey  health  to  the  other,  and 
where  there  is  decay  in  one  branch  it  will  convey  decay  to  the  other. 
And  I  say  to  you,  beware  of  innovation  backward.  When  the  Jews 
l^e^an  to  innovate  they  went  back.  When  the  early  Christians  began  to 
innovate  it  was  toward  Paganism ;  the  whole  of  the  Ritualistic  movement 
in  England  has  been  innovation  backward ;  so  is  the  Broad  Church  move- 
ment both  in  England  and  Scotland.  I  would  say,  let  us  take  care  of 
innovation  backward. 

I  will  mention  what  flashes  upon  me  at  the  moment — one  of  those 
stories  of  the  very  dark  ages  in  which  the  poor  Italians  were  looking  back 
to  the  days  of  golden  Rome  as  the  age  of  beauty  and  glory.  It  is  found 
in  the  manuscripts  at  Salerno,  and  has  been  given  to  light  in  the  great 
work  of  Gregorovius,  lately  dead.  That  wonderful  work,  I  will  assume, 
to  the  dishonor  of  both  our  countries,  has  not  appeared  in  English.  In 
old  golden  Rome,  says  the  legend,  was  a  great  hall,  and  around  the  hall 
were  seventy  statues,  each  rejDresenting  a  province  of  the  empire,  and 
hung  round  each  statue  was  a  golden  bell,  and  the  priests  were  continu- 
ously waiting  keeping  the .  lamps  burning  before  the  statues,  and  when- 
ever a  disturbance  arose  in  any  of  the  provinces,  no  matter  how  far,  the 
bell  of  the  statue  representing  that  province  would  begin  to  tingle,  and 
the  priests  made  haste  to  tell  it  to  the  emperor.  Now,  you  are  all  priests 
here,  and  every  province  of  Christ's  kingdom  is  part  of  the  common- 
wealth ;  wherever  there  is  a  disturbance  or  decline  it  is  common  cause, 
aud  you  should  all  go  to  the  King  and  tell  him,  and  he  will  go  forth  to 
war.  When  he  goes  forth  to  war  he  himself  rides  vipon  a  white  horse, 
his  own  garment  dyed  in  blood ;  but  his  followers  are  clothed  in  pure 
white,  because  their  robes  have  been  made  white  in  the  stream  that  dyed 
his  robe  with  the  dye  of  death. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  A.  W.  Wilson,  D.D.,  LL.D..  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  South,  responded  as  follows  to  the 
addresses  of  greeting : 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Brethren :  With  your  permission  I  will  make  a  per- 
sonal reference  at  this  late  hour.  I  am  but  one  remove  from  a  pure  old 
Scotch-Irish  Presbyterian.  My  father  was  the  first  of  the  blood  to  try 
another  line  of  life.  Drawn  by  the  Methodist  itinerancy,  he  proclaimed 
the  truth  of  our  Gospel  with  all  the  vigor  of  his  blood  and  faith.  I  am 
his  lineal  descendant,  and  feel  very  much  as  though  there  were  the  stir- 
rings of  that  old  blood  in  me  yet. 

It  was  not  very  many  months  since  that  I  stood  with  our  honored  vis- 
itor. Dr.  Hall,  in  a  neighboring  city,  aud  with  us  was  a  very  distinguished 
member  of  his  denomination.  Dr.  Hoge,  of  Richmond,  and  I  have  no  dif- 
ficulty in  offering  him — Dr.  Hall — the  congratulations  of  the  hour.  I  con- 
gratulate him  upon  the  long  years  of  success  that  have  followed  his 
labors,  and  were  he  a  fifty-year-old  Methodist  preacher  I  could  not  do  it 
with  more  warmth.     I  felt  perfectly  at  home  with  him. 


ADDRESS    OF    KEY.    BISHOP    A.    V,\    WILSON.  263 

Now,  I  cannot  say,  and  would  not  undertake  to  analyze  for  the  pur- 
pose of  finding  out,  how  much  I  owe  to  that  old  Presbyterian  faith  in  my 
family.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  it  I  would  not  let  go.  I  am  very  fond 
of  predestination.  I  like  to  look  back  to  the  beginning  of  the  movement 
of  our  holy  Gos])el.  I  want  a  sure  and  solid  foundation,  and  I  think  the 
feeling  in  that  regard  has  come  down  to  me  from  the  past  generation, 
and  I  do  not  expect  to  let  it  go.  •  I  hold  fast  to  it,  and  with  a  great  deal 
of  comfort.  If  it  dated  back  so  far  it  will  date  back  further  still,  and 
nothing  here  will  change  it. 

I  have  no  great  delight  in  unity.  There  has  been  a  great  deal  written 
and  said  about  it,  I  know.  "We  have  books  about  unity  and  speeches 
about  unity  ;  but  I  cannot  forget  that  there  are  diversities.  If  there  be 
the  same  Spirit,  there  are  diversities  of  manifestations;  if  there  be  the 
same  Lord,  there  are  diversities  of  operation ;  if  there  be  the  same  God 
that  worketh  all  in  all,  there  are  diversities  of  methods  of  accomplishing 
that  work.  I  should  be  very  little  content  with  any  proposition  that 
would  seek  to  bind  any  manifestations  of  God-work  by  an  absolute  uni- 
formity. I  do  not  care  for  uniformity.  I  like  to  see  diversity  and  variety. 
It  amazes  me  to  find  in  how  many  ways  God  may  present  himself.  I 
like  to  see  the  luxuriant  wildness  and  entanglement  of  nature  in  all  its 
variety  of  form  and  color.  When  you  reduce  all  nature  to  one  form,  one 
contour,  and  bring  all  its  operations  to  one  shape,  I  say,  break  the  whole 
thing  to  jjieces  and  start  again. 

You  cannot  find  any  thing  in  absolute  uniformity  that  will  manifest 
God  to  the  world  any  more  quickly.  It  requires  a  multiplication  of 
forms  to  give  us  even  a  partial  knowledge  of  God,  and  I  expect  to  see  a 
more  wide  and  more  varied  display  of  God's  power  and  work  than  I  have 
yet  seen.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  there  are  not  many  ecclesiastical 
forms  that  we  could  dispense  with,  but  I  do  mean  to  say  that  God  alone 
has  brain  enough  and  force  enough  with  himself  for  absolute  unity,  and 
when  you  attempt  in  your  way  to  reduce  our  church  forms  to  a  unity 
you  do  away  with  a  thing  you  seek  to  gain. 

I  do  not  want  the  Presbyterian  Church  abolished,  nor  any  other  Church 
of  God ;  I  do  not  want  these  different  Methodist  Churches  to  give  up 
their  rights ;  I  want  to  see  on  how  many  lines  God  can  work  through 
Methodism.  We  have  Congregational  Methodists,  Episcopal  ]\Iethodists, 
and  every  thing  in  the  line  of  church  government  that  the  world  knows. 
It  is  all  within  the  range  of  ^Methodism.  The  tree  may  be  one,  but  the 
roots  and  branches  are  stretched  out  on  every  side,  and  they  are  nourished 
by  God's  earth  and  kissed  by  God's  breezes.  Then  let  the  roots  and 
branches  grow  wherever  God  shall  direct.  I  lay  no  blame  upon  any  body. 
Our  freedom  in  ecclesiastical  life,  in  all  denominations  rather,  indicates 
what  there  is  to  stir  the  divine  life  in  us.  We  ought  to  exhibit  our  indi- 
vidual qualities,  and  let  our  individual  thoughts  have  scope.  I  do,  and  do  not 
at  the  bidding  of  any  ecclesiasticism  give  up  my  right  of  action  on  any  essen- 
tial line  of  movement  with  regard  to  any  thing  that  will  help  God  in  the  world 
and  the  cause  of  humanity.     I  propose  to   maintain  my  independence, 


264  KECEPTION  OF  FRATERNAL  DELEGATES. 

and  I  want  every  body  else  to  do  the  same.  I  learned  that  lesson  from 
Presbyterianism.  It  comes  as  a  heritage  to  us.  The  eflfect  of  it  has  not 
srone  out  of  the  human  heart  and  conscience.  The  world  has  been  stirred 
by  it.  We  shall  hold  to  these  things  to  the  end.  While  I  accord  free- 
dom to  others  and  claim  it  for  myself,  I  thank  God  for  the  riches  of  his 
grace  overflowing  in  every  direction,  taking  different  forms,  and  showing 
the  varieties  in  which  he  can  work  to  reach  the  grand  unity  which  he 
contemplates  under  higher  conditions.  I  have  no  doubt  the  time  will  come 
when  our  condition  in  this  life  will  be  lost  sight  of;  but  we  cannot  trans- 
late the  conditions  of  a  sj)iritual  kingdom  down  to  this  life.  We  have 
environments;  we  have  all  these  circumstances  of  time  about  us;  we  have 
to  be  governed  more  or  less  by  them ;  and  if  we  do  not  adjust  ourselves 
to  them,  and  work  according  to  them,  we  are  not  under  God's  law,  but 
transgress  the  line  that  he  has  marked  for  us.  There  is  a  wonderful  prov- 
idence in  the  ordering  of  all  the  Churches,  and  I  think  the  man  who  looks 
through  the  history  of  the  Church,  its  ramitications,  will  see  that  on  every 
side,  in  every  form  of  Christian  life  that  is  based  on  the  one  foundation 
of  Christ  Jesus,  there  is  one  specific  purpose  of  God — a  manifestation  of 
God's  will  and  God's  movement — and  we  ought  to  rejoice. 

I  have  long  since  given  up  the  idea  that  my  Church  is  going  to  be  the 
better — is  going  to  make — by  what  it  gets  out  of  men.  It  is  not  that  sort 
of  work  that  is  going  to  help  the  world  or  help  Christ.  We  should  go 
down  into  the  mines  and  hunt  out  the  wealth  there.  If  we  cannot  find 
the  raw  material,  if  we  are  only  to  steal  the  manufactured  article,  then 
let  us  quit  work.  I  hold  to  that,  and  so  I  do  most  earnestly  and  honestly 
welcome  brothers  of  other  forms  of  ecclesiastical  life  into  our  midst.  We 
believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  we  believe  in  the  sufficiency  of  Christ 
for  salvation ;  we  believe  in  judgment  and  the  advocacy  of  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Mediator,  to  save  us  from  the  calamities  of  a  jvidgment  for  which  we 
would  be  unprepared  without  him ;  we  believe  in  eternal  life  and  eternal 
death,  and  with  that  platform  we  can  work  on  the  issues  through  time 
and  eternity.  When  we  come  to  see  God  with  unclouded  eyes  and  brains 
we  can  see  the  points  of  divergence.  Now,  being  many,  we  are  one  body 
in  Christ — every  one  members  of  one  another.  We  hail  you  as  brothers 
beloved,  we  greet  you  on  our  platform,  and  take  you  to  our  hearts 
and  to  our  home.  May  God's  abiding  blessing  be  with  you  and  your 
Churches! 

The  Honorable  Chief  Justice  S.  J.  "Way,  D.C.L.,  of  the  Bi- 
ble Christian  Cliurch,  gave  the  following  resj)onse  : 

Mr.  Chairman,  My  Dear  Friends :  I  confess  to  you  that  this  has  been  to 
me  a  very  high  day.  I  have  witnessed  many  very  grand  ceremonials,  but 
none  has  ever  impressed  me  so  much  as  the  simple  reception  at  the  Ex- 
ecvitive  Mansion  to-day.  'When  the  hand  of  the  president  of  this  great 
republic  pressed  the  hand  of  an  obscure  provincial  from  a  remote  part  of 
her  majesty's  dominion  I  felt  that  this  was  a  declaration  more  audible 


ADDKESS    OF    EEV.    A.    CARMAN.  265 

than  speech  that  the  Eastern  and  Western  sections  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race  are  one.  And  so  it  is  on  this  occasion  when  distinguished  represent- 
atives of  other  Churches  and  the  representatives  of  the  Methodist  Church 
throughout  the  world  are  declaring  with  hearts  and  with  souls  that  they 
are  also  one.  I  am  honored  with  an  invitation  to  speak  on  this  occasion 
as  the  representative  of  the  Australasian  section  of  the  Methodist  Church ; 
but  I  feel  that  I  represent  a  large  constituency  on  this  occasion.  You,  Mr. 
President,  as  the  most  representative  Englishman  in  this  assembly,  distin- 
guished for  your  versatility,  and  our  Father  Arthur,  who  has  learned  from 
his  Master  among  other  lessons  how  to  teach  by  parable  and  story,  and  the 
•other  distinguished  gentlemen  who  have  addressed  us  on  this  occasion 
represent  the  pulpit.  I  stand  here  the  representative  of  the  pew.  In  the 
name  of  twenty-si.x  millions  of  the  Methodists  and  laity  I  bid  the  represent- 
atives of  the  other  Churches  to  this  Conference,  and  ask  them,  to  come 
back  to  the  Churches  of  the  Evangelical  Conference,  the  great  body  of 
the  Methodist  people. 

I  said  I  had  a  more  limited  commission  than  the  large  one  which  I 
arrogated  to  myself.  I  stand  here  the  representative  of  five  hundred  thou- 
sand Methodist  adherents  and  thirty  thousand  adherents  of  the  Australa- 
sian Wesleyan  Methodist  Church;  and  I  am  sure  they  all  unite  with  me 
in  the  expression  that  I  have  ventured  to  give.  Only  a  few  days  ago  your 
papers  in  this  city  announced  the  death  of  Dr.  Jowett,  of  Baliol  College. 
That  distinguished  man  has  been  gathered  to  his  fathers.  Only  a  few 
wrecks  ago  I  had  the  pleasure  of  listening  to  him  in  the  halls  of 
Westminster  Abbey.  As  he  looked  around  those  halls  he  said:  "  This  is 
the  first  time  that  the  memory  of  William  Baxter  has  been  commemorated 
in  these  halls, "  and  then,  referring  to  a  period  three  hundred  years  ago, 
to  the  birth  of  Baxter,  he  said  the  difference  of  opinion  in  the  centuries 
that  had  followed  seemed  to  have  disappeared,  and  "we  now  see  only 
good  men  on  each  side  of  these  boundaries."  Then  reviewing  his  own 
career,  he  said :  ' '  Methinks  if  I  had  my  time  to  go  over  again  I  would 
not  be  of  a  party;  I  would  be  of  the  Church." 

I  think  that  is  the  feeling  of  many  who  are  present  on  this  occasion. 
At  the  distance  of  half  the  world  we  feel  that  the  difl'erences  which 
divide  us  are  too  small,  and  our  feeling  is  that  we  will  forget  those  dif- 
ferences, that  we  will  not  be  of  Paul  or  of  Apollos,  of  the  Methodist 
Church  or  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  but  in  a  greater  and  larger  sense 
representatives  of  Christ. 

The  Rev.  A.  Carman,  D.D.,  General  Superintendent  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  Canada,  gave  the  final  address  of  welcome, 
as  follows : 

Mr.  Chairman,  Beloved  Brothers :  I  may  not  claim  to  be  an  Irishman, 
which  seems  to  be  the  recommendation  in  this  company,  for  likely  there  is 
a  sense  in  which  I  am  the  flattest  kind  of  a  Dutchman.     I  am  a  descend- 
ant of  one  of  the  chivalrous  Germans  who  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution- 
20 


266  RECEPTION    OF    FRATERxXAL    DELEGATES. 

ary  War  followed  the  "Union  Jack"  to  the  north — those  chivalrous 
men  who  have  held  up  the  British  flag  and  kept  the  North  Star  in  its 
place  ever  since  that  day.  It  is  too  late  to  tell  you  much  about  them; 
but  their  hearts  were  large,  their  souls  were  earnest.  They  went  to  that 
northern  land  many  of  them  Lutherans,  and  they  became  Methodists. 
And  very  likely  that  was  largely  so  because  the  Methodists  were  the  men 
who  followed  the  settlers. 

Think  of  the  spirit  of  those  men !  When  it  was  the  custom  of  the  day 
to  read  the  royal  proclamation  from  the  Church,  and  the  clerk  read  "by 
the  grace  of  God  and  King  George,"  the  preacher  would  say,  "  That  will 
do,  brother;  any  thing  by  the  grace  of  God  and  King  George  is  all  right; 
that  is  enough,  we  will  follow  that."  Now  our  good  brothers  are  coming 
to  Toronto,  and  I  am  sure  they  will  be  welcome.  That  is  a  noble  city, 
and  had  not  Washington  waked  up  so  soon  we  should  have  had  this  Con- 
ference there.  When  these  brothers  come  to  us  they  will  find  true  men 
of  God  and  true  subjects  of  the  queen. 

We  have  dwelt  a  little  on  the  subject  of  the  descent  and  lineage  of  the 
Church  to  which  we  belong.  Some  go  back  to  Luther  and  Wesley ;  some 
go  back  to  the  blessed  Christ ;  and  some  go  back  to  Abraham  and  the 
covenant.  Why  stand  there?  I  feel  like  saying  every  time,  you  are  not  like 
us,  "we  trace  our  lineage  to  Adam."  For  I  declare  to  you  that  of  all 
the  men  on  the  face  of  the  earth  we  are  emphatically  the  men  who  have 
preached  backsliding.  It  is  one  of  the  fundamental  articles  of  our  creed 
that  men  backslide,  and  Adam  is  a  fair  example;  and  it  would  not 
trouble  us  half  so  much  in  the  creed  and  in  our  preaching  if  we  did  not 
practice  it.  But  if  the  Church  is  to  be  disturbed  with  this  question  of 
lineage,  where  shall  we  stop,  where  shall  we  begin?  I  like  to  begin  at 
the  beginning;  and  in  the  beginning  was  the  Word.  I  think  a  good  deal 
of  my  brother  who  goes  back  of  Christ  for  the  foundation  of  the  gospel 
scheme  to  the  foundation  of  the  world ;  and  I  love  to  think  of  the  sov- 
ereignty of  God.  I  sometimes  tell  my  dear  brothers  that  if  they  have  a 
stouter  Calvinist  on  that  question  than  myself  I  would  like  to  see  him.  I 
like  to  think  of  the  sovereignty  of  God;  and  every  thing  to  me  is  divine 
sovereignty  that  does  not  interfere  with  human  responsibility.  Give  us 
a  fair  chance  for  the  accountability  of  man,  and  the  rest  belongeth  to  the 
divine  sovereignty ;  but  the  operations  of  that  accountability  are  under 
the  administrations  of  divine  grace. 

Our  divisions  have  perplexed  the  Church ;  we  are  looking  to  the  cloven 
tongue  for  unity.  I  would  not  like  to  take  the  breadth  of  ground  of  the 
beloved  bishop  who  preceded  me  and  who  spoke  as  though  all  were  the 
work  of  God — all  diversity.  Certainly  not  all  the  diversity  is  of  God, 
not  the  variety  of  a  distracted  humanity.  I  would  not  like  to  put  it  that 
way,  but  this :  It  is  a  fight  of  the  cloven  tongue  with  the  cloven  hoof. 
The  hope  of  unity  is  the  tongue  of  fire ;  the  hope  of  unity  is  the  baptism 
of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  incompatibilities  and  incongruities  have,  for  the 
most  part,  grown  out  of  the  track  of  the  cloven  hoof. 

Now,  we  are  here  in  the  joys  of  a  brotherhood — a  pure,  holy  brother- 


ADDRESS   OF    EEV.    A.    CAEMAN.  267 

hood — and  we  are  praying  for  the  grace  of  the  living  God  to  baptize  the 
Churches  and  bring  them  together.  And  I  will  tell  you  how  we  look  at 
it  in  Canada.  "We  are  face  to  face  with  Jericho ;  but  we  will  have  to  go 
more  than  seven  times  around  unless  we  do  it  in  God's  way.  We  are  face 
to  face  with  the  Romanism  of  the  olden  time ;  and  I  state  to  you  in  this 
assembly  I  have  a  deep  conviction  in  my  soul  that  the  day  of  the  over- 
throw of  the  man  of  sin  will  be  the  day  of  the  unity  of  the  Church  of 
Christ.  When  in  unity  of  spirit  we  shall  have  wheeled  into  line  with  the 
blessing  of  consecration  and  divine  leadership,  when  we  shall  have  been 
united,  then  will  come  power,  and  the  power  that  united  us  will  enable 
us  to  overcome  the  great  foe.  Brothers  drawn  together  by  the  love  of 
Christ,  and  bound  together  by  the  love  of  Christ,  brothers  driven  together 
by  the  armies  of  the  aliens,  let  us  rally  around  the  cross ! 

Let  me  tell  my  good  brother  how  we  shall  get  unity.  We  must  preach 
Christ.  Not  our  peculiar  doctrines  and  differences,  but  Christ.  We 
must  stand  at  the  center  and  preach  Christ.  But  if  my  brother  preaches 
the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Church  to  which  he  belongs,  and  says  that 
he  will  take  away' my  people,  then  by  the  grace  of  God  I  am  going  to 
pitch  into  him ;  and  if  our  dear  brothers  are  going  to  preach  old-time  de- 
crees that  interfere  with  human  liberty,  then  I  am  going  to  resist  it.  If 
they  preach  asceticism,  Socinianism,  or  derelict  Arminianism,  they  teach 
error,  and  we  must  correct  it.  Let  us  preach  the  law,  the  law  of  Sinai. 
Let  us  preach  the  truth,  the  justice,  the  righteousness  of  Christ.  Let  us 
get  near  the  cross — the  cross  of  Calvary.  Let  us  preach  Christ,  the  living 
Christ,  and  the  law  that  thundered  from  Sinai.  And  there  is  just  as 
much  love  in  Sinai  as  there  is  in  grace  from  Calvary.  Preach  the  law  and 
preach  redemption  from  the  curse  of  the  law.  Get  near  to  Jesus  and  live 
there,  and  then  we  will  not  be  praying  for  funerals  and  cremations  to 
bring  about  union.  That  is  the  way  they  talk  about  union — trusting 
to  iirst-class  cremations.  It  is  not  cremation  that  we  want — some  of  it 
might  help — it  is  consecration.  It  is  not  funerals  that  we  need,  but 
spiritual  crucifixions;  so  that  men  will  stand  where  Paul  stood  when 
he  said:  "I  am  crucified  with  Christ:  nevertheless  I  live,  yet  not  I, 
but  Christ  liveth  in  me :  and  the  life  which  I  now  live  in  the  flesh  I  live 
by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me,  and  gave  himself  forme." 

The  doxology  was  snng,  and  the  Conference  adjourned  witli 
the  benediction  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stephenson. 


268  THE   CHURCH    AND    HER    AGENCIES. 


SIXTH  DAY,   Tuesday,  October  13,  1891. 


TOPIC : 
THE  CHURCH  AND  HER  AGENCIES  (continued). 


FIRST  SESSION. 


THE  Conference  opened  at  10  A.  M.,  the  Rev.  Bishop  R. 
K.  Hargrove,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  presiding.  The  Rev.  P.  A.  Peterson,  D.D.,  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  offered  prayer,  and  the  Rev. 
David  Morton,  D.D.,  of  the  same  Church,  read  the  Scriptures. 
Tlie  Journal  of  the  sessions  of  the  preceding  day  was  read 
and  approved.  The  Secretary  read  the  titles  of  the  following 
communications,  which  were  referred  to  the  Business  Committee. 

1.  A  motion  to  send  a  deputation  to  the  Pan-Presbyterian  Council,  to 
assemble  at  Toronto. 

2.  A  letter  from  Bishop  J.  P.  Thompson,  of  the  African  Methodist 
Episcopal  Zion  Church. 

3.  A  resolution  on  the  Sunday  closing  of  public  houses,  signed  by  T. 
H.  Hunt  and  John  Slater. 

4.  A  communication  from  the  Congregational  Methodist  Church.. 

5.  A  communication  from  the  Methodist  Ejiiscoi^al  Church,  West. 

J.  M.  King,  D.D.,  presented  the  following  report  from  the 
Business  Committee,  which  was  adopted : 

1.  Rev.  Dr.  J.  T.  Murray,  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  is  ap- 
pointed to  preside  at  the  first  session  of  the  seventh  day;  Rev.  Joseph 
Ferguson,  D.D.,  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church,  is  appointed  to  preside 
at  the  second  session  of  the  seventh  day ;  Bishop  E.  G.  Andrews,  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  is  appointed  to  preside  at  the  third  ses- 
sion of  the  seventh  day  ;  Rev.  James  Donnelly,  of  the  Irish  Methodist 
Church,  is  appointed  to  preside  at  the  first  session  of  the  eighth  day  ; 
Bishop  A.  "W.  Wayman,  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  is 
appointed  to  preside  at  the  second  session  of  the  eighth  day. 


ESSAY    OF    KEY.    JAMES    TRAVIS.  269 

2.  Resolutions  for  the  joint  action  of  Methodist  missionary  societies 
working  in  the  same  fields  having  been  received,  the  Business  Committee 
recommend  that  the  Conference  refer  them  to  a  committee  consisting  of 
the  following  named  brethren :  Rev.  David  Hill  and  Mr.  T.  M.  Harvey, 
of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church;  Rev.  W.  S.  Grifiiu,  D.D.,  and  Mr. 
W.  H.  Lambly,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  Canada;  Rev.  J.  Smith  and  Mr. 
William  McNeil,  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church;  Bishop  J.  N.  Fitz- 
Gerald  and  Rev.  A.  B.  Leonard,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church; 
Rev.  T.  J.  Ogburn  and  Mr.  W.  R.  Peters,  of  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church;  Bishop  A.  W.  Wilson  and  Rev.  W.  R.  Lambuth,  of  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church,  South ;  Rev.  W.  J.  Townsend  and  Mr.  J.  W.  Hep- 
worth,  of  the  Methodist  New  Connexion. 

The  order  of  the  day,  "  The  Church  and  Her  Agencies,"  was 
taken  up,  and  the  Rev.  James  Travis,  of  the  Primitive  Meth- 
odist Church,  read  the  following  essay  on  "  The  Place  and 
Power  of  Lay  Agency  in  the  Church  :  " 

The  Church  as  founded  by  our  Lord  and  built  up  by  his  inspired  apos- 
tles was  a  community  of  brethren.  She  knew  no  such  distinctions  as 
priests  and  peoi^le,  or  clergy  and  laity.  All  the  members  stood  in  the 
same  relation  to  Christ  the  one  Head,  were  sanctified  by  the  same  Spirit, 
and  had  an  equal  share  in  all  the  blessings  of  salvation  and  in  all  the 
privileges  of  the  Church.  They  were  all  "brethren"  and  "saints."  They 
all  belonged  to  the  ' '  holy  priesthood  to  offer  up  spiritual  sacrifices  accept- 
able to  God  by  Jesus  Christ."  And  so  long  as  the  Church  was  viewed 
in  her  purely  spiritual  aspect  the  division  of  her  members  into  clergy  and 
laity  was  unknown.  This  division,  according  to  Rheinwald  and  Giesler, 
dates  from  the  second  century,  when  the  Church  began  to  be  viewed 
chiefiy  in  her  outward  aspect  as  an  ecclesiastical  organization ;  so  that  if 
it  cannot  claim  apostolic  parentage,  it  can  boast  of  a  high  antiquity. 
Whether  it  be  right  or  wrong,  wise  or  foolish,  it  is  now  all  but  univer- 
sally recognized. 

The  question  is.  What  does  it  mean?  What  constitutes  the  difference 
between  the  clergy  and  the  laity?  Is  the  difference  organic  or  only  func- 
tional? Is  it  one  of  order,  or  simply  one  of  oflBce?  These  questions  must 
be  answered,  and  the  laity  must  be  discriminated  before  we  can  define  the 
place  and  power  of  lay  agency  in  the  Church.  Here  comes  the  diffi- 
culty. If  this  Conference  represented  all  sections  of  the  ecclesiastical 
world,  and  had  assembled  to  find  the  real  differentia  between  the  "  clergy  " 
and  the  "  laity,"  it  would  furnish  an  example  of  "  confusion  worse  con- 
founded "  that  would  rival  Babel. 

The  Roman  Catholic  doctrine  is  that  ministers  are  the  ordained  succes- 
sors and  representatives  of  the  apostles ;  that  they  are  a  special  priesthood 
to  stand  between  the  people  and  God ;  that  without  them  there  can  be 
neither  sacrament,  Church,  nor  salvation ;  and  that  all  who  have  not  been 


270  THE  CHURCH  AND  HER  AGENCIES. 

admitted  to  this  sacred  caste  by  prelates  who  have  descended  in  an 
unbroken  line  from  the  apostles  are  laity. 

The  High  Church  party  in  the  Anglican  communion  entertain  substan- 
tially the  same  views,  and  claim  that  the  orders  of  their  clergy  are  as 
valid  as  those  of  the  priests  of  Rome.  But  Romanists  declare  that  there 
are  missing  links  in  the  genealogy  of  the  Anglican  clergy ;  that  the  An- 
glican Church  is  not  a  true  Church,  but  a  schism,  and  that  therefore  her 
clergy,  as  well  as  her  communicants,  are  not  only  laity,  but  separatists  and 
sectaries. 

This  high  doctrine  has  but  a  flimsy  basis.  "  There  is  not  a  minister  in 
all  Christendom  who  is  able  to  trace  up  with  any  approach  to  certainty 
his  own  spiritual  pedigree."  So  wrote  Archbishop  Whatley ;  and  so  have 
written  many  of  the  great  authorities  of  the  Anglican  and  other  Churches. 
And  this  witness  is  true.  Therefore,  the  place  for  the  sacerdotal  clergy, 
according  to  their  own  theory,  is  by  the  side  of  our  ministers  and  mem- 
bers, all  of  whom  they  regard  as  laity,  and  heretics  to  boot.  The  sacer- 
dotal doctrine  of  clergy  and  laity  strikes  at  the  root  of  religious  freedom, 
brands  some  of  the  most  gifted,  saintly,  and  divinely  honored  ministers 
the  world  has  ever  known  as  usurpers,  and  imperils  the  salvation  of  souls. 
And  yet  it  is  proclaimed,  not  only  from  the  altars  of  Rome,  but  from  most 
of  the  pulpits  of  the  Anglican  Church ;  is  propagated  by  numerous  emis- 
saries who  "  creep  into  houses  and  take  captive  silly  women"  and  no  less 
silly  men ;  and  is  taught  in  many  a  school  at  the  cost  of  the  British  tax- 
payer. No  wonder  that  the  cry  of  Disestablishment  and  Disendowmeut 
has  reached  the  mother  of  Methodist  Conferences.  The  fact  is,  the  New 
Testament  knows  no  clerical  priesthood,  either  in  name  or  office  or  qual- 
ification. 

Evangelical  Protestants  are  agreed  in  repudiating  apostolic  succession 
and  a  clerical  priesthood  as  unchristian  and  dangerous,  but  they  are  far 
from  being  at  one  in  regard  to  the  proper  distinction  between  clergy  and 
laity.  Some  look  upon  a  separated  ministry  as  unnecessary,  if  not  un- 
scriptural,  and  therefore  object  to  any  distinction.  But  most  of  them 
point  to  the  fact  that  the  apostles  ordained  elders  in  all  Churches,  when 
that  was  possible,  and  that  those  elders,  as  a  rule,  gave  the  whole  of 
their  time  and  energy  to  the  work  of  the  Church;  and  therefore  they 
hold  that  a  separated  ministry  is  essential  to  the  highest  welfare  of  the 
Church.  Some  of  the  latter  come  very  near  to  the  view  that  ministers  are 
an  order  distinct  from  the  laity,  but  most  of  them  admit  of  no  distinction 
except  one  of  office. 

I  am  loathe  to  believe  that  Methodists  are  so  vndely  divided  on  this 
question  as  some  imagine.  It  is  true  that  l^efore  John  Wesley  had  been 
purged  from  High  Churchism  he  seems  to  have  held  that  there  was  a 
radical  difference  between  clergymen  who  had  received  prelatic  ordination 
and  preachers  who  ministered  only  by  his  authority.  He  did  not,  as  Dr. 
Gregory  has  said,  consider  his  own  preachers,  with  few  exceptions,  as 
' '  ministers  "  in  the  full  sense  of  that  word.  That  is  to  say,  in  his  view 
preachers  who  had  not  received  episcopal  ordination  were  laymen.     He 


ESSAY    OF    KEV.    JAMES   TKAVIS.  ^<x 

would  have  silenced  Thomas  Maxfield  as  an  intruder  had  not  his  mother 
said,  "  Take  care  what  you  do  with  respect  to  that  young  man,  for  he  is 
as  surely  called  of  God  to  preach  as  you  are.  Examine  what  have  been 
the  fruits  of  his  preaching,  and  hear  him  also  yourself."  His  views,  how- 
•ever,  were  afterward  modified  by  events  in  which  he  saw  the  finger  of 
God,  and  he  created  a  Methodist  episcopacy  and  instituted  an  order  of  lay 
preachers.  I  am  not  aware  that  when  he  was  in  the  zenith  of  his  power 
he  insisted  on  any  radical  difference  between  his  preachers  who  had  been 
wholly  set  apart  for  the  ministry  and  those  who  followed  some  secular 
calling  and  preached  as  time  and  opportunity  allowed.  At  least  in  early 
Methodism  the  distinction  was  not  "ministers"  and  "lay  preachers," 
but  "  itinerant"  and  "local  preachers."  It  was  a  residential  rather  than 
a  fundamental  distinction.  Therefore,  it  appears  to  me  that  the  true  Meth- 
odist doctrine  of  the  ministry  and  laity  is  that  the  term  ministers  represents 
those  who  have  been  called  of  God  and  the  Church  to  give  themselves 
wholly  to  the  preaching  of  the  word  and  the  care  of  the  churches,  and 
that  all  others  are  laity.  Methodist  ministers  are  not  a  sacred  caste,  cur- 
tained oflE  from  the  laity  by  mystic  powers  conveyed  in  ordination,  but 
brethren  and  fellow-laborers  with  the  laity.  They  are  pastors,  elders,  or 
bishops,  invested  by  the  Church  with  certain  authority  which  they  are  to 
exercise  for  the  good  of  the  Church ;  but  they  belong  to  the  common 
brotherhood  of  the  saints,  and  in  spiritual  privileges  stand  exactly  equal 
with  all  the  children  of  God.  This  is  in  harmony  with  that  primitive 
conception  of  the  Church  to  which  we  have  referred  already. 

The  laity  have  a  i)lace  in  the  Church.  The  Church,  as  such,  allows  of 
no  distinction  of  order  or  sex.  Ministers  are  in  the  Church  not  because 
they  are  ministers,  but  because  they  are  Christians.  In  all  that  is  essential 
and  vital  to  salvation  and  membership  in  the  body  of  Christ  ministers  and 
laity  are  one.  The  humblest  saint  and  the  greatest  apostle,  Mary  and  Peter, 
Paul  and  the  jailer,  the  twelve  and  the  one  hundred  and  twenty,  stand  on 
the  same  level  as  children  of  the  household  of  faith  and  as  fellow-heirs  of 
the  same  promises. 

There  is  a  ^jZace  for  lay  agency  in  the  government  of  the  Church. 
Even  the  apostles,  who  held  their  commission  directly  from  our  Lord,  and 
who  were  supernaturally  endowed  for  the  special  work  of  founding  the 
Church,  seldom  acted  but  in  unison  with  the  laity.  Ministers  and  laity 
were  united  in  the  selection  of  a  successor  to  Judas  (Acts  v,  15-26) ;  in 
the  choice  of  the  first  deacons  (Acts  vi,  1-6) ;  in  the  appointment  of  help- 
ers of  the  apostles  (2  Cor.  vii,  19);  and  in  the  general  discipline  of  the 
Church  (Matt,  xviii,  15,  17;  1  Cor.  v).  It  does  not  appear  that  anything 
of  importance  was  done  without  the  exjiressed  or  implied  consent  of  the 
Church.  The  office-bearers  existed  for  the  Church;  and  all,  except  those 
who  derived  their  powers  direct  from  our  Lord,  held  their  posts  by  the 
approval  of  the  Church.  And  that  is  both  expedient  and  right,  be  the 
method  of  ascertaining  the  will  of  the  Church  what  it  may.  For  unless 
officers  have  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  Church  the  sooner  they  are 
superseded  the  better.     On  the  other  hand,  so  long  as  they  discharge  the 


272  THE  CHUECH  AND  HER  AGENCIES. 

functions  of  their  office  in  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ  and  according  to  the 
teaching  of  the  Gospel  they  are  justly  entitled  to  the  love  and  deference  of 
the  people.  In  primitive  times  the  laity  had  great  influence  in  the  Church ; 
but  after  the  marriage  of  the  Church  with  the  State  the  patriarchs  gradu- 
ally intrenched  on  the  rights  of  the  bishops,  the  bishops  on  those  of  the 
clergy,  and  the  clergy  on  those  of  the  people,  until  the  laity  were  denied 
any  part  in  the  management  of  the  Church.  The  result  was  formality, 
heresy,  and  corruption,  which  enslaved  and  cursed  Christendom  for  ages. 
A  Church  governed  exclusively  by  the  clergy  is  not  a  Church  in  the  New 
Testament  sense.  We  have  no  evidence  that  such  a  Church  ever  preserved 
purity  of  doctrine,  discipline,  and  life.  If  the  laity  had  been  allowed  a 
voice  in  the  affairs  of  the  Anglican  Church  "she  would  never  have  been 
allowed  to  become  the  slave  of  sacerdotal  pride  and  the  drudge  of  eccle- 
siastical reaction."  * 

Canon  Farrar,  in  a  sermon  preached  in  March,  1886,  said:  "  The  clergy 
are  not  the  Church.  With  deepest  solemnity  would  I  regret  the  perilous 
tendency  to  claim  for  their  judgment,  apart  from  that  of  the  laity,  any 
final  authority.  Even  in  the  first  council — the  Council  of  Jerusalem — the 
laity  of  the  whole  Church  had  their  voice  in  the  decision  of  important 
doctrines,  even  with  a  Paul  and  a  Peter  and  a  James  and  a  John." 

Methodism  in  all  her  branches — in  her  leaders'  meetings,  in  her  quar- 
terly meetings,  in  her  district  meetings,  and  now  in  all  her  Conferences — 
recognizes  that  the  laity  have  a  place  and  a  power  in  the  selection  of  min- 
isters and  other  office-bearers,  and  in  the  general  management  of  the 
Church.  We  are,  however,  far  from  being  agreed  as  to  the  extent  to 
which  this  ought  to  be  done.  It  is  said  that  some  sections  of  the  great 
Methodist  Church  are  too  conservative  in  relation  to  the  powers  of  the 
laity,  and  that  others  are  too  democratic.  That  branch  to  which  the 
reader  belongs  is  supposed  to  be  the  greatest  offender  in  the  latter  respect. 
One  of  the  ablest  men  in  Methodism  was  badly  informed  when  he  wrote 
of  us:  "In  this  earnest  and  hard-working  denomination  the  ministers, 
of  whom  some  are  women,  are  very  literally  the  servants  of  all."  This 
yoke  of  lay  preponderance  has  been  borne  by  the  reader  for  more  than 
thirty  years,  and  he  has  found  that  the  ' '  yoke  is  easy  and  the  burden 
light,"  and  he  has  no  desire  to  exchange  it  for  clerical  preponderance. 
I  have  dwelt  on  this  point  because  the  supreme  obstacle  to  Methodist 
union  is  in  our  divergence  of  view  respecting  the  proper  balance  of  ^lower 
and  authority  between  the  ministry  and  the  laity.  And  until  we  can  find 
some  common  ground  on  this  question  we  shall  yearn  in  vain  for  the  or- 
ganic union  of  Methodist  Churches. 

I  have  been  much  impressed  by  a  paragraph  in  the  Methodist  Times  in 
June  last,  Avhich  reads:  "What  has  taken  place  clearly  proves  what  we 
have  always  maintained.  First  of  all,  that  the  more  conservative  branches 
of  Methodism  must  abandon  ministerial  supremacy,  for  which  there  is  no 
authority  in  Scripture;  and,  secondly,  that  the  more  liberal  branches  of 
Methodism  must  accept  ministerial  authority,  for  which  there  is  ample 

*  Methodist  Times. 


ESSA.Y    OF  KEV.    JAMES    TKAYIS. 


273 


justification  both  in  Scripture  and  in  the  fact  that  the  effective  ecclesias- 
tical organizations  are  those  which  do  not  hamper  responsible  persons 
with  morbid  suspicion.  Clericalism  and  anti-clericalism  are  equally  fatal 
to  success.  A  wise  ecclesiastical  statesman  neither  cheats  the  laity  nor 
cheats  the  clergy,  but  finds  in  the  union  of  both  the  best  guarantee  for 
legislation  and  for  administration."  If  that  be  so,  surely  this  Conference 
will  secure  as  much  union  as  will  not  only  arrest  the  extension,  but  pre- 
vent the  continuance  of  that  division  of  forces  and  that  waste  of  energy 
and  money  which  are  the  scandal  and  the  weakness  of  Methodism  in 
many  of  the  villages  and  smaller  towns  of  England. 

Lay  agency  has  a  2^lace  and  is  a  great  potcei-  in  the  ministries  of  the 
Church.  I  find  no  warrant  in  the  New  Testament  for  excluding  the  laity 
from  administering  the  sacraments,  or  from  any  other  ministry  of  the 
Church.  "  At  first  all  who  were  engaged  in  propagating  Christianity  ad- 
ministered the  right  of  baptism ;  nor  can  it  be  called  in  question  that  who- 
ever persuaded  any  person  to  embrace  Christianity  could  baptize  his  own 
disciple. "  *  There  is  no  scriptural  evidence  that  even  the  sacred  ordinance 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  would  be  desecrated  or  rendered  void  if  observed  in 
the  absence  of  an  ordained  minister.  At  the  same  time,  the  Church  is 
bound  to  see  that  these  rites  are  administered  with  becoming  order  and 
solemnity.  The  proper  attitude  toward  these  ordinances  was  stated  by 
Tertullian,  seventeen  hundred  years  ago,  when  he  wrote:  "  As  far  as  the 
thino-  itself  is  concerned,  the  laity  have  the  right  to  administer  the  sacra- 
ments and  to  teach  in  the  churches.  The  word  of  God  and  the  sacra- 
ments were  communicated  by  God's  grace  to  all  Christians,  and  may 
therefore  be  communicated  by  all  Christians  as  instruments  of  God's  grace. 
But  the  inquiry  is  here  not  what  is  lawful  in  general,  but  also  what  is 
convenient  under  existing  circumstances.  We  must  here  apply  the  decla- 
ration of  St.  Paul:  'All  things  which  are  lawful  are  not  convenient.' 
With  a  view,  therefore,  to  the  maintenance  of  that  order  which  is  neces- 
sary in  the  Church,  the  laity  should  make  use  of  their  priestly  rights  as 
to  the  administration  of  the  sacraments  only  where  time  and  circum- 
stances require  it." 

With  reference  to  the  greatest  of  all  ministries,  the  ministry  of  the 
word,  Dr.  Arthur,  in  his  admirable  Conference  sermon,  stated  the  New 
Testament  as  well  as  the  Methodist  doctrine  in  these  w^ords :  "Methodism 
does  not  undervalue  learning  and  culture  and  art.  .  .  .  But  none  of  these, 
we  hold,  are  necessary  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  All  that  is  essen- 
tial to  that  is  that  a  man  should  know  its  power  and  proclaim  that  power 
to  others.  Hence,  in  Methodism  there  has  been  from  its  earliest  history 
the  systematic  employment  of  lay  preachers  and  of  all  classes  of  voluntary 
helpers.  And  these  have  been  engaged  not  merely  to  fetch  and  carry 
water  for  the  clergy,  not  as  the  mere  Levites  of  the  temple  hierarchy,  but 
as  being  each  one  of  them  empowered  to  declare  the  Gospel  then  and 
there  to\ny  sinner  willing  to  receive  it.  And  this  has  been  done  in  the 
full  conviction  that  the  Gospel  thus  declared  may  be  as  immediately  and 


*  Mosheim. 


274:  THE  CHURCH  AND  HEK  AGENCIES. 

completely  effective  as  though  the  highest  clerical  dignitary  had  an- 
nounced it.  And  believe  me,  brethren,  we  shall  never  compass  the  suc- 
cess that  is  possible  to  us  until  every  Methodist  believes  and  practices  this 
doctrine." 

Laymen  have  been  a  power  in  the  ministry  of  the  word  from  the  begin- 
ning. When  the  members  of  the  Church  at  Jerusalem  "were  all  scattered 
abroad  throughout  the  regions  of  Judeaand  Samaria,  except  the  apostles," 
they  went  "  every-where,  preaching  the  word,"  and  "the  hand  of  the  Lord 
was  with  them,  and  a  great  number  that  believed  turned  unto  the  Lord." 
It  was  not  uncommon  for  competent  laymen  to  preach  in  the  churches 
in  the  ages  which  followed.  There  were  laymen  who  held  up  the  torch 
of  God's  truth  amid  the  dense  gloom  of  the  Dark  Ages.  The  laity  have 
often  been  the  pioneers  of  Methodism.  They  have  been  the  first  to  unfurl 
the  Methodist  flag  in  hundreds  of  places  in  Britain.  A  layman  preached 
the  first  Methodist  sermon  in  America.  Laymen  introduced  the  Church 
to  which  the  reader  belongs  into  the  British  colonies  and  began  her  for- 
eign missions.  The  class-leaders  of  Methodism  have  been  her  best 
pastors,  and  they  have  belonged  mostly  to  the  laity.  "Were  we  to  mul- 
tiply many  times  even  the  volumes  which  are  filled  with  the  records 
of  the  labors  and  successes  of  her  consecrated  laity  the  half  would  not 
be  told.  Methodism  could  never  have  been  what  she  is  but  for  her 
lay  helpers,  and  she  can  neither  advance  nor  hold  her  own  without 
them.  One  of  the  perils  of  Methodism  is  the  abridgment  of  voluntary  lay 
agency.  Restriction  means  defeat ;  extension  means  victory.  We  need  to 
multiply  paid  agents  of  both  sexes  and  of  all  grades.  But  we  cannot 
compete  with  richly  endowed  Churches,  nor  can  we  meet  the  require- 
ments of  the  time,  without  a  great  increase  of  voluntary  lay  agents.  Local 
preachers  are  being  excluded  from  what  are  called  our  best  pulpits. 
This  in  some  cases  is  their  own  fault.  Unless  preachers,  whether  itiner- 
ant or  local,  take  freshness  and  life  into  the  pulpit,  the  people  will  resent 
their  unreality  and  leave  them  to  the  bitter  protest  of  empty  pews. 

We  are  doing  wisely  in  providing  increased  facilities  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  separated  ministry.  It  is  equally  important  that  we  do  some- 
thing for  the  better  e(iuipment  of  our  local  preachers.  Wliy  not  have 
evening  classes  in  our  colleges  open  to  local  preachers  of  all  sections  of 
Methodism  ?  And  why  not  take  our  colleges  to  those  who  are  too  far 
away  to  come  to  them  ?  The  universities  of  England  are  being  taken  all 
over  the  country  in  the  persons  of  the  best  teachers  that  can  be  provided. 
And  surely  we  can  take  our  colleges  to  our  local  preachers  by  sending 
qualified  men  to  give  courses  of  lectures  in  the  centers  of  Methodism.  I 
am  confident  that  something  must  he  done  or  the  number  and  quality  of 
our  local  preachers  will  l)e  less  and  less  equal  to  the  demand.  When 
we  give  practical  proof  that  we  realize  the  importance  of  this  branch  of 
our  manifold  ministry,  and  local  preachers  as  a  whole  "  magnify  their  of- 
fice "  ])y  careful  preparation  of  mind  and  heart,  people  will  not  turn  away 
from  our  sanctuaries  when  they  find  that  a  layman  has  to  occupy  the  jjul- 
pit.     We  need  to  give  more  earnest  heed  to  the  qviality  and  qualifications 


ESSAY    OF    REV.    JAMES    TKAVIS.  275 

of  class-leaders.  They  are  rapidly  becoming  mere  financial  agents,  instead 
of  being  shepherds  of  the  flock.  Unless  our  class-leaders  have  capacity 
for  their  work,  and  industriously  feed  and  watch  over  those  committed  to 
their  care,  as  well  as  collect  the  quarterages,  our  fearful  leakages  will 
continue,  and  the  class-me(;ting  difficulty  will  be  unsolved. 

The  tendency  to  regard  voluntary  lay  agency  as  an  inferior  ministry 
must  be  arrested.  It  is  a  superstition  and  a  delusion  which  must  be  swept 
away,  or  the  glory  of  Methodism  will  be  dimmed.  Lay  agency  is  as 
much  a  divine  institution,  and  it  has  as  creditable  a  record,  as  the  sepa- 
rated ministry.  The  laity  have  an  exalted  place  among  the  scholars,  the  ora- 
tors, the  martyrs,  the  philanthropists,  and  the  soul-winners  of  the  Church. 
Stephen  was  not  a  whit  behind  the  greatest  of  the  apostles  in  energy  and 
ability.  Justin,  the  scholar,  the  preacher,  and  the  martyr,  "  declined  no 
dangers  for  the  good  of  souls.  His  house  was  open  for  the  instruction  of 
all  who  consulted  him,  though  he  seems  never  to  have  assumed  the  eccle- 
siastical character."*  Origen,  the  Christian  philosopher  and  orator,  accord- 
ing to  Eusebius,  preached  and  expounded  the  Scriptures  in  the  church 
when  he  was  a  layman.  Laymen  helped  to  fight  the  battles  of  the  Refor- 
mation, as  well  as  did  much  to  keep  the  lamj)  of  spiritual  truth  burning 
in  the  ages  which  preceded  it.  Some  of  the  most  honored  names  in  Meth- 
odist history  belong  to  the  laity.  Time  would  fail  to  mention  the  laity 
of  both  sexes  who  have  laid  the  Church  and  the  world  under  lasting  obli- 
gation. "The  Spirit  of  God  has  come  in  all  ages  as  fully  and  as  freely  to 
the  faithful  laity  as  to  the  clergy.  And  above  the  Spirit  of  God  there  can 
be  no  supremacy.  Many  and  many  a  time  has  the  new  life-giving  idea 
and  impulse  come  to  men  unordained  by  the  Church's  ministry."  t 

The  writer  of  the  greatest  religious  allegory  was  a  Bedford  tinker.  The 
two  greatest  religious  poems  are  from  the  pens  of  laymen.  The  father  of 
ragged  schools  was  a  Portsmouth  cobbler.  The  early  temperance  reform- 
ers were  mostly  laymen.  •  The  founder  of  Sunday-schools,  one  of  the 
mightiest  agencies  of  the  Church,  was  a  Gloucester  printer.  The  no- 
blest band  of  volunteers  in  our  Church  army  are  our  Sunday-school  teachers. 

In  the  wider  ministries  of  the  Church  there  is  ample  scope  for  all  her 
members.  Our  vision  of  the  work  of  the  Church  has  been  too  narrow  in 
its  range.  Every  thing  that  concerns  the  welfare  of  men,  whether 
viewed  as  citizens  of  this  world  or  as  candidates  for  the  world  to  come,  is 
the  work  of  the  Church.  If  we  leave  the  wider  ministries  to  men  and 
women  outside  of  the  Churches,  tens  of  thousands  will  remain  under  the 
delusion  that  the  Church  is  indifferent  to  their  temporal  interests,  and 
that  Christianity  has  no  message  concerning  their  civil  rights  and  so- 
cial advancement.  Therefore  I  rejoice  in  the  discussion  of  some  of  these 
subjects  by  this  Conference.  The  Church  has  a  work  in  the  training  and 
culture  of  the  young,  in  the  adjustment  of  capital  and  labor,  in  the  Chris- 
tianization  of  commerce,  in  the  purification  of  politics,  in  the  correcting 
of  the  evil  tendencies  of  the  press,  in  the  recreations  and  amusements  of 
young  and  old.      There  is  room  in  the  Church  for  all  kinds  of  agencies 

*  Milner's  Church  History.  i  CanoQ  Farrar. 


276  THE  CHUECH  AND  HER  AGENCIES. 

which  can  promote  the  physical,  the  intellectual,  the  spiritual,  and  the 
social  well-being  of  the  race.  No  one  need  be  unemployed.  No  one  ought 
to  be  unemployed.  Thousands  have  left  us,  not  because  they  had  ceased 
to  love  us,  but  because  we  did  not  find  them  some  work  which  they  could 
call  their  own ;  and  thousands  are  sick  and  dying  in  our  midst  of  having 
nothing  to  do.  I  Avill  not  intrench  on  ground  selected  for  others.  But  I 
will  say  that  a  Church  is  defective  which  does  not  seek  to  find  a  sphere 
for  all  her  members  who  have  the  heart  and  the  hand  for  service. 
"  Would  God  that  all  the  Lord's  people  were  prophets,  that  the  Lord 
would  put  his  Spirit  upon  them !  "  For  when  all  the  Lord's  people  are 
"  at  it,  all  at  it,  and  always  at  it,"  the  salvation  of  the  race  will  not  be 
far  distant. 

In  the  absence  of  the  Rev.  M.  D'C.  Crawford,  D.D.,  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  the  appointed  address  on  "  The 
Deaconess  Movement "  was  given  by  tlie  Eev.  Bishop  W.  X. 
N'iNDE,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Brothers :  I  am  sorry  that  Dr.  Crawford's  illness  and 
absence  deprives  us  of  the  privilege  of  listening  to  one  who  is  eminently 
qualified  to  present  this  subject,  as  well  by  his  warm  interest  in  the 
deaconess  movement  as  by  his  familiarity  with  the  facts.  My  only  fitness 
is  the  fitness  of  sympathy. 

The  deaconess  movement  in  this  country  is  a  novelty,  I  suppose 
nobody  dreamed  ten  years  ago  that  in  the  near  future  we  should  see  num- 
bers of  devoted  and  thoroughly  trained  women  as  nurses  and  missionaries 
moving  about  our  streets  and  among  the  habitations  of  the  poor  in  a  imi- 
f orm  garb.  We  knew  something  of  the  Lutheran  deaconesses  in  Germany ; 
we  had  some  knowledge  of  the  Sisters  of  Bethany  among  our  brethren  in 
Germany ;  we  gained  some  knowledge  of  the  good  work  of  the  noble  or- 
ganization of  our  Wesleyan  brethren  in  England ;  and  there  came  into 
our  hands  something  of  the  scanty  literature  on  the  subject,  among  the 
rest  that  charming  monograph  from  the  pen  of  the  President  of  the  Brit- 
ish Conference.  At  length  the  idea  took  root  in  our  soil,  and  as  a  result 
of  it  a  very  gifted  and  devoted  lady,  widely  known  and  esteemed  among 
us,  with  the  help  of  a  few  friends,  and  without  churchly  sanction,  organ- 
ized the  first  deaconess  training-school,  whose  home  is  in  the  metropolis 
of  the  great  West.  From  this  start  it  was  an  easy  matter  to  appeal  to  the 
General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  engraft  this 
movement  upon  the  economy  of  the  Church.  Methodism  has  always 
taken  kindly  to  women,  and  the  General  Conference  of  our  Church  was 
disposed  to  do  any  thing  reasonable  for  a  woman,  and  so  restored  the 
ancient  Order  of  Deaconesses,  From  that  start  the  movement  has  had  a 
marvelous  success.  Indeed,  I  may  say  that  the  success  of  the  movement 
in  this  country  has  surpassed  the  expectations  of  its  most  sanguine  friends. 
We  have  twenty-one  homes  in  as  many  of  our  great  cities.  We  have  five 
hospitals  with  free  dispensaries,  and  a  number  of  young  women  who  are 
eager  to  join  the  ranks  of  the  noble  sisterhood. 


ADDRESS    OF    BISHOP    W.    X.    NINDE.  277 

The  movement  in  this  country,  I  may  say,  has  been  from  the  start  almost 
universally  jDopular ;  and  yet  it  would  be  hardly  candid  not  to  admit  that 
there  are  perhaps  those  here  and  there  who  are  disposed  to  regard  the 
movement  with  misgiving,  if  not  positive  alarm.  It  is  said,  for  instance, 
that  we  are  aping  the  methods  of  the  Papal  Church.  We  look  with 
well-grounded  suspicion  on  the  Papal  Church.  We  are  extremely  sensitive 
in  this  country  regarding  her.  We  believe  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
is  becoming  rapidly  Presbyterianized  in  this  country ;  yet  we  believe'  her 
to  be  an  encroaching  and  corrupt  form  of  ecclesiasticism.  And  in  some 
cities  of  our  country  this  sensitiveness  is  largely  magnified.  In  one  of  the 
most  important  cities  of  our  sea-port  so  sensitive  has  the  community  be- 
come in  regard  to  the  encroachment  of  the  Roman  Church  and  its  attitude 
toward  the  public  schools  that  the  friends  of  the  deaconess  movement  in 
that  city  are  unwilling  that  our  sisters  should  appear  on  the  street  in  a 
distinguishing  garb.  Now,  I  am  willing  to  borrow  from  the  Roman 
Catholics  or  any  body  any  good  thing  they  may  possess  which  we  can  util- 
ize to  advantage ;  but  I  am  sure  of  one  thing,  that  our  Order  of  Deacon- 
esses, without  requiring  any  unscriptural  views,  with  its  freedom  from 
priests  and  Jesuitical  arts  and  practices,  is  so  radically  different  from  the 
Roman  Catholic  practices  that  we  can  hardly  be  charged  with  adopting 
the  methods  of  the  Papal  Churcli. 

We  are  sometimes  told— it  may  be  a  graver  complaint— that  in  estab- 
lishing the  Order  of  Deaconesses  we  are  removing  woman  from  her  proper 
sphere,  and  really  aiding  at  the  destruction  of  home.  Now,  nobody  loves 
the  Christian  home  more  than  I  do ;  and  I  invoke  God's  blessings  on  the 
multitudes  of  women  who  are  content  to  be  wives  and  mothers,  their 
throne  the  fireside,  their  empire  the  sacred  seclusion  of  home.  But  I 
would  ask  God's  blessing  upon  that  comparatively  small  class  of  women 
-who  are  just  as  heartily  content  to  forego  the  blessing  of  a  single  home 
that  they  may  mother  the  thousands  of  homeless  ones.  Who  will  be  so 
daring  as  to  attempt  to  define  the  proper  sphere  of  woman  ?  Surely,  her 
sphere  has  enlarged  since  the  dawn  of  the  Christian  dispensation.  How 
wonderously  it  has  broadened  in  the  memory  of  us  all.  I  suppose  fifty 
years  ago  it  would  have  been  diflicult  to  find  a  woman  outside  of  domestic 
life ;  and  yet  to-day  woman  serves  us  behind  the  counter ;  she  writes  and 
copies  in  our  offices ;  she  prescribes  for  our  sick ;  she  pleads  in  our  courts ; 
she  edits  our  newspapers ;  she  lectures  from  our  platforms,  preaches  from 
our  pulpits,  and  nobody  says  her  nay. 

Now,  I  wish  to  say  this  one  thing :  In  our  times  there  is  a  growing 
faith,  a  reckless  faith,  in  the  implanted  instinct  of  the  human  race.  There 
is  a  faith  in  the  common  sense  of  men  and  women  to  keep  themselves  in 
the  right  place.  In  this  day  when  the  populace  rules  under  God  this  is 
our  only  protection.  Yet  there  are  persons  who  are  willing  to  trust  any 
"body's  intuition  but  woman's.  They  fancy  that  they  must  be  under  heavy 
restraints.  They  would  put  a  bit  and  bridle  upon  her,  for  fear  that  if  she 
should  be  allowed  to  follow  the  unfettered  tendency  of  her  nature  she 
•would  ruin  herself  and  throw  society  into  ruin.     I  know  there  are  erratic 


278  THE  CHURCH  AND  HEK  AGENCIES. 

women  in  the  ■world;  there  are  silly  women  and  monstrous  women,  just 
as  there  are  silly  and  monstrous  men.  But  I  have  a  profound  and  abiding 
conviction  that  the  reineseutative  woman  can  be  trusted.  If  you  cannot 
trust  women,  whom  in  this  dark  world  can  you  trust  ?  If  we  cannot  trust 
our  wives  and  mothers,  our  daughters  and  our  sisters,  where  upon  the 
human  side  will  our  anxious  hearts  find  rest  ?  But  we  can  trust  her.  I 
believe  in  woman — in  woman  with  her  spiritual  clear-sightedness  ;  in 
woman  with  her  deep  moral  convictions ;  in  woman  with  her  courageous 
fidelity  to  duty ;  in  woman  with  her  unselfish  and  consuming  love. 

I  am  convinced  of  another  thing — that  God  never  will  save  this  world 
without  the  large  instrumentality  of  woman.  We  all  believe  in  that.  But 
I  go  further :  I  do  not  believe  we  shall  ever  reach  the  unreached  and 
seemingly  unreachable  masses  of  the  large  cities  without  woman's  partici- 
pation in  that  work.  She  has  wonderful  adaptations  for  it.  Chicago  is  a 
moral  storm  center ;  yet  several  years  ago  a  woman,  a  lonely  woman,  went 
into  the  Bohemian  center.  She  rented  a  room,  organized  a  Sunday-school, 
and  sought  admission  to  the  homes  of  the  people.  At  first  they  distrusted 
and  repelled  her;  but  finally,  as  noiselessly  as  a  sunbeam  she  entered 
every  door  and  left  it  ajar.  She  performed  every  possible  office — she  laid 
a  bunch  of  flowers  at  the  bedside  of  the  sick ;  she  tied  the  folded  ribbon 
around  the  hand  of  the  dead  baby ;  and  by  and  by  the  people  warmed 
toward  her,  and  instead  of  repelling  they  invited  and  welcomed  her. 
She  was  offended  at  nothing.  On  Christmas  eve  one  of  the  scholars  of 
the  school,  a  rude  fellow,  brought  a  common  brick,  wrapped  again  and 
again  in  rolls  of  paper.  It  was  nothing  but  a  common  brick,  and,  of 
course,  the  laugh  was  on  her.  She  was  not  offended.  She  laid  that  brick 
among  her  household  treasures ;  she  thanked  the  scholar  for  his  kind  gift, 
and  won  his  heart.  A  professor  in  one  of  the  conservatories  of  music 
when  she  was  gathering  funds  for  her  mission  sent  for  her  and  said:  "  I 
do  not  believe  in  your  God,  your  Bible,  or  your  religion ;  but  I  value  your 
services  to  my  people.  I  beUeve  in  you."  And  socialists,  men  and 
women,  would  say  to  her,  ' '  Whatever  may  happen  in  this  city  you  shall 
not  be  harmed." 

O  my  brothers,  what  the  world  wants  to-day  is  not  more  of  our  masterly 
controversies  and  dogmatism ;  but  what  the  weary  world  is  sighing  for  is 
the  sweet,  the  persuasive,  self-forgetting  ministry  of  loving  women. 
When  I  see  all  about  me  these  consecrated  women  treading  the  alleys  of 
our  great  cities,  protected  by  their  simple  guilelessness,  climbing  into  the 
attic,  exploring  the  dark  cellars  that  they  may  bear  to  the  poor  and  unre- 
garded the  sweet  blessings  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  it  seems  to  me  that  out 
of  our  stormy  griefs  a  ladder  is  lifted  skyward  with  the  angels  of  God 
ascending  and  descending  thereon. 

The  Rev.  "W.  D.  "Walters,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  then  gave  an  appointed  address  on  "  Methodist  Broth- 
erhoods and  Sisterhoods,"  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President:  I  am  to  speak  of  Methodist  brotherhoods  and  sister- 


ADDRESS    OF   REV.    W.    D.    WALTERS.  279 

hoods,  but  with  your  permission,  I  will  speak  first  of  sisterhoods.  Allow 
me  to  say  that  I  think  it  would  have  been  better  if  a  lady  acquainted 
with  woman's  work  from  experience  had  been  permitted  to  take  part  in 
this  Conference,  so  that  she  might  have  presented  her  own  views  upon 
women's  work,  because  it  is  quite  clear  that  no  one  can  so  perfectly  un- 
derstand women's  work  as  a  woman,  and  especially  one  who  has  learned 
from  experience  the  possibilities  of  women  in  Christian  work.  It  has 
been  suggested  that  the  term  sisterhood  savors  too  much  of  Catholicism, 
but  we  wish  it  to  be  distinctly  understood  that  the  Methodist  sisterhood 
does  not  in  any  sense  represent  a  Catholic  sisterhood,  except  in  the 
spirit  of  self-sacrifice  which  it  manifests.  We  exact  no  vows ;  each  sister 
is  at  liberty  to  leave  when  she  pleases.  So  far  as  the  Methodist  Church 
is  concerned,  in  England  there  is  no  tendency  whatever  toward  Catholi- 
cism. For  the  members  of  the  Catholic  Church  we  cherish  charity,  and 
from  them  we  would  withhold  no  right,  but  our  attitude  to  the  papacy 
is  that  of  an  eloquent  man,  "  a  barred  door  to  popery,  and  no  peace  with 
Rome."  We  wish  it  to  be  distinctly  understood  that  while  we  advocate 
the  setting  apart  of  sisters  and  brothers  for  Christian  work,  we  urge  the 
cultivation  of  the  sisterly  and  brotherly  spirit  on  the  part  of  all  who  pro- 
fess a  faith  in  Christ.  We  cannot  discharge  our  duty  toward  our  fellow- 
creatures  by  deputy.  Each  must  be  a  sister  or  a  brother  in  the  truest 
and  best  sense  of  the  word.  Dr.  Stephenson,  the  President  of  the  En- 
glish Conference,  informs  me  that  it  is  now  fifteen  years  since  the  estab- 
lishment of  his  sisterhood  in  connection  with  the  Children's  Home  in 
London,  and  as  a  member  of  the  committee  during  all  that  period  I  wit- 
nessed with  great  pleasure  the  devoted  work  of  these  sisters.  Words 
fail  to  describe  the  result  of  their  angel  ministrations  among  the  outcast 
and  neglected.  Recently  there  has  been  a  development  of  that  work ;  a 
house  has  been  secured,  where  several  probationary  sisters  live.  Some 
half  dozen  have  recently  passed  into  active  work  in  missions  and  circuits. 
The  report  of  the  work  of  a  sister  states : 

' '  She  recognizes  strangers  as  they  enter  the  vestibule,  welcomes  and 
introduces  them  to  other  ladies,  calls  the  pastor's  notice  to  the  needs  of 
the  families  sick  or  otherwise,  ascertains  where  the  charity  funds  can  best 
be  bestowed,  inquires  into  the  condition  of  the  children  who  attend  the 
schools,  whether  sick  or  needy,  aids  the  superintendent  of  the  Sunday- 
school  in  procuring  teachers,  and  is  useful  in  many  other  ways,  stimulating 
interest  in  church  and  school  attendance,  midweek  meeting,  the  ladies' 
society,  the  young  jieople's  association,  and  all  the  various  interests  of  the 
church." 

Evidently  this  young  lady  has  enough  on  her  hands.  The  report  con- 
cludes : 

"  The  people  like  it,  the  pastor  likes  it,  and  strangers  like  it.  It  is  a 
grand  success  all  around." 

In  connection  with  the  East  Branch  of  the  London  Mission,  of  which 
Peter  Thompson  is  superintendent,  we  have  an  organization  of  lady  work- 
ers, or  sisters.     The  need  for  this  is  apparent.     Only  by  much  visitation 


280  THE  CHUECH  AND  HEK  AGENCIES. 

in  the  homes  of  the  people  is  it  possible  to  secure  an  attendance  upon  the 
worship  of  the  sanctuary.  These  ladies  enter  the  cellars  and  garrets ; 
they  confront  the  drunkards  and  sensualists  in  their  homes  of  dissipation ; 
they  find  out  what  is  called  the  lower  stratum  of  society,  the  bats  and 
owls  of  our  species,  whose  condition  is  unknown,  and  in  many  cases  their 
very  existence  concealed,  and  yet  these  people  were  created  in  the  image 
of  God  and  bear  the  stamp  of  immortality.  These  ladies  administer 
timely  help  to  the  poor  and  suffering. 

One  of  the  particular  features  of  the  mission  which  I  have  the  honor  t6 
represent  is  its  care  for  the  bodily  and  social  needs  of  the  people  as  well 
as  their  spiritual  necessities.  Children's  meetings  are  held,  open-air 
services  are  conducted,  mothers'  meetings  arranged.  There  is  a  girls' 
parlor,  where  factory  girls  and  others  receive  careful  training  and  over- 
sight. All  kinds  of  agencies  are  employed  for  lifting  the  burden  of  suf- 
fering from  our  poor  humanity.  The  effect  of  all  this  is  apparent  in  the 
changed  neighborhood,  in  homes  made  better,  in  thousands  of  children 
having  their  lives  brightened,  and  the  effect  upon  the  sisters  themselves 
is  to  promote  a  spirit  of  cheerfulness  and  joy  in  their  work.  They  refuse 
to  have  their  work  referred  to  as  a  sacrifice,  for  they  consider  it  the  great- 
est joy  of  their  lives  to  be  privileged  to  minister  to  the  needy. 

The  superintendent  of  the  West  Branch  of  the  London  Mission, 
Hugh  Price  Hughes,  has  a  better  half,  Mrs.  Hugh  Price  Hughes,  who 
is  the  head  of  a  sisterhood  called  ' '  Sisters  of  the  People. "  These 
sisters  come  from  different  sections  of  the  Church — Presbyterian  and 
Catholic — but  they  are  converted,  and  regularly  meet  in  a  Methodist 
class.  It  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  describe  the  ceaseless  stream 
of  activity  which  is  flowing  in  connection  with  that  mission.  These 
ladies  are  in  very  deed  "sisters  of  the  people."  They  are  in  per- 
fect touch  with  the  people.  Room  to  room  visitation  is  a  particular  feat- 
ure of  their  work.  They  also  conduct  mothers'  and  children's  meetings, 
work  at  the  halls  among  inquirers,  hold  open-air  meetings,  draw  atten- 
tion to  the  cause  of  temperance,  and  actually  visit  public-houses  for  the 
purpose  of  leading  men  and  women  to  a  better  life.  As  a  result,  in  par- 
ticular, two  public-houses  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  mission 
have  been  closed.  There  is  a  creche  for  the  reception  of  young  children, 
■who  are  carefully  attended  to  while  their  mothers  are  employed  during 
the  day;  there  is  a  registry  office  for  servants  out  of  place — there  is  a 
perfect  system  of  relief.  Rescue  work  among  fallen  women  on  a  large 
scale  has  been  successfully  attempted.  There  is  also  a  girls'  and  boys' 
club,  kindergarten  classes,  Saturday  afternoon  excursions  for  poor  chil- 
dren, women's  slate  club,  penny  bank,  and  work -house  tea  for  the  aged 
during  the  afternoon  upon  which  they  are  allowed  out  of  the  house. 
Constant  testimony  is  borne  to  the  good  resulting  from  this.  Four  trained 
nurses  are  specially  set  apart  to  attend  to  the  sick  poor.  In  addition 
there  is  a  special  sisters'  mission  to  soldiers,  policemen,  and  cabmen. 
All  these  efforts  have  a  primary  aim — the  bringing  of  the  individual  soul 
to  Christ,  recognizing  that  the  soul  of  all  improvement  is  the  improve- 


GENERAL    KEMAKKS.  281 

meat  of  the  soul.  As  a  direct  result  hundreds  have  been  gathered  into 
the  church  and  are  living  pure  and  beautiful  lives. 

Time  will  not  allow  me  to  refer  to  the  sisterhoods  in  connection  with 
the  Central  Branch  and  South  Branch  and  the  Leysian  Branch  of  the  Lon- 
don Mission.  At  all  these  places  the  sisterhood  is  in  active  operation, 
and  also  at  the  great  missions  in  Birmingham  and  elsewhere. 

As  regards  the  Methodist  brotherhood,  this  department  has  not  yet 
been  fully  developed.  A  number  of  young  men  engaged  in  business  have 
been  formed  into  a  brotherhood  with  a  view  to  Christian  work  in  their 
leisure,  and  this  has  been  accompanied  with  much  blessing.  It  is  thought 
that  young  men  of  wealth  and  education  who  are  not  definitely  engaged 
in  business  undertakings  may  be  formed  into  a  brotherhood  for  the  di- 
rect purpose  of  spiritual  work.  In  connection  with  the  Bermondsey  settle- 
ment, imder  the  superintendency  of  J.  Scott  Lidgett,  it  is  intended  to  form 
a  brotherhood  of  young  men  who  have  been  connected  with  the  universi- 
ties and  principal  schools,  who  will  live  in  a  home  and  devote  some  time 
every  day  to  evangelistic  and  educational  work.  The  great  feature  of 
this  movement  is  adaptation.  We  believe  that  all  the  resources  of  civili- 
zation ought  to  be  employed  for  lifting  up  those  who  have  fallen.  The 
chasm  separating  the  wealthy  from  the  poor  is  fearful.  In  some  way  this 
must  be  bridged  over.  We  believe  that  it  can  be  done,  and  to  this  end 
all  our  efforts  are  directed.  So  far  we  have  had  abundant  occasion  to 
say,    "  The  best  of  all  is,  God  is  with  us." 

The  Rev.  J.  H.  Morgan,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church, 
opened  the  general  discussion  of  the  morning,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  I  rise  to  say  a  few  words  on  behalf  of  system  in  church 
work.  Objectors  to  careful  organization  in  church  activities  forget  that 
method  is  one  of  the  primary  principles  upon  which  God  proceeds  in  his 
operations.  He  is  the  most  exact  of  beings,  unwilling  that  any  thing 
should  be  out  of  its  place  and  order,  and  most  assuredly  in  the  highest 
department  of  his  operations  he  will  put  honor  upon  method,  and  com- 
mon sense  as  well  upon  faith  and  zeal.  We  forget  this  in  Christian 
work.  We  are  careful  about  methods  in  education,  in  commerce,  in  art, 
in  athletics,  but  we  thoughtlessly  blunder  in  Christian  work.  The  evan- 
gelistic agency  connected  with  our  Churches,  separately  regarded,  is  un- 
satisfactory in  two  ways.  First,  it  is  unconnected.  Agencies  like  the 
Tract  Society,  cottage  services,  mission  bands,  etc.,  which  are  kindred  in 
spirit  and  object,  although  moving  ou  lines  slightly  divergent,  are  never 
so  brought  into  connection  with  each  other  as  to  enable  the  agents  to 
realize  and  to  profit  by  the  fact  that  they  have  a  community  of  aim  and 
interest.  Why  should  such  homogeneous  departments  of  church  work 
be  unconnected  and  independent?  "By  uniting  them  in  a  common  organ- 
ization a  large  amount  of  precious  time  and  energy  is  saved,  while  one 
portion  of  such  an  organization  would  impart  support  and  strength  to  the 
other.  I  believe  that  tract  distribution  has  ceased  in  many  a  Church 
where  it  would  have  continued  and  flourished  if  it  had  been  organically 
associated  with  other  institutions.  Moreover,  the  evangelistic  agency 
connected  with  our  several  Churches  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  complete : 

1.  We  have  at  present  in  England  no  well-arranged  method  for  bring- 
ing the  bulk  of  our  members  into  direct  and  regular  coatact  with  the 
21 


282  THE  CHURCH  AND  HEK  AGENCIES. 

unsaved  part  of  the  commimity.  There  is  a  gap  in  our  agencies  through 
the  absence  of  what  is  known  as  district  visitation,  an  agency  of  which 
the  Church  of  England  has  learned  the  immense  power  and  usefulness. 

2.  We  have  at  present  no  well-arranged  method,  at  least  in  general  op- 
eration, for  securing  the  effectual  supervision  of  the  congregation.  The 
importance  of  providing  a  j^lan  for  the  sectional  oversight  of  the  congre- 
gation is  emjjhasized  by  the  fact  that  our  congregations  in  England  are 
increasing  in  a  more  rapid  ratio  than  our  societies. 

3.  The  bulk  of  our  members  are  not  actively  and  regularly  engaged  in 
Christian  work.  It  is  melancholy  to  find  wherever  we  go  how  few  cff 
the  followers  of  Christ  are  taking  active  part  in  the  extension  of  his  king- 
dom. The  amount  of  spiritual  force  which  is  generated  week  by  week 
in  our  religious  services  is  incalculable — "good  measure,"  although  not 
"pressed  down,"  and  "shaken  together,"  although  "running  over"  into 
many  channels  of  Christian  and  philanthropic  enterprise.  Impressed  with 
these  views,  I  was  led,  under  God,  ten  years  ago  to  establish  the  Christian 
Workers'  Association,  an  association  having  for  its  central  element  the 
systematized  visitation  of  the  neighborhood,  and  uniting  therewith  in  a  com- 
mon organization  under  the  immediate  direction  of  the  pastor  all  kindred 
agencies,  such  as  mission  bands,  cottage  services,  and  sectional  oversight 
of  the  congregation.  Hundreds  of  these  associations  have,  by  God's 
blessing,  been  established  in  Great  Britain,  and  some  in  South  Africa  and 
Ceylon,  and  Avherever  vigorously  worked  blessed  results  have  followed. 
The  association  differs  from  the  Epworth  League,  which  has  spread  so 
rapidly  in  America,  in  that  while  embracing  Christian  workers  of  all  ages 
it  confines  its  operations  to  evangelistic  work.  What  are  the  merits  we 
claim  for  this  plan? 

1.  It  provides  a  method,  already  shown  to  be  a  dedderatum,  for  bring- 
ing the  bulk  of  our  members  into  direct  and  regular  contact  with  the 
unsaved  world. 

2.  It  opens  an  inviting  sphere  for  the  employment  of  matured  and  in- 
fluential Christians,  whose  energies  are  now  but  partially  occupied. 

3.  It  provides  employment  for  that  class,  so  numerous  in  our  churches, 
who,  without  organized  co-operation,  are  either  too  feeble  or  inactive  to 
do  Christian  work.     Some  can  cut  out  a  sphere  of  their  own,  others  cannot. 

4.  It  places  the  pastor  where  he  ought  to  be,  at  the  head  of  the  evan- 
gelistic machinery  of  his  church,  and  each  week  causes  its  activities  to 
pass  in  review  under  his  eye  and  hand. 

The  Rev,  T.  B.  Appleget,  of  tlie  Methodist  Protestant 
Church,  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President  and  Brothers :  I  shall  have  an  opportunity,  by  invitation 
of  the  committee,  to  extend  my  greetings  to  the  women  of  the  family  to- 
morrow, and  they  will  excuse  me  if  I  now  pass  them  by  and  take  up  the 
subject  of  the  "  place  and  power  of  lay  agency  in  the  Church."  I  do  not 
mean  lay  preaching,  nor  do  I  mean  lay  women  in  the  deaconess  work,  nor 
any  of  the  branches  of  that  (juestion;  but  the  agency  of  laymen  in  the 
Church — its  proper  place  and  proper  power.  I  wish  to  present  no  argu- 
ment ;  I  wish  to  stand  up  here  and  extend  to  you  the  hearty  greetings 
of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  for  three-score  years  standing  sepa- 
rate from  some  of  you,  but  joined  to  many  of  you  upon  principles  which  we 
hold  dear,  and  all  the  dearer  because  we  see  others  adopting  them.  I 
say,  standing  upon  this  basis,  protesting  only  against  what  we  believe  to 
be  unmethodistic,  and  loving  every  thing  we  think  Wesleyan,  bound  to 
you  by  common  ties  of  common  faith  and  practice,  I  am  glad  to  greet  you. 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  283 

We  have  found  the  laity  a  blessing  under  God,  and  it  is  a  blessing  every- 
■where  in  the  Church. 

I  wish  to  say — and  I  shall  have  to  say  it  very  quickly,  because  I  know 
that  merciless  gavel  will  come  down  on  me  shortly — but  I  wish  to  say  to 
my  beloved  brothers  on  this  side  of  the  water  and  on  the  other  side  of  the 
water  that  this  question  of  imion  lies  with  the  laity,  and  must  lie  so.  We 
have  found  it  so.  The  Methodist  Protestant  Church  was  divided  for 
years,  not  by  questions  of  orders  or  preference  or  any  thing  of  that  kind, 
but  by  demarkation  of  a  line  drawn  in  blood.  And  in  this  land  for  eleven 
years  we  strove  to  come  together  again ;  and  what  difficulty  we  would 
have  had  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people.  But  there  was  no  difficulty.  And  I  say  to-day, 
speaking  for  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  thousand  jMethodist  Protestants, 
without  sectional  line,  without  caste  line,  without  a  sex  line  dividing  us, 
there  is  a  power  in  the  Christian  laity  to  do  good  in  the  Church  every- 
where. And  I  beg  you  to  stop  your  discussions  as  to  whether  men  or 
women  would  be  good  in  any  one  branch  of  your  executive  bodies.  We 
have  found  them  good  in  all.  There  is  not  a  prerogative  held  by  any 
man  or  a  law  made  that  is  not  the  direct  expression  of  the  suffrages  of 
the  whole  Church  or  societies  every-where.  And  such  a  lay  agency,  with 
its  power,  with  a  blessed  knowledge  in  these  three-score  years  of  what  it 
has  done  for  us,  we  commend  to  you,  and  may  God  bless  you  and  it. 

Mr.  ThojVIAs  Lawrence,  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church, 
continued  the  discussion  in  the  following  remarks : 

Mr.  President  and  Brothers :  I  hear  we  are  not  raising  the  number  of 
women  preachers  in  Methodism  that  we  ought  to,  and  I  wish  to  say  a 
word  or  two  on  that  point.  The  local  preacher  is  necessary  to  village 
Methodism.  It  is  a  good  sign  that  Methodism  is  now  giving  special 
attention  to  the  necessities  and  claims  of  large  centers  of  population.  This 
policy  is  both  necessary  and  wise ;  but  Methodism  must  never  forget  its 
obligations  to  the  women.  We  must  uot  forget  what  the  villages  have 
done  for  Methodism.  They  have  enriched  the  ranks  of  our  ministry,  and 
have  helped  to  swell  the  numbers  of  our  wealthy  churches.  Village 
Methodism  in  the  past  has  furnished  a  good  deal  both  of  the  brawn  and 
brain  of  our  Churches.  To  produce  such  results  in  the  Church  I  hold 
that  anything  we  can  do  to  increase  the  quantity  and  improve  the  quality 
of  our  local  preachers  we  ought  to  do.  The  local  preacher  order  is  neces- 
sary to  the  efficiency  of  the  itinerancy  itself.  Methodism — and  I  glory  in 
this  fact,  brothers — has  never  regarded  its  ministry  as  a  trade  or  profes- 
sion, but  as  a  divine  calling.  It  has  never  designated  men  for  the  minis- 
try on  special  grounds,  but  has  caused  men  to  preach  the  Gospel  who 
were  conscious  of  their  own  conversion,  in  the  first  place,  and  who,  in 
the  second  place,  possessed  those  physical,  intellectual,  and  spiritual  gifts 
that  single  them  out  above  their  fellows  in  the  Churches.  So  that  the 
hand  of  the  Church  was  laid  on  these  brothers,  thrusting  them  out  into 
the  harvest  field. 

Our  itinerant  ministry  is  a  survival  of  the  fittest.  In  proportion  as  we 
improve  the  quality  of  our  local  preachers  we  improve  the  quality  of  our 
itinerancy.  What  can  we  do  to  improve  the  local  preachers  ?  I  would 
say.  Let  us  preserve  the  tradition  of  Methodism  by  open-air  preaching, 
and  by  finding  our  laymen  some  employment.  We  must  not  lower  our 
flags  either  to  the  Salvation  Army  or  to  any  other  Christian  organization. 
We  must  bring  all  the  helps  we  can  within  the  reach  of  our  local  preachers 
to  improve  their  status.     Ministers  should,  as  far  as  possible,  direct  the 


284  THE  CHUECH  AND  HER  AGENCIES. 

studies  of  local  preachers ;  and  I  would  suggest  to  the  wealthier  churches 
that  they  should  esta])lish  local  i)reachers'  libraries. 

In  the  town  from  which  I  come  the  mayor,  wishing  to  signalize  his 
office  in  a  way  that  would  be  of  benefit  to  the  community  in  the  years  to 
come,  took  this  com-se :  he  furnished  a  sjilendid  library  in  the  center  of 
the  town,  and  placed  in  it  chiefly  theological  works  and  such  books  as 
would  benefit  local  preachers.  He  was  a  local  preacher  himself  and  he 
wanted  to  help  his  own  order,  believing  that  in  so  doing  he  would  help 
Christ's  Church. 

I  do  hope  that  we  shall  look  to  the  status  of  the  local  preachers,  be- 
cause in  so  doing  we  will  best  preserve  Methodism  and  spread  it  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth. 

The  Rev.  William  Akthur,  M.A.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Meth- 
odist Church,  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President  and  Brothers :  I  understood  that  this  question  was  to  be 
the  place  and  power  of  the  laity  in  the  Church.  As  presented  to  us 
it  has  become  very  much  the  place  and  power  of  the  laity  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Church.  That  is  a  very  different  thing,  and  one  that  in  an 
assembly  disposed  to  disputation  might  open  an  endless  dispute.  And  in 
that  aspect  several  things  are  of  pressing  necessity.  One  is,  first,  an  ac- 
curate statement  of  the  doctrine  of  any  body  else. 

Now,  it  is  not  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Rome  that  the  clergy  are 
the  successors  .of  the  apostles.  I  am  not  quite  sure  at  this  moment  what 
the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Eome  is.  Its  doctrine  is  alwa3\s  floating 
between  tlii-ee  stages.  First  comes  the  stage  of  opinion.  I  say  I  think 
the  pope  is  infallible,  and  another  repeats  it.  That  is  an  opinion.  Then 
it  rises  to  the  stage  of  a  doctrine.  I  am  a  professor,  and  from  my  chair 
in  a  certain  seminary  I  propound  as  a  doctrine  that  the  pope  is  infallible. 
And  there  are  but  few  things  more  instructive  in  the  world  than  the  pam- 
phlet of  Peter  Richard  Kenrick,  Archbisho})  of  St.  Louis.  It  is  one  of 
the  most  important  pamphlets  of  this  century.  It  is  entitled,  "  Concio 
Petri  Ricardi  Kenrick,  Archiepiscopi  S.  Ludovici  in  Statibus  Federatis 
America,  Septentionalis  in  Concilis  Vaticano,  Habenda  ac  non  Habita." 
This  was  a  speech  which  he  had  prepared  on  pa])al  infallibility,  to  be 
delivered  at  the  great  Vatican  Council  in  1870,  and  he  was  prevented  from 
delivering  it.  But  he  had  the  improvidence  to  print  it,  and  you  can  get 
a  copy  of  it  if  you  try  hard  enough,  as  I  did. 

The  doctrine  is  first  propounded  from  the  chair,  and  after  it  has  been 
taught  as  a  doctrine  from  many  chairs,  then  comes  a  general  council,  or, 
what  is  now  equally  great,  a  decree  from  the  infallible  pope,  which  lifts  it 
into  a  dogma  which  you  can  believe  or  disbelieve ;  the  one  for  your  salva- 
tion, the  other  for  your  peril.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the  doctrine 
is  a])plied  to  their  successors  in  the  clergy.  It  is  in  dispute  Avhether  it  is 
the  l>ishops  or  the  cardinals.  That  is  not,  so  far  as  I  know,  quite  cleared 
up.  But  the  clergy  are  merely  in  the  power  of  the  bishops  as  the  bisho]> 
is  now  in  the  power  of  the  pope.  The  ])ope  has  no  longer  merely  extraor- 
dinary jurisdiction  outside  of  his  own  diocese  as  he  used  to  have,  but  he 
has  ordinary  jurisdiction  in  every  diocese  in  the  world — the  governor  of 
every  diocese.  So  that  you  will  find  in  Ireland  now  the  parish  priest, 
instead  of  Ijeing  called  a  parish  priest,  is  called  the  administrator,  and  the 
whole  power  is  undergoing  a  change. 

Then  as  to  order  in  office.  Why,  sir,  who  does  not  feel  that  John 
Wesley  never  meant  for  a  moment  that  the  men  he  ordained  should  go 
forth  and  administer  the  sacrament ! 


GENERAL    REMAEKS.  285 

The  Hev.  J.  S.  Simon,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church, 
made  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President :  There  is  a  rule  of  this  Conference  that  ' '  no  votes  shall 
be  takeu  on  matters  affecting  the  internal  arrangements  of  any  of  the  sev- 
eral Methodist  Churches."  That  is  a  very  valuable  regulation.  It  is, 
however,  possible  to  read  papers  and  to  make  speeches  which  directly 
affect  the  arrangement  of  our  Churches.  It  is,  tlierefore,  necessary  that 
it  should  be  clearly  understood  that  we  are  not  committed  by  any  papers 
or  any  speeches  which  may  be  read  or  delivered  before  this  assembly. 
There  are  some  of  us  who  dissent  strongly  from  some  of  the  positions 
which  were  taken  up  by  Mr.  Bunting  in  the  paper  that  was  read  for  him 
the  other  day.  I  also  strongly  dissent  from  some  of  the  statements  which 
have  been  made  in  the  paper  which  Mr.  Travis  has  read  this  morning. 
But  I  think  that  it  is  unwise  for  us  to  discuss  these  matters  which  bear  upon 
church  organization  and  government.  Such  discussion  might  raise  a  con- 
troversy which  would  injure  that  growing  spirit  of  unity  in  which  I  rejoice. 
I  confine  myself,  therefore,  to  historic  fact.  I  cannot  agree  with  Mr.  Travis 
that  John  Wesley  made  no  distinction  between  his  preachers,  or  that  he 
only  recognized  as  ministers  those  who  had  been  episcopally  ordained. 
That  is  a  serious  statement.  Unconsciously  Mr.  Travis  has  played  into 
the  hands  of  those  Anglican  antagonists  of  Methodism  who  contend  that 
John  Wesley  never  intended  that  his  preachers  should  administer  the  sacra- 
ments. In  our  controversy  with  High  Churchmen  in  England  we  have 
often  to  confute  that  assertion.  Knowing  something  of  that  controversy, 
I  have  a  right  to  state  that  it  is  a  fact  that  John  Wesley  not  only  ordained 
ministers  for  America  and  Scotland,  but  also  for  England ;  and  he  did  so 
■with  the  intention  of  providing  for  the  separate  existence  of  his  societies 
as  a  distinct  Church,  with  a  distinct  order  of  men  who  should  administer 
the  sacraments.  He  intended  that  those  whom  he  ordained  should  trans- 
mit his  "  orders"  to  his  preachers.  The  counsel  he  gave  to  those  whom 
he  ordained  was  that  they  should  continue  in  connection  with  the  Church 
of  England  so  long  as  they  could  do  so  without  injiny  to  the  interests  of 
Methodism.  In  case  those  interests  demanded  a  separate  existence,  then 
John  Wesley  took  care  to  provide  for  that  separate  existence.  He  pro- 
vided for  the  ordination  of  preachers  who  should  administer  the  sacra- 
ments to  the  Methodist  people.  In  addition,  I  dissent  from  Mr.  Travis's 
teaching  concerning  the  absence  of  the  minister  from  the  celebration  of 
the  sacrament.  I  will  content  myself  with  saying  that  Mr.  Travis's  doc- 
trine is  not  the  doctrine  of  John  Wesley.  I  think  it  right  to  express  my 
dissent  from  the  statements  which  have  been  made  by  Mr.  Travis  in  the 
interests  of  historical  accuracy. 

Mr.  J.  H.  LiLE,  C.C,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church, 
spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Members  of  the  Conference :  I  will  not  take  my  five 
minutes,  but  on  the  last  paper  I  would  like  to  say  a  word  as  to  the  posi- 
tion of  the  women  in  the  Church.  We  that  come  from  the  old  country  in 
the  past  have  been  delighted  to  know  what  the  women  of  America  have 
done  in  connection  with  the  Church  and  the  temperance  movement ;  and 
when  we  know  of  an  organization  in  this  country — a  women's  society — 
for  suppressing  the  liquor  traffic,  and  the  work  they  are  doing  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Church,  we  are  very  much  surprised  to  know  that  the  men 
of  America,  and  some  of  our  men  as  well,  will  not  allow  the  women  to  sit 
and  mix  with  us  as  members  of  this  Conference.     A  well-known  name  in 


286  THE  CHURCH  AND  HER  AGENCIES. 

this  country  has  been  elected  to  sit  here  as  a  delegate.  I  allude  to  Miss 
Willard,  of  Chicago,  a  name  beloved  on  our  side  of  the  Atlantic  as  well  as 
on  this  side.       But  because  she  is  a  woman  she  cannot  come. 

Rev.  T.  B.  Stephenson:  I  submit,  Mr.  Chairman,  whether  it  is  com- 
petent for  a  member  from  the  Eastern  Section  to  reflect  ujjon  the  Western 
Section,  which  is  perfectly  competent  to  manage  its  own  business. 

Mr.  LiLE :  I  submit  to  the  president  of  our  own  Conference.  But  there 
are  many  women  in  our  countrj^  to-day  who  could  worthily  rejiresent  ovu-. 
Conference  if  it  would  have  accepted  them.  But  the  time  will  come  when, 
because  of  their  sex,  they  will  not  be  barred  from  holding  such  positions 
as  we  are  occupying  here  this  morning.  Who  can  better  discuss  papers 
on  woman's  work  than  woman  herself?  When  Mr.  Walters  this  morning 
took  up  two  subjects,  sisterhood  and  brotherhood,  he  had  time  only  to 
speak  on  one  question,  and  the  other  was  lost  sight  of  because  those  con- 
templated by  the  subject  qould  speak  for  themselves. 

But  because  the  president  of  the  Conference  has  spoken  as  he  has,  we 
feel  justified — I  do,  at  any  rate — in  standing  by  those  who  cannot  speak 
for  themselves.  Therefore  I  am  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  address  the 
Conference. 

The  Rev.  A.  B.  Leonard,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  continued  the  discussion,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  My  position  as  the  executive  of  the  Missionary  Society 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  caused  me  to  study  for  a  good 
many  years  this  question  of  laymen  in  the  work  of  the  Church;  and  I  am 
thoroughly  convinced  that  unless  something  can  be  done  to  stir  the 
masses  of  the  laity  in  our  Church  in  the  missionary  work  we  shall  not 
succeed  in  capturing  the  great  cities  of  this  country.  We  have  in  our 
Church  on  this  side  of  the  water  vast  numbers  of  members  who  have  not 
opened  their  eyes  to  the  thought  that  they  are  under  any  obligation  what- 
ever to  do  any  thing  jiersonally  for  the  salvation  of  this  world.  They  are 
in  their  places  more  or  less  regularly  at  times  of  worship;  but  they  are 
not  prepared  at  this  time  to  enter  actively  and  aggressively  into  the  mis- 
sionary work  in  our  great  cities. 

To  solve  the  question  of  reaching  the  masses  in  the  great  cities  every 
Methodist  must  l)e  made  to  l^elieve  that  he  can  be  an  evangelist  to  some 
perishing  soul.  In  this  country,  in  very  many  instances,  our  peoi^le  sup- 
pose that  missionary  v  ork  is  to  be  accomplished  through  missionary  or- 
ganizations as  such,  as  though  every  church  is  not  in  itself  to  be  considered 
as  a  missionary  organization.  The  local  church  in  any  commimity  is  noth- 
ing but  a  missionary  organization.  What  is  it  for  but  to  save  the  people 
where  it  is  located  ?  I  undertake  to  say  that  there  is  not  an  unchurched  fam- 
ily in  tliis  city,  or  any  city  in  the  laud,  that  may  not  be  reached  if  the  lay 
membership  were  stirred  to  take  j^art  in  this  great  work.  And  we  shall 
never  reach  the  masses  unless  this  movement  can  be  made  practicable.  I 
therefore  hope  that  this  discussion  will  contribute  something  on  this  side 
of  the  water  toward  arousing  the  laity  to  their  responsibility  on  this  ques- 
tion of  saving  the  people.  In  this  country  we  have  the  idea  that  a  revi- 
val is  to  be  gotten  up  or  produced  in  some  way  by  special  ministerial  and 
missionary  agencies,  and  that  laymen  are  to  have  but  little  to  do  with 
such  movements.  It  is  not  an  unusual  thing  for  a  presiding  elder  to  be 
approached  at  a  Quarterly  Conference  with  the  question :  ' '  Can  you 
send  us  a  revivalist  next  year  ?  Unless  we  can  have  a  revival  we 
might  as  well  close  our  doors."  Now,  there  are  a  great  many  Methodist 
preachers  in  this  country  who  would  like  to  be  sent  to  a  revived  congre- 


GENERAL    KEMARKS.  287 

gation.  And  it  is  just  as  necessary  for  a  congregation  to  be  in  a  revived 
state  as  for  a  minister  to  be  a  revivalist.  If,  say,  if  we  can  have  congre- 
gations that  vrill  reach  out  their  hands  to  the  people  nearest  to  them, 
then  v.'e  will  solve  the  problem  of  saving  the  masses. 

One  word  in  regard  to  women.  On  this  side  of  the  water  we  are  more 
indeljted  to  the  women  for  the  success  we  have  met  with  in  evangelistic 
and  temperance  movements  than  to  any  other  agency.  The  movement  for 
the  closing  of  the  dram-shops,  born  in  the  crusaile  in  Ohio  in  1873, 
was  a  shock  from  the  throne  of  God,  calling  the  women  of  this  country 
to  save  the  men  who  were  being  ruined  by  rum-drinking.  We  are  in- 
debted largely  to  the  Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  an  out- 
growth of  the  crusade,  for  the  position  we  have  on  this  subject. 

Mr.  Councilor  J.  Duckworth,  of  the  United  Methodist  Free 
Church,  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President  and  Brethren :  I  am  exceedingly  sorry  that  two  subjects 
so  important  should  have  been  brought  before  this  Conference  for  discus- 
sion in  the  same  session.     There  is  not  time  to  do  justice  to  either  of  them. 

I  yield  to  none,  sir,  in  my  sympathy  with  woman  and  her  work  iu  the 
Church ;  but  we  shall  make  a  grave  mistake  if  we  close  our  eyes  to  the 
fact  that  we  are  not  securing  men,  especially  young  men  of  intelligence 
and  position,  in  sufficient  numbers  to  carry  on  the  lay  agencies  of  the 
Churcli.  The  importance  of  efficient  leaders  and  local  preachers  in  the 
Methodist  churches  cannot  be  overestimated.  The  leaders  are  the  back- 
bone of  the  Church.  Where  they  are  weak  the  Church  cannot  be  strong. 
The  fact  that  in  England  one  third  of  the  Methodist  churches  are  de- 
pendent every  Sabbath  on  the  lay  ministry  shows  how  important  it  is 
that  their  number  and  efficiency  should  be  maintained.  The  difficulties 
of  securing  suitable  young  men  for  this  work  are  known  only  to  those  on 
whom  the  responsibility  devolves.  Hence  our  pulpits,  in  many  cases,  are 
inefficiently  filled. 

Now,  sir,  one  reason  why  thoughtful  and  intelligent  young  men  are  not 
secured  for  this  work  in  larfi:er  numbers  is  that  the  minister  overlooks 
them.  He,  more  than  any  other  man  iu  tlie  Church,  should  see  who  are 
suitable,  and  encourage  them  to  enter  the  work.  Every  minister  should 
have  a  class,  either  at  the  Church  or  at  his  own  home,  to  which  these  young 
men  can  come ;  and  he  should  instruct  them  in  theology,  and  in  the  art 
of  public  speaking.  I  have  been  a  lay  preacher  nearly  thirty  years,  and 
have  felt  all  through  my  experience  the  benefit  of  a  class  such  as  I  name. 

Another  thing  that  would  make  it  easier  for  suitable  young  men  to  take 
up  the  work  of  the  Church  is  a  deeper-toned  piety  in  our  homes.  Great 
responsi1)ility  rests  upon  parents  in  this  matter.  Where  father  and  mother 
think  lightly  of  the  Church,  and  do  little  for  it  themselves,  it  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at  if  the  children  show  the  same  spirit.  In  many  so-called  re- 
ligious homes  family  prayer  is  neglected,  and  God's  word  is  not  read  as 
it  should  be.  Ministers  are  not  always  spoken  of  with  respect,  and  suc- 
cess in  business,  or  in  intellectual  jmrsuits,  is  held  up  as  being  of  the  first 
importance,  while  the  formation  of  a  Christian  character  and  a  sphere  of 
usefulness  in  the  Church  are  left  largely  to  take  care  of  themselves.  What 
wonder,  then,  if  our  sons  grow  uj)  careless,  indifferent,  and  worldly,  and 
without  desire  to  be  useful  in  the  Church. 

The  Kev.  John  Bond,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Chui-ch, 
spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  On  the  line  of  the  present  talk  I  would  like  to  relate  a 


288  THE  CHURCH  AND  HEK  AGENCIES. 

few  facts.  Twenty  years  ago  one  of  the  largest  chapels  in  London  was 
committed  to  my  care.  A  pastoral  address  was  annually  issued  to  all  the 
church  members,  in  which  all  the  forms  of  church  work  that  seemed  to 
me  to  be  desirable  and  that  I  could  think  of  were  enumerated  on  the  fly- 
leaf. Every  member  of  the  church  received  a  copy  of  that  pastoral  ad- 
dress. On  the  fly-leaf  they  Avere  requested  to  put  their  names  opposite 
the  kind  of  work  they  would  be  willing  to  undertake.  Not  a  few  of  the 
officers,  but  the  whole  of  the  Church  w^oke  up  to  their  duty,  and  so  we 
moved  en  7nasse  on  the  degradation  and  ruin  around. 

In  another  case  I  took  this  method  of  enlarging  my  congregation. 
Having  three  hundred  persons  to  address,  I  appealed  to  them  and  said,  I 
want  six  hundred  persons  here  to-morrow;  will  you  promise,  each  of  you, 
to  come  to-morrow.  Those  who  will  come  will  please  hold  up  their 
hands.  Three  himdred  hands  were  held  up.  I  said,  I  want  each  of  you 
to  promise  that  you  will  bring  another  person  with  you  to-morrow.  Those 
who  will  do  that  will  please  hold  up  their  hands.  Again  three  hundred 
hands  were  held  up,  and  the  next  night  seven  hundred  persons  were 
present. 

Now,  with  regard  to  the  work  of  looking  after  strangers  in  this 
church.  I  divided  it  out  into  sections,  and  appointed  a  man  and  a 
woman  to  each  section,  to  look  after  strangers  who  came  within  the 
church.  Each  of  these  workers  was  furnished  with  hymn-books  to  hand 
to  strangers  as  they  came  in,  and  when  they  handed  them  the  books  that 
gave  them  practically  an  introduction  to  the  strangers.  At  the  close  of 
the  service  they  would  invite  them  to  come  again.  In  a  short  time  that 
church  Avas  filled  and  remained  filled  for  a  number  of  years. 

As  it  has  been  remarked  that  Methodist  Churches  in  the  Eastern  Section 
have  fewer  leaders  and  local  preachers  than  formerly,  I  wish  to  deny  the 
applicability  of  that  remark  to  that  branch  of  the  Church  with  which  I 
am  connected,  and  I  hope  that  nobody  will  go  away  thinking  that  is  the 
case  M'ith  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 

Mr.  H.  J.  Faemer- Atkinson,  M.P.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Meth- 
odist Church,  concluded  the  discussion,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  Chairman :  With  the  last  speaker,  I  would  say  that  I  am  sorry  you 
have  mixed  up  two  subjects.  What  were  the  committee  about,  knowing 
that  woman's  work  was  coming  on  this  afternoon  and  Methodist  sisterhood 
this  morning,  to  have  made  such  a  blunder?   It  is  indifference  to  the  ladies. 

The  second  speaker  said  he  believed  in  women.  I  suppose  he  is  a  mar- 
ried man,  as  ninety-nine  per  cent,  of  Methodist  ministers  are.  If  he  is, 
he  dare  not  say  any  thing  less  than  "I  believe  in  women,"  especially 
if  his  wife  is  with  him;  and  if  she  is  not  with  him  she  would  hear  of  it. 
I  believe  in  women  more  than  I  do  in  men,  because  I  know  that  women 
every-where  are  more  religious  than  men.  They  are  more  intelligent  on 
social  subjects.  And  there  is  where  I  go  when  I  want  a  vote  in  Parlia- 
ment. But  the  best  of  Methodist  editors  do  not  go  on  that  principle.  It 
is  a  credit  to  see  the  ladies  here  to-day;  it  is  an  inspiration.  My  wife,  as 
the  president  of  this  Conference  knows,  for  foi-ty  years  was  a  leader.  She 
had  four  sisters,  and  they  were  leaders ;  a  father  and  a  mother  who  were 
leaders;  and  I  would  rather  be  led  by  such  a  woman  than  I  would  by  the 
president  of  the  Conference  himself,  because  they  have  far  more  time 
to  think  about  what  they  will  say  than  he  can  have.  He  rushes  into  a 
room  and  rushes  out  again  to  look  after  a  matter  of  the  laying  of  some 
foundation-stone. 

Now,  as  to  the  sacrament.  We  all  know  very  well  if  the  church  cler- 
gymen would  have  continued  to  administer  the  sacrament  after  Wesley's 


GENERAL    EEMAKKS.  289 

death,  our  people  would  only  be  receiving  it  from  episcopally  ordained 
men  to-day. 

I  have  a  plan  that  was  used  by  my  grandfather,  who  was  a  Methodist  at 
Hull,  showing  that  the  early  Methodists  never  opened — (Here  the  time 
expired). 

The  time  for  adjournment  liaving  now  arrived,  the  Confer- 
ence closed  with  singing,  and  with  the  benediction  by  Bishop 
R.  K,  Hargrove,  D.D. 


290  THE   CHURCH    AND    HER   AGENCIES. 


SECOND  SESSION. 

The  Conference  assembled  at  2:30  P.  M.,  the  Rev.  D.  J. 
Waller,  D.D.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church,  in  the 
chair.  Prayer  was  offered  by  the  Eev.  Joseph  Nettleton,  of 
the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church,  and  the  Scriptures  were  read 
bv  Mr.  T.  Morgan  Harvey,  of  the  same  Church. 

Tlie  order  of  the  afternoon  was  taken  up,  and  the  following 
essay  on  "  Woman's  Work  in  the  Church  "  was  read  by  the 
Eev.  B.  St.  James  Fry,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church : 

The  spread  of  evangelical  religion,  and  tlie  development  of  that  condi- 
tion of  society  w^hich  we  denominate  Christian  civilization,  which  is  the 
product  of  it,  is  giving  new  life  and  interest  to  whatever  pertains  to 
humanity.  But  its  most  signiticant  feature  is  that  it  is  enabling  us  to 
give  a  largeness  of  interpretation  to  the  Gospel  of  Christ  which  is  restor- 
ing to  us  the  spirit  and  the  practice  of  apostolic  Christianity.  And  when 
we  have  attained  as  large  and  true  a  conception  of  the  Son  of  man  as  we 
have  of  the  Son  of  God  we  shall  find  the  correct  basis  for  our  discussion 
of  "  Woman's  Work  in  the  Church." 

When  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  coming  out  of  the  wilderness  of  the  tempta- 
tion, filled  with  the  Sjiirit,  began  his  ministrj'-  in  Galilee,  it  is  described 
in  these  words :  ' '  And  Jesus  went  about  all  Galilee,  teaching  in  their 
.synagogues,  and  preaching  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom,  and  healing  all 
manner  of  sickness  and  all  manner  of  disease  among  the  people.  And 
his  fame  went  throughout  all  Syria:  and  they  brought  unto  him  all  sick 
people  that  were  taken  with  divers  diseases  and  torments,  and  those 
which  were  possessed  with  devils,  and  those  which  were  lunatic,  and 
those  that  had  the  palsy;  and  he  healed  them."  It  was  to  this  multitude, 
drawn  together  by  this  wonderful  manifestation  of  compassion  for  the 
people,  that  he  preached  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Later,  visiting  Naz- 
areth, where  he  had  been  brought  up,  he  announced  that  the  prophecy 
of  Isaiah,  declaring  by  what  tokens  the  Messiah  should  become  manifest 
to  Israel — by  preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  poor  and  deliverance  to  the 
captives,  by  healing  the  broken-hearted,  by  giving  sight  to  the  blind, 
and  liberty  to  the  bruised — was  then  and  there  fulfilled.  It  is  plain,  how- 
ever, that  this  manner  of  service  did  not  satisfy  the  common  concejition 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  which  the  Baptist  had  proclaimed  as  about  to 
be  set  \ip  among  men.  But  to  John's  messengers,  whose  directness  of  in- 
quiry compelled  a  frank  and  direct  answer,  He  said:  "Go  and  show 
John  again  those  things  which  ye  do  hear  and  see :  the  blind  receive  their 
sight,  and  the  lame  walk,  the  lepers  are  cleansed,  and  the  deaf  hear,  the 
dead  are  raised  up,  and  the  poor  have  the  gospel  preached  to  them." 

I  have  appealed  to  this  record  of  the  work  of  Jesus  that  we  may  see 


ESSAY    OF  EEV.  B.    ST.    JAMES    FRY.  291 

clearly  what  the  work  of  the  Church  is.  He  must  be  dull  indeed  who 
does  not  perceive  that  the  personal  ministry  of  the  Lord  Jesus  among 
men  was  as  largely  a  ministration  of  love  and  mercy  for  the  body  as  for 
the  soul.  Throughout  his  entire  ministry  its  marked  characteristic  was 
the  compassion  which  he  never  failed  to  show  for  the  suffering  and  sor- 
row incident  to  human  life.  We  affirm  that  there  was  an  increasino- 
exercise  of  his  wonderful  powers  to  alleviate  physical  suffering.  While 
his  disciples  had  imperfect  and  unworthy  conception  of  his  character 
and  mission,  having  accepted  the  common  opinion  of  the  scribes  and 
Pharisees  as  to  the  Messiahship,  the  common  jJeople  among  whom  his 
miracles  were  wrought  confessed  their  faith  as  they  asked :  "Is  not  this 
the  son  of  David?  "  And  in  every  century  of  Christianity  there  has  been 
greater  or  less  recognition  of  the  great  regard  that  the  Lord  Christ  had 
for  the  poor,  the  afflicted,  the  unfortunate,  and  the  oi^pressed.  It  has 
begotten  institutions  of  charity  and  fraternities  and  organizations  de- 
voted to  the  relief  of  human  suffering.  Men  and  women,  for  Christ's 
sake,  have  gone  as  cheerfully  into  the  jaws  of  pestilence  and  deadly  ejii- 
demics  as  the  glorious  martyrs  of  the  first  centuries  went  to  the  stake  and 
the  lions,  not  counting  their  life  dear  unto  themselves,  that  they  might 
minister  unto  Christ's  suffering  ones  in  the  spirit  which  his  example 
taught.  And  the  Church  is  beginning  to  understand  as  never  before  the 
words  in  which  he  passes  judgment  upon  those  whose  profession  of 
discipleshiji  is  not  confirmed  by  such  deeds  of  love  and  mercy  as  fall 
within  the  sphere  of  every  one  who  truly  loves  the  Lord  and  his  fellow- 
men.  These  awards  of  life  eternal  to  those  who  show  compassion  on  their 
brethren,  and  everlasting  punishment  upon  those  who  do  not  feed  the 
hungry,  clothe  the  naked,  and  visit  those  in  prison,  have  been  too  often 
forgotten  in  the  wrangling  of  zealots  and  the  dreary  discussions  of 
ecclesiastics. 

But  what  relation  does  woman  bear  to  this  work  committed  to  the 
Church  by  the  Master,  upon  which  such  weighty  issues  depend,  and 
what  is  to  be  her  part  in  it?  Women  among  the  Jews  were  more  highly 
esteemed  than  in  other  nations.  Elsewhere  the  husband  bought  the  wife, 
and  she  was  the  uncomplaining  slave  subject  to  his  will.  By  all  possible 
ways  women  were  taught  their  inferiority  to  men.  The  Jew  allowed 
women  a  place  in  the  temple  worshiji,  but  separated  from  the  men  in  an 
outer  court,  farther  removed  from  the  sanctuary.  And  the  Jewish  ritual, 
as  we  know,  placed  women  under  peculiar  disabilities  on  account  of  her 
sex.  Yet  in  Israel  women  like  Deborah  and  Huldah  were  called  of  God 
to  the  prophetical  office,  and  rendered  signal  national  service  in  great 
emergencies.  And  what  fragrant  memories  cluster  about  the  names  of 
Hannah  and  Ruth  and  Esther.  It  is  probable  that  when  the  coming  of 
the  Messiah  began  to  affect  the  thought  and  feeling  of  the  Hebrew  people 
as  jDart  of  the  preparation  for  the  preaching  of  John,  that  the  necessary 
relation  of  woman  to  that  event  produced  within  a  narrow  circle  an  ex- 
pectation which  found  expression  in  eminent  piety,  as  in  the  case  of 
Anna  the  prophetess.     But  it  was  not  until  Jesus  entered  upon  his  min- 


292  THE  CHUECH  AND  HER  AGENCIES. 

istry  that  woman  began  to  obtain  a  recognition  never  before  accorded  to 
womankind.  Contrary  to  the  custom  of  the  times  women  fomied  a  con- 
siderable part  of  the  crowds  that  waited  upon  his  teaching.  They  were 
present  on  all  occasions,  and  some  of  the  more  notable  cases  of  healing 
were  wrought  upon  them.  In  all  ages  women,  on  account  of  their  deli- 
cate organization  and  motherhood,  have  borne  the  burden  of  the  world's 
physical  suffering.  The  compassion  of  Jesus  for  their  infirmities  and 
suffering  won  their  hearts  and  inspired  faith.  It  was  the  perfect  faith  of 
a  woman  that  drew  healing  for  her  many  years'  infirmity  from  the  touch 
of  his  robe.  The  faith  of  the  Syro-phenician  woman  commanded  his  ad- 
miration. But  Jesus  had  healing  for  the  soul  as  for  the  body,  and  those 
for  whom  society  had  no  mercy  found  the  grace  of  repentance  and  pardon 
at  his  feet. 

There  was  that  in  the  character  and  ministry  of  Jesus  which  offered 
singular  attractions  for  women.  His  pure  life,  his  doctrines  of  self-sacra- 
fice  and  holy  living,  of  pardon  and  restoration  to  the  divine  favor,  his  ten- 
derness when  in  the  presence  of  suffering,  made  her  a  loving  disciple.  He 
enunciated  a  law  of  chastity  for  men  which  even  Christian  society  does  not 
yet  enforce,  that  has  in  it  for  woman  some  promise  of  an  earthly  paradise. 
And  is  it  not  probable  that  among  the  women  who  attended  on  his  ministry 
there  grew  up  some  dimly  formed  hope,  already  realized  in  part  by  us,  that 
in  this  kingdom  of  heaven  which  he  was  establishing  on  the  earth  woman 
would  be  emancipated  from  the  law  of  inequality  and  inferiority  under 
which  she  had  been  bound  in  all  the  past  ?  If  she  had  been  alone  in  fall- 
ing into  the  temptation  which  brought  sin  into  the  Avorld,  she  had  been 
alone  also  in  bringing  into  the  world  the  Redeemer  of  the  race. 

There  was  certainly  a  company  of  women  that  in  his  later  days  stood 
in  intimate  relation  to  Jesus  and  ' '  ministered  unto  him. "  They  came  with 
him  in  the  last  journey  to  Jerusalem  before  his  passion.  They  were  wit- 
nesses of  the  entombment,  the  first  witnesses  of  his  resurrection,  and 
formed  a  part  of  the  company  at  the  Pentecost  when  they  were  all  filled 
with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  ' '  began  to  speak  with  tongues  as  the  Spirit 
gave  them  utterance."  Peter  declared  that  the  prophecy  of  Joel  then 
began  to  be  fulfilled:  "  I  will  pour  out  of  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh;  and 
your  sons  and  your  daughters  shall  prophesy." 

It  is  hardly  denied  by  any  one  that  there  was  a  ministry  of  women  in  the 
Church  in  the  apostolic  times.  In  a  single  family  were  four  daughters 
whom  God  had  endowed  with  the  gift  of  prophecy.  They  were,  probably, 
evangelists,  and  among  the  most  active  workers  in  spreading  the  "good 
tidings."  Of  the  same  class,  we  suppose,  were  the  young  women,  the 
ministrce,  put  to  the  torture  by  Pliny,  who  hoped  to  obtain  from  them 
some  confession  of  evil  doing  on  which  to  found  charges  against  their 
Christian  companions.  At  an  early  date,  as  we  have  heard  this  morning, 
this  ministry  of  women  became  in  part  an  established  order  and  rendered 
systematic  service  to  the  Church.  It  will  not  be  questioned,  then,  that 
from  the  first  women  were  forward  in  all  church  work.  For  the  outpour- 
ing of  the  Spirit  not  only  produced  great  activity  in  preaching  the  word 


ESSAY    OF   EEV.  B.   ST.    JAMES    FEY.  293 

of  salvation,  but  the  attemjit,  at  least,  was  made  to  reduce  to  practice  the 
ethical  teaching  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  The  community  of  believers 
at  Jerusalem  was  a  true  family  of  God,  and  took  upon  itself  the  care  of 
all  its  members.  There  were  not  many  miracles  wrought,  but  loving 
hearts  took  upon  themselves  as  far  as  possible  the  ministration  of  love 
which  the  Master  had  taught  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  and  at  the  Last 
Supper.  They  did  not  succeed  perfectly,  as  the  record  informs  us,  but 
the  spirit  and  practice  were  manifest ;  and  as  the  Gospel  won  its  way 
among  the  Gentiles  each  Christian  communion  established  rested  on  the 
truest  fellowship  ever  known  among  men,  and  in  which  the  Christlike 
spirit  was  exhibited  in  such  fullness  that  even  their  enemies  were  com- 
pelled to  confess  that  a  new  order  of  things  had  appeared.  No  objection 
lies  against  our  account  in  the  fact  that  we  do  not  find  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament an  exact  statement  as  to  woman's  work  in  the  Church  in  the  first 
century.  So  slight  is  the  information  gathered  fj-om  the  same  source  in 
regard  to  the  organization  and  structure  of  the  Church  itself  that  three 
quite  distinct  schemes  of  church  polity  appeal  to  it  for  support. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  trace  the  history  of  what  woman  has  contrib- 
uted toward  the  establishment  of  Christianity  from  the  first  century  to  our 
times ;  nor  is  it  necessary  for  the  point  of  view  which  I  have  chosen.  Dur- 
ing the  greater  part  of  these  centuries  there  was  little  to  commend  along 
the  lines  indicated.  Rome  failed  to  attain  the  best  results  of  what  might 
have  been  a  grand  system.  The  Church  idea  has  so  dominated  in  her  appro- 
priation of  the  service  of  women  that  they  have  been  more  devoted  to  the 
Church  than  to  Christ.  There  is  an  element  of  selfishness  in  it  that  excludes 
the  highest  sympathy  for  those  among  whom  they  labor.  The  vows  im- 
posed on  women  engaged  in  the  work  of  the  Church  makes  it  impossible  for 
them  to  exercise  the  liberty  which  the  best  work  for  the  salvation  of  souls 
demands.  The  command  of  Jesus  was  to  be  in  the  M'orld,  but  not  of  it. 
Our  modern  workers  have  done  wisely  in  making  their  hoine  in  the  midst 
of  the  world  lying  in  the  wicked  one,  showing  by  their  example  that 
Jesus  can  save  in  any  condition  of  society. 

"We  are  compelled  to  admit  that,  generally,  Protestantism  has  failed  to 
employ  the  women  of  her  faith  profitably  in  the  work  of  bringing  the 
world  to  Christ.  We  have  been  foolishly  afraid  of  following  in  the  foot- 
steps of  Eome,  and  so  have  neglected  to  secure  the  best  equijiped  workers 
within  our  reach.  We  are  but  beginning  to  perceive  what  wealth  of  un- 
employed labor  is  waiting  for  the  ojiportunity  of  intelligent,  simple  organ- 
ization to  make  it  efficient  in  saving  souls.  If  I  were  asked  to  name  the 
beginning  of  the  present  revival  of  the  spirit  and  practice  of  the  first 
century,  which,  however,  has  had  so  irregular  a  develoi^ment  that  we  cannot 
trace  each  connecting  link,  I  should  name  Susannah  Wesley  and  the  gather- 
ing in  her  home  composed  of  her  children  and  servants  and  neighbors,  turn- 
ing "  the  parsonage  into  a  conventicle,"  persisting  in  her  conviction  of 
duty  against  the  advice  of  rector  and  curate,  prompted,  no  doubt,  by  the 
Holy  Spirit.  Methodism  was  a  revival  of  si)iritual  religion,  and  be- 
cause it  was  such  it  was  a  revival  also  of  the  fellowship)  and  personal 


294  THE  CHUECH  AND  HEE  AGENCIES. 

watchcare  and  practical  work  of  the  primitive  Church.  Xo  institution 
of  evangelism  and  benevolence  has  written  in  its  charter  a  more  compre- 
hensive scheme  of  Christian  fellowship  and  ethical  activities  than  is  found 
in  the  ' '  General  Rules  "  of  the  Methodist  Churches.  As  Methodism  grew 
it  produced  many  women  worthy  of  association  with  the  mother  of  the 
Wesleys.  And  on  the  whole  no  Protestant  Church  has  made  so  much  out 
of  her  women,  who  ask  only  to  be  shown  what  to  do  and  permission  to 
do  it.  The  class-room  and  the  Sunday-school  for  a  long  time  bovmded 
the  sjihere  of  woman's  work  in  our  churches.  How  many  women  have 
made  their  first  venture  of  service  for  Christ  in  a  search  for  Sunday-scliool 
scholars,  or  on  a  visit  to  a  scholar  over  whom  they  had  oversight !  They 
found  their  way  into  homes  without  Christ,  often  where  poverty  reigned 
and  physical  suffering  had  made  life  without  Christ  an  ungracious  bur- 
den, begetting  doubts  of  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the  redemption  by 
Christ.  In  such  work  many  a  devout  soul  has  learned  why  Christ  laid 
such  stress  on  feeding  the  hungry  and  clothing  the  naked  and  preach- 
ing the  ' '  good  tidings  "  to  the  poor,  experiencing  for  the  first  time  the 
blessedness  of  ministering  to  those  for  whom  Christ  died  and  for  whom 
his  heart  yearns. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  of  every  generation  to  devote  itself  to  the 
propagation  and  maintenance  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ;  to  produce  as 
nearly  as  possible  the  condition  of  society  which  Christ  came  to  establish. 
It  cannot  prove  true  to  its  mission  unless  it  shall  continue  the  ministration 
of  love  and  mercy  to  the  souls  and  bodies  of  men  Avhich  Jesus  instituted. 
It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  display  the  failures  of  the  Church  in  the  past. 
Our  responsibility  is  not  for  the  past,  but  for  the  present.  We  boast  of 
this  century  as  showing  the  energy,  intelligence,  and  courage  needed  for 
any  task  it  may  undertake.  Not  only  this,  but  we  who  compose  this  Con- 
ference have  been  recounting,  with  perhaps  j^ardonable  pride,  the  part  we 
have  had  by  inheritance  and  personal  labor  in  a  great  revival  of  spiritual 
religion.  Our  founder  began  among  the  poor  and  wicked,  among  those 
neglected  by  the  churches,  and  pursued  his  work  with  such  devotion  and 
singleness  of  purpose  that  no  man  of  his  time  has  obtained  fuller  recog- 
nition as  a  servant  of  Christ.  And  we  may  honestly  claim  to  possess  in 
no  small  degree  the  spirit  of  Wesley.  We  have  sent  missionaries  into 
every  part  of  the  world,  and  have  had  marked  success  when  we  consider 
the  force  and  means  employed.  But  never  since  they  were  first  employed 
have  the  words  of  our  Lord,  ' '  The  harvest  truly  is  great,  but  the  laborers 
are  few, "  been  more  applicable  than  now.  We  have  free  access  to  nearly 
all  peoples.  In  Avhat  we  call  Christian  lands  we  see  thousands  who  are 
not  only  unconverted,  but  they  have  little  or  no  knowledge  of  Christ. 
We  must  certainly  hold  ourselves  in  some  respect  responsible  for  the  con- 
version of  the  English-speaking  people  wherever  they  are  to  be  found. 
But  there  is  not  a  city  where  we  have  built  our  churches  in  which  there 
are  not  hundreds  of  the  poor  and  laboring  classes  that  are  utterly  neg- 
lected. 

It  must  be  manifest  to  all  that  if  this  world  is  to  be  brought  to  Christ  by 


ESSAY    OF    KEY.   B.   ST.   JAMES    FRY,  295 

methods  that  we  now  employ — and  we  know  no  other — we  must  send  a 
hundred  into  the  work  where  now  we  have  one ;  and  a  much  larger  share 
of  the  wealth  of  the  Church  must  be  devoted  to  this  service.  But  a  part 
of  this  work,  and  a  very  important  part  of  it,  must  be  done  by  the  women 
of  the  Church.  They  have  discovered  some  of  the  iields  where  they  are 
needed  and  are  at  work  in  them  in  good  earnest.  After  years  of  work  in 
our  largest  foreign  mission  it  was  found  out  that  we  had  no  acces^  to  the 
homes  in  which  the  children  are  born  and  bred  who  become  the  most  in- 
fluential in  society.  We  were  trying  to  convert  a  nation  without  gaining 
access  to  the  mothers,  into  whose  homes  men  could  not  gain  admittance. 
But  no  sooner  was  the  situation  made  know  than  the  women  of  the  Church 
organized,  and  the  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  began  to  send  women  missionaries  and  women  med- 
ical missionaries  into  all  our  foreign  fields.  In  like  manner  the  Woman's 
Home  Missionary  Society  is  working  at  home,  and  the  deaconesses  are 
attempting  to  reproduce  the  work  of  the  primitive  Church.  On  every 
hand  we  hear  pleas  for  the  service  of  these  women,  who  joyfully  devote 
themselves  to  what  we  are  pleased  to  call  church  work — the  work  which 
the  churches  are  not  doing.  For  the  successful  prosecution  of  this  work 
not  only  love  and  faith  are  needed,  but  training,  that  the  work  may  be 
done  well.  And  these  workers  need  also  an  accredited  jjosition  in  the 
Church.  There  are  yet  other  fields  open  to  them.  jSTo  work  is  more 
needed  in  our  cities  than  the  rescue  of  the  victims  of  man's  lust.  Men 
are  entirely  incompetent  for  such  work. 

We  have  in  our  churches  a  constantly  increasing  number  of  women 
fitted  by  education  and  happy  home-life  for  any  sphere  of  usefulness  into 
which  the  Church  will  bid  them  enter.  Every-where  they  constitute  the 
spiritual  force  of  the  churches.  They  only  wait  for  the  opportunity  to 
contribute  by  their  personal  labor  for  the  conversion  of  the  world.  They 
are  not  ambitious  of  place ;  they  do  not  seek  worldly  honor.  They  have 
the  spirit  of  the  women  who  belonged  to  the  company  of  Christ  and  the 
apostles.  They  know  Christ  in  that  lofty  fellowshiji  that  lifts  man  or 
woman  into  unworldly  and  unselfish  living.  They  have  felt  the  jirompt- 
ings  of  the  Spirit,  and  only  wait  the  sanction  and  guidance  of  church 
organization.  There  is  no  Christian  service  they  will  not  perform  for 
Christ's  sake.  The  Church  cannot  do  the  work  before  it  unless  it  can 
have  the  co-operation  of  these  women. 

But  there  are  those  who  honestly  fear  lest  harm  may  come  of  the  em- 
ployment of  women  in  any  except  the  lowest  grade  of  church  services. 
If  we  trust  God  there  is  no  cause  for  alarm.  If  we  rightly  organize  such 
service,  it  will  draw  to  it  only  those  who  are  moved  by  the  Spirit.  Our 
safety  lies  in  this.  I  know  of  but  one  way  to  detennine  into  what  fields 
of  labor  Christian  woman  may  enter — the  same  by  which  we  test  men  who 
devote  their  lives  to  Christian  work.  Christ's  work  in  every  phase  of  it, 
from  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  the  nursing  of  a  sick  babe  for 
Christ's  sake,  can  only  be  rightly  done  under  no  less  worthy  motive.  It 
demands  the  highest  measure  of  spirituality,  the  most  courageous  faith, 


296  THE  CHUKCH  AND  HER  AGENCIES. 

love  for  souls,  the  possession  of  the  spirit  of  Christ.  Where  these  are 
present,  no  harm  can  come;  where  they  are  wanting,  no  worthy  service  can 
be  rendered.  So,  then,  to  all  those  women  engaged  in  working  for  Christ, 
whether  evangelists,  deaconesses,  class-leaders,  Sunday-school  teachers, 
King's  Daughters,  Epworth  Leaguers,  the  women  of  our  Foreign  and  Home 
Missionary  Societies,  we  bid  God-sjieed. 

The  Rev.  William  Gorman,  of  the  Irish  Methodist  Church, 
gave  the  first  aj^pointed  address  on  the  topic  of  tlie  afternoon, 
as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  In  the  haste  of  fleeting  minutes  let  me  compress  into  a 
symbol  my  entire  contribution  to  this  theme  of  unsurpassed  interest.  On 
those  hajjpy  occasions  when  two  lives  unite  at  the  altar  there  comes  a 
throbbing  moment  when  the  ofRciator  pronounces  the  words  of  woman's 
great  Friend:  "  That  which  God  hath  joined  together,  let  not  man  put 
asunder."  That,  as  a  still  small  voice,  is  being  heard,  for — especially  in 
the  last  few  decades — "the  old  order  changeth  "  in  nothing  more  than  in 
the  emancipation  of  Avoman  from  the  thraldom  of  ages,  and  her  enfran- 
chisement in  the  kingdom  of  God.  And  there  was  dire  need.  Jehovah- 
Elohim,  acting  bridesman,  had  placed  at  man's  side  his  counterpart,  his 
reflected  image,  to  complete  the  one  divine  similitude.  Heavenliest 
evolution  "  out  of  man  "  had  endowed  her  with  finest  fitness  to  be  with 
him  God's  vice-gerent — "Let  them  have  dominion;  "  "  a  helpmeet,"  and, 
a  fortiori,  highest  in  the  highest. 

The  male  appreciation  of  the  gift  is  testified  by  the  age-long  clanking 
of  her  chains ;  and  if  fetters  are  most  fetters,  and  gall  most,  when  they 
afflict  our  nature  at  its  noblest  and  restrain  its  sublimest  action,  then  her 
bondage  has  been  specially  emjjhasized  in  the  Church  of  God.  I  have 
hope  that  this  great  Council  by  its  moral  influence  shall  aid  the  removal 
of  her  last  disability  and  the  placing  of  her  in  the  realm  of  Christian  work 
by  the  side  of  man. 

That  restoration  has  indeed  little  now  to  reckon  with  save  "some 
things  hard  to  be  understood  " — by  some — in  "  our  beloved  Brother  Paul." 
But — and  I  bow  deferentially  to  the  theologians  of  this  assembly — when 
he  is  interpreted  to  teach  woman's  personal  equality  and  her  social  sub- 
ordination; that  the  assertion  of  Christian  liberty  is  not  to  violently 
shock  the  taste  of  the  prevalent  culture,  be  it  Attic  or  Anglican  or 
American;  that  masculine  authority  in  teaching  is  not  to  be  usurped; 
when  his  wise  word,  "Doth  not  even  nature  itself  teach  you  ? "  is  accejjted 
as  the  canon  for  the  differentiation  of  function ;  when  we  have  turned  upon 
his  pages  the  lamp  of  those  "  other  Scriptures  "  which  invest  woman  with 
the  very  prerogatives  which  his  words  are  supposed  to  withhold ;  when 
we  feel  the  force  of  the  fact  that  the  development  of  the  Spirit's  teaching 
was  not  arrested  in  the  first  Christian  century,  and  that  a  living  Christ 
walks  in  the  midst  of  the  seven  golden  candlesticks,  the  residue  is  the 
resistless  conviction  that  woman's  work  and  man's  are  one — his  broad- 


ADDRESS    OF   KEV.    WILLIAM    GOKMAN".  297 

est  in  the  public  arena,  hers  mightiest  and  peerless  in  the  home.  But 
the  distinction  is  not  of  essence,  but  of  degree,  the  limitations  of  the 
one  coinciding  with  the  enlargements  of  the  other,  but  all  departments 
of  Christian  service  being  surmounted  with  this  imperial  device,  "Neither 
is  the  man  without  the  woman,  nor  the  woman  without  the  man  in  the 
Lord." 

Hence,  "sisterhoods" — save  indeed  some  so  sweet  and  sacred  as  have 
been  represented  here  to-day— fail  of  the  ideal,  and  so  of  permanence. 
They  have  a  proper  plea  of  abnormal  circumstance — they  "serve  the 
present  distress;  "  they  garner  fruit  that  may  seal  the  lips  of  challenge. 
But  when  they  involve  severance  from  social  life  they  look,  at  least 
askance,  toward  Rome.  Celibate  sisterhoods  are  already  there.  If  man's 
most  effective  service  demands  the  subtle  and  delicate  glamour  of  female 
influence,  conversely  woman's  is  poorer  if  deprived  of  the  robust  bracing 
of  his  strength.  The  holy  home  is  the  palladium  of  the  world's  hope. 
Sanctified  family  life,  of  which  the  Church  is  but  enlargement  and  anti- 
type, is  in  its  outgoings  to  cleanse  and  uplift  society,  or  the  bell  of  doom 
may  ring. 

Woman's  fitness  to  be  comjDrehensively  man's  co-worker  needs  no  vindi- 
cation in  this  hour  of  our  age.  It  has  heaven's  seal.  Handicapped  though 
she  has  been  by  cruel  customs,  her  distinctive  gifts  have  found  the  high 
places  of  literature  and  science  and  art.  In  medicine,  at  the  bar,  in  all 
philanthropies,  she  has  proved  herself  prepared  to  be  not  "a  whit  behind 
the  chiefest "  of  her  lords.  But  she  stands  outside  the  gate — the  very 
gate  that  should  open  to  her  of  its  own  accord.  Was  she  not  with  the 
van  in  the  revival  of  learning  ?  Did  she  not  sit  in  the  chairs  of  Greek 
and  mathematics  and  anatomy  in  the  universities  of  Italy  ?  Yea,  sits  on 
thrones  and  makes  them  no  less  regal.  But,  as  touching  certain  council 
chambers  of  the  Church  which  pre-eminently  need  the  feminine  gift,  the 
Mary  Somervilles  and  Harriet  Stowes  and  Barrett  Brownings  are  exercis- 
ing the  ' '  meekness  of  wisdom  "  in  the  porch. 

And  there  is  another  gate,  for  which,  though  it  opens,  I  bespeak  a 
somewhat  widening  push,  namely,  social  address  and  prayer.  Her  nota- 
ble endowments — ajipearance,  voice,  tenderness,  persuasiveness,  crowned 
with  a  faith  and  devotion  which  man  not  always  parallels — are  too  grudg- 
ingly accepted  in  the  worship  and  edification  of  the  Church.  May  I 
touch  a  paradox  ?  An  able  and  honored  episcopal  hand  writes  her  this 
testimonial:  "She  is  man's  equal  in  natural  endowments ;  in  many  respects 
his  superior.  She  is  certainly  an  efficient — I  think  the  most  efficient — 
medium  of  the  divine  influence.  Her  delicacy  of  organization,  her  mag- 
netic energy,  her  deep  insight  into  spiritual  realities,  the  unselflshness  of 
her  affection,  her  unwearying  patience,  give  woman  easy  access  to  man's 
nol)lest  nature  and  marvelous  power  over  the  heart  of  every  child."  And 
yet,  both  by  the  writer  and  by  some  of  the  very  princes  of  Israel,  that 
"  access"  must  be  only  to  the  unit  and  that  "marvelous  power  "  limited 
to  the  "domestic  meetings  of  the  Church."  Strange,  she  may  bring  all 
her  graces  to  the  altar  but  the  charm  of  her  speech,  may  write  the 
22 


21)8  THE   CHURCH    AND    HER   AGENCIES. 

Gospel,  sing  the  Gospel,  may  fling  it  on  the  canvas  to  ease  her  of  the 
burning  burden,  but  not  ' '  jj reach  "  it !  She  may  teach  her  son  to  do  it 
as  all  the  colleges  of  East  and  West  cannot,  may  even  help  her  husband 
in  his  sermons.  Prisca  may  be  theological  tutor  to  the  brilliant  Alexan- 
drian exegete  and  flaming  preacher,  but  when  the  tent-room  is  cleared  for 
worship  she  sinks  into  "silence  with  all  subjection."  I  have  no  lot  in 
spiritism,  and  I  speak  without  instruction  from  Paul,  but  I  almost 
fancy  that  that  great  soul  of  breadth  and  progress  who  saluted  the 
' '  women  that  labored  with  him  in  the  Gospel "  shudders  to  find  his  sa- 
gacious words  of  about  A.  D.  58  narrowed  into  the  anachronisms  of 
1891,  Corinth  made  the  standard  for  Washington,  London  but  a  modern 
Ephesus ! 

But  all  the  instincts  of  our  glad  evangel  hail  the  Susannah  Wesleys 
and  the  Mary  Fletchers  of  our  times,  names  too  numerous,  and  some  of 
them  too  near,  for  mention,  wealthy  in  God's  choicest  gifts.  "  Their  ele- 
ment is  motherhood,"  it  is  said,  and  it  is  the  very  truth!  Reduce  its 
sweetness  and  emphasis,  and  you  drape  the  ark  of  God  with  sackcloth. 
But  "motherhood"  is  the  divinest  inflection  of  the  word  of  peace,  too 
often  absent  from  the  masculine  message.  And  we  are  sensitive  for  her 
"gentleness."  Doubtless  there  is  a  risk,  a  distant  one,  as  the  ministry  of 
the  Friends  might  assure  us,  if  we  had  not  choice  illustrations  at  our  own 
doors,  that  while  the  peril  cleaves  to  all  public  vocations  it  surely  reaches 
its  vanishing-point  in  the  exposition  of  the  "gentleness  of  God,"  The 
danger  lurks  in  the  prejudice  which  forces  her  to  self-assertion,  an  atti- 
tude without  elegance,  even  in  man.  And  that  there  should  be  need  for 
organizations  of  women  for  the  freedom  of  woman  is  a  blot  which  the 
Church  of  these  latter  days  should  wipe  out. 

And  there  are  deprecatory  whispers  as  to  "a  womanly  sphere."  Let 
who  can  define  it!  It  is  in  her  "  Father's  business,"  and  in  her  Saviour's 
track.  If  there  be  a  human  hell  it  is  the  battle-field,  but  there  she  stands 
by  the  camp  ambulance  as  an  angel  of  God.  Look !  she  is  bending  over 
a  poor  fellow  who  has  short  shrift  now.  The  parting  kiss  of  home  was 
the  last  link  that  held  him  to  manhood  and  to  hope ;  she  has  dressed  his 
wounds,  soothed  his  pain,  and  she  is  pouring  into  his  closing  sense  the 
story  and  teaching  him  the  language  of  another  world,  "unto  Him 
that  loved  us. "  You  would  not  forbid  her.  You  would  not  if  you  were 
his  mother. 

The  duty  of  the  hour  is  not  a  relegation  to  departments,  but  a  generous 
welcome  of  woman  to  her  work  in  the  Church.  No  doors  shut  because 
she  is  a  woman  !  The  measure  of  entrance,  largely  indicated  by  her  phy- 
sique, is  in  the  care  of  the  same  Spirit  that  distributed  the  gifts.  In  such 
care  problems  of  exquisite  delicacy,  which  resent  dogmatic  handling, 
will  resolve  themselves  in  the  action  of  life.  Some  are  suflRciently  simple. 
Is  "woman  in  the  pulpit"  obnoxious  ?  The  solution  is  mechnical.  Let 
the  pulpit  be  taken,  let  the  woman  be  left.  Be  there  questions  of  ordi- 
nation and  administration,  they  are  not  of  essence,  but  of  accident,  and 
they  are  safe  with  that  angel  of  the  Church  that  we  call  providence ;  and 


ADDKESS    OF    KEY.    WILLIAM    GOKMAN.  299 

they  shrivel  into  insignificance  in  face  of  the  fact  that  the  ' '  children  of 
this  world  "  have  flung  its  doors  open  wide.  The  opera  places  no  ban ; 
deistic  and  impure  fiction  clear  her  way ;  theosophy  bids  her  welcome ! 
Shall  the  feet  of  the  sisters  of  my  Lord  "bring  glad  tidings"  or  tread 
the  stage  ?  Shall  the  role  be  that  of  a  Madame  Blavatsky  or  of  Elizabeth 
Fry  ?  Shall  Annie  Besant  be  followed  in  her  moods  or  Catherine  Booth 
in  her  heroic  devotion  ?  These  are  alternatives  that  may  ' '  give  us 
pause. " 

And  it  is  salutary  to  note  the  trend  of  history.  As  the  race  drifted 
from  the  old  altars,  in  that  measure  has  been  the  denial  of  her  proper 
place.  And  the  track  of  that  denial  is  strewn  with  mischiefs  to  herself 
and  to  all.  Paganism !  the  word  is  a  synonym  for  her  perdition  of  life. 
Heresy !  as  it  grew  grotesque,  as  among  Encratites  and  Severians,  denied 
her  a  share  in  the  divine  similitude.  The  ajjostasy  that  woman  can  do 
little  good  but  much  harm  was  a  princijile  that  grew  with  the  advanc- 
ing corruptions  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  As  the  race  returns,  a  sancti- 
fied civilization  leading  it  back  to  purity  and  to  God,  she  has  welcome 
entree.  As  religion  flourished,  so  did  her  liljerties ;  as  it  decayed,  so  did 
they.  A  pure  Hebraism  placed  her  higher  than  did  any  former  cultus ; 
as  it  driveled  into  rabbinism  she  sank.  In  mediaeval  Christianity  she 
was  of  small  account.  She  rose  with  the  Reformation.  Methodism  has 
been  the  Zerubbabel  of  her  liberty,  and  will,  I  trust,  put  on  the  top- 
stone. 

And  if  the  great  revival  of  these  latter  days,  for  which  myriads  of  the 
sacramental  host  organize  and  toil,  is  to  be  wide  and  deep  and  permanent, 
•its  theology  full-orbed  and  tender  withal,  its  social  life  throbbing  with 
ministries  of  love — if,  in  a  word,  the  city  of  God  is  to  be  at  once  the 
model  and  the  fashioner  of  a  renovated  society,  the  living,  human  woman 
must  walk  free  therein. 

' '  The  woman's  cause  is  man's.     They  rise  or  sink 

Together,  dwarf'd  or  Godlike,  bond  or  free. 

If  she  be  small,  slight-natured,  miserable, 

How  shall  men  grow?     Let  her  be 

All  that  not  harms  distinctive  womanhood, 

For  woman  is  not  undevelop'd  man. 

But  diverse.  .  .   . 

Yet  in  the  long  years  like  must  they  grow — 

The  man  be  more  of  woman,  she  of  man ; 

He  gain  in  sweetness  and  in  moral  height, 

Nor  lose  the  wrestling  thews  that  throw  the  world ; 

She  mental  breadth,  nor  fail  in  childward  care ; 

More  as  the  double-natured  poet  each. 

Till  at  the  last  she  set  herself  to  man 

Like  perfect  music  unto  noble  words." 


300  THE  CHURCH  AND  HER  AGENCIES. 

Professor  J.  P.  Landis,  D.D.,  of  the  United  Brethren  in 
Christ,  gave  the  second  appointed  address,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  I  would  uot  be  one  whit  behind  my  predecessors  in  their 
admiration  for  woman  and  their  faith  in  her.  I  believe  in  a  good  woman. 
I  believe  that  she  has  proved  herself  capable  and  fit  for  positions  additional 
to  that  of  cooking  good  dinners,  crocheting,  and  presiding  in  the  draw- 
ing-room and  parlor.  I  had  such  faith  in  a  good  woman  a  few  years  ago 
as  politely  but  very  earnestly  to  invite  her  for  the  rest  of  my  days  to  share 
with  me  my  few  joys  and  sorrows;  and  she  showed  her  good  sense  and 
magnanimity  of  soul  by  as  politely  and  as  earnestly  accepting  the  invita- 
tion. And  during  the  few  years  of  our  sojourn  together  my  admiration 
for  the  sex  has  increased  and  my  faith  in  her  has  become  stronger. 

As  my  predecessors  have  indicated,  woman  has  shown  that  she  can 
achieve  no  mean  results  in  various  avenues  of  human  activity — in  litera- 
ture (I  will  not  stop  to  mention  names),  in  arts,  in  science,  in  history,  in 
music,  in  all  these  spheres  and  many  more,  including  even  politics  and 
war,  she  has  shone  herself  to  be  capable ;  but  nowhere  in  all  the  world 
have  her  virtues  shown  with  greater  brilliancy  and  her  powers  displayed 
themselves  to  greater  advantage  than  in  the  work  of  the  Christian  Church. 
In  her  ministrations  to  the  poor,  in  visitations  to  the  sick,  in  doing  good 
in  a  thousand  ways  to  those  even  to  whom  men  had  no  access,  she  has 
demonstrated  her  power  and  her  skill. 

"We  have  had  our  attention  called  to  the  fact  that  woman  has  labored 
in  the  Sunday-school  and  in  the  missionary  field ;  that  we  have  sent  her 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth  because  she  was  willing  to  go  and  because  she 
was  anxious  to  go.  Three  years  ago  four  young  ladies  sat  upon  the  plat- 
form of  the  church  to  which  I  belong,  ready  to  be  consecrated  and  sent  to 
dark  Africa.  Those  young  women  stood  up  before  that  immense  congre- 
gation and  told  us  with  enthusiasm  that  made  me  ashamed  of  myself  how 
eager,  how  anxious  they  were  to  leave  home,  say  good-bye  to  father  and 
mother,  leave  all  these  social  amenities,  and  go  to  dark,  distant  Africa, 
and  give  themselves  to  that,  in  some  respects,  cruel  life  of  teaching  the 
Gospel  to  the  benighted  in  that  foreign  land.  One  of  them  asked  us  to 
pray  for  her.  After  the  meeting  was  over  I  stepped  forward  and  said : 
"  You  ask  us  to  pray  for  you;  will  you  please  pray  for  us  ?  "  I  felt  that 
she  and  her  companions  had  reached  a  stage  of  experience,  had  reached  a 
point  of  consecration,  which  uot  one  of  us  in  that  vast  assembly  had  ever 
yet  touched. 

I  have  known  women  to  act  as  superintendents  of  Sunday-schools ;  I 
have  known  them  to  act  as  class-leaders ;  and  in  these  years  they  have 
done  well  so  far  as  my  observation  has  extended,  as  well  as  their  brothers. 
Why,  we  see  the  experiment  every  day  in  our  own  Church.  In  the  so- 
cieties of  the  Church — the  Epworth  League  and  the  Young  People's 
Christian  Union — the  young  ladies  lead,  and  do  it  with  the  same  success 
that  men  do.  They  are  just  as  intelligent,  just  as  full  of  the  spirit  of  the 
liOrd,  just  as  successful  in  conducting  the  meeting  as  their  brothers.    And 


ADDRESS    OF   PROF.    J.    P.    LANDIS.  301 

I  have  sometimes  thought  they  were  more  skillful  and  had  more  tact  than 
some  of  the  blundering  men.  I  never  heard  a  woman  make  a  blunder  of 
this  sort.  In  Cincinnati  a  member  of  our  own  Church — therefore  I  can 
tell  the  story — in  opening  a  meeting  read  one  of  the  praise  psalms — praise 
the  Lord  with  this  instrument  and  that — and  finally  he  came  to  this: 
"  Praise  the  Lord  with  jpmZ^re  "  (meaning  psalter).  A  brother  opened  a 
meeting  one  evening,  not  having  made  any  preparations,  and  dropped 
upon  the  second  chapter  of  Acts.  In  reading  he  came  across  the  long 
names  there,  and,  stumbling  across  those  words,  he  finally  closed  the 
book -and  said,  "I  have  just  read  a  part  of  the  second  chapter  of  Paul's 
letter  to  Acts." 

I  do  not  represent  as  large  a  Church  as  some  of  you,  but  I  thought  I 
would  take  the  occasion  to  say  probably  that  the  little  boy  sometimes 
must  be  careful  what  he  says  in  the  presence  of  the  big  boys.  But  from 
the  spirit  of  this  meeting  I  discovered  that  I  need  have  no  fear  of  saying 
exactly  what  I  please.  I  believe  that,  as  the  speakers  who  have  i^receded 
me  have  said,  woman  might,  could,  should,  and  would  preach  the  Gospel 
if  she  wanted  to.  Let  me  ask.  What  is  the  design  of  preaching?  Is  it  not 
to  win  souls  to  Christ  and  build  them  up  in  Christ  ?  Is  it  not  to  expound 
the  Gospel,  explain  it  to  the  people,  that  they  may  comprehend  it  ?  Is  it 
not,  in  addition,  to  commend  the  Gospel  so  that  they  shall  be  attracted  to 
it  and  accept  it  ?  Cannot  woman  present  it  in  a  way  that  will  penetrate 
the  hearts  and  consciences  of  men,  and  make  them  turn  from  their  way  to 
a  life  of  holiness  and  righteousness  ? 

What  are  the  qualifications  for  this  work  ?  Are  they  not,  first  of  all, 
purity,  and  next  a  knowledge  of  the  word  of  God,  and  next  tact  and  skill 
in  presenting  that  word — a  tact  in  so  presenting  it  that  it  will  reach  the 
hearts  and  consciences,  and  induce  men  to  come  to  the  Saviour  ?  When 
did  the  Lord  give  man  a  complete  monopoly  of  these  gifts?  Have  not  the 
efforts  of  woman  in  the  missionary  work  in  the  foreign  fields,  at  home  in  the 
Sunday-school,  and  in  prayer-meetings  demonstrated  her  power,  her  cap- 
abilities ?  Does  she  not  in  these  respects  stand  equal  with  man  ?  In  the 
Sunday-school  I  am  sure  that  the  great  majority  of  women  are  the  equal  of 
men.  I  have  had  considerable  opportunity  of  observing,  and  in  the  schools 
that  I  have  visited  there  are  more  women  sitting  before  classes  than  there 
are  men.  They  study  their  lessons,  their  heads  are  full  of  the  doctrines  of 
God,  and  their  hearts  with  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ.  They  are  not  only 
training  the  children  in  the  primary  departments,  but  in  the  intermediate 
department ;  and  they  stand  up  before  our  men  and  our  women  and  teach 
them  out  of  the  law  of  the  Lord,  and  do  it  effectively. 

Woman  has  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  words,  and  how  is  it  about  piety? 
Is  it  not  true  that  a  greater  part  of  the  piety,  the  devotion,  the  consecra- 
tion to  the  Christian  Church  is  to  be  found  among  the  women  ?  We  have 
but  to  look  into  our  congregations  to  discover  that  the  greater  part,  not 
to  make  it  too  strong,  who  attend  the  services  on  Sunday  mornings  and 
Sunday  evenings  are  women.  A  majority  of  those  who  attend  our  Wednes- 
day evening  services  are  women ;  the  majority  of  those  who  go  to  the  young 


302  THE  CHUKCH  AND  HEK  AGENCIES. 

people's  meetings  are  women;  and  the  majority  of  those  v/ho  attend  our 
missionary  meetings  are  women.  So  in  every  field  of  church  work  you 
will  find  the  majority  are  women.  And  woman  has  surely  demonstrated 
that  she  is  not  only  on  a  level  with  man  in  church  work  and  love  of  God, 
but  in  those  respects  she  stands  above  him.  Such  devotion,  such  readi- 
ness to  go  anywhere  that  the  Church  may  send,  is  rarely  equaled  on  the 
part  of  her  brother. 

Perhaps  one  thing  else  ought  to  be  said.  Sometimes  it  is  said  that 
woman  is  not  capable  of  public  speaking.  To  show  the  error  in  this  re- 
spect we  have  to  point  to  Anna  Dickinson  in  her  palmy  days,  and  Mrs. 
Li  verm  ore,,  and,  greatest  and  best  of  all,  Frances  E.  Willard,  a  JMethodist 
at  that. 

But  that  is  not  all.  It  is  necessary  that  woman  should  be  called.  It  is 
necessary  before  we  enter  into  this  ofiice  that  God  should  lay  his  hands 
upon  us.  It  is  not  necessary  that  man  should  have  sense  enough,  but  that 
he  whose  prerogative  it  is  to  send  man  out  into  the  world  to  teach  men 
the  truth  should  lay  his  hands  upon  the  head  of  the  individual — that  he 
should  touch  his  heart  by  the  holy  impulse  of  his  Spirit.  If  God  comes 
to  a  sister,  a  woman,  in  this  way,  and  she  demonstrates  to  the  Church  that 
God  has  spoken  to  her  in  the  same  way  as  her  brother,  what  right  has  the 
Church — I  speak  as  an  individual — anywhere  to  say  her  nay  ?  Put  the 
word  of  God  into  her  hands,  send  her  forth,  and  bid  her  God-speed  to 
win  souls  to  Christ  and  to  build  them  up  in  Christ. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  H.  Hunt,  of  the  Primitive   Methodist 
Church,  gave  the  third  appointed  address,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President  and  Christian  Friends :  I  could  almost  wish  this  afternoon 
that  there  were  sisters,  not  merely  in  this  house,  but  forming  a  jiart  of 
this  Conference.  So  far  I  agree  with  one  of  the  speakers  of  this  morning. 
I  do  not  think  that  such  a  thing  would  have  detracted  from  the  dignity 
of  our  assembly.  I  am  quite  sure  it  would  have  added  to  its  grace.  I 
think  it  will  be  admitted  by  all,  that  women  having  a  j^lace  in  the 
Church,  and  forming  a  very  large  majority  of  the  membership  of  the 
Church,  they  should  be  under  some  ol)ligation  to  discharge  its  duties, 
and  the  Church  should  not  put  any  difficulty  in  the  way.  The  work  of 
evangelizing  the  world  has  not  yet  been  completed.  In  our  Church  in 
England,  and  I  presume  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  Churches  in  America 
and  elsewhere,  there  are  many  who  attend  our  Sunday-schools  but  are  not 
connected  with  the  Church,  and  do  not  give  evidence  of  Christian  expe- 
rience. We  men  have  not  overtaken  the  great  work  before  us ;  and  I 
think  we  should  consider  how  far  Avomen  might  share  in  the  responsi- 
bility and  joy  of  the  work.  Are  women  so  engaged  ?  It  is  quite  true 
that  we  employ  them  in  some  departments  of  work  connected  with  the 
Church.  For  example,  if  we  are  al)Out  to  build  a  place  of  worship,  or 
need  funds  for  missions,  or  church  bazaars,  then  we  find  it  necessary  to 
enlist  the  ladies.  But  I  hold  that  there  is  some  honor  and  work  for  the 
women  in  connection  with  the  work  of  the  Church  proper.     It  has  been 


ADDRESS    OF    KEV.    THOMAS    H.    HUNT.  303 

said  by  several  gentlemen  here  to-day  that  the  chief  work  of  women  is 
at  home.  We  all  agree  to  that.  But  I  would  not  like  to  think  that  the 
wife  in  a  home  is  the  manageress  of  a  hotel,  or  that  the  daughters  in  a 
home  are  maids  or  servants  who  should  be  engaged  in  household  work. 
I  would  rather  think  that  the  mother's  influence  is  to  be  used  in  guiding 
children  to  Jesus  Christ  and  in  leading  them  in  the  way  of  holiness.  I 
think  also  that  the  sisterly  influence  should  be  employed  in  binding  the 
brothers  to  their  home  and  engaging  them  in  Christian  service.  If  there 
is  one  lack  in  our  Sunday-schools  it  is  the  lack  of  stable  Sunday-school 
teachers.  We  know  that  a  large  portion  of  the  scholars  and  teachers  in 
those  schools,  as  in  the  congregations  of  large  churches,  are  composed  of 
girls ;  and  who  are  more  able  to  teach  the  girls  in  those  Sunday-schools 
than  earnest  Christian  women  ?  How  frequently  that  work  is  left  in  the 
hands  of  the  girls  !  While  I  would  not  discourage  the  work  they  do, 
yet  I  hold  we  have  in  our  Sunday-schools  to-day  the  best  workers  and  the 
highest  influence  and  purest  consecration,  and  we  are  invited  to  look  to 
the  women  in  our  congregations  for  help  in  this  respect.  And  I  think  it 
has  been  remarked  that  women  will  give  service  in  the  visitation  of  the 
sick.  That  is  true.  They  can  gain  admission  to  homes,  and  can  win 
the  confidence  of  those  who  are  suffering  as  men  cannot.  And  in  those 
houses  where  sickness  and  death  come  their  ministrations  must  be  of  the 
greatest  value.  Women  have  been  employed  in  rescuing  the  fallen  with 
great  success.  Who  can  follow  those  unfortunate  girls  and  wield  influ- 
ence over  them  as  those  of  their  own  sex  ?  In  the  work  of  temperance 
they  have  something  to  do.  While  men  imbibe  and  are  easily  led  off  by 
alcoholic  drinks,  we  know  that  the  influence  of  women  is  greater  than 
the  influence  of  any  man  in  winning  them  back  to  sobriety.  The  siieaker 
who  has  just  sat  down  referred  to  the  women  employed  in  missions. 
AVhile  it  may  require  some  one  who  can  endure  hardship,  there  are  many 
women  who  are  prepared  to  offer  themselves  for  this  service,  and  who 
will  be  of  great  value  in  it.  Not  only  have  the  wives  of  our  mission- 
aries been  helping  the  missionaries  themselves,  but  they  have  shown  how 
Christian  peojile  may  live.  Women  also  may  be  prepared  for  missionary 
■work  side  by  side  with  men. 

But  the  question  may  be  asked.  How  are  these  ladies  to  be  secured  for 
this  service,  and  how  are  they  to  enter  upon  the  work  and  continue  in  it? 
There  axe  ladies  of  my  acquaintance  who  have  found  spheres  for  them- 
selves and  worked  admirably.  A  lady  in  New  York,  a  very  excellent 
lady,  has  given  her  work  to  one  of  the  most  obnoxious  parts  of  the  city, 
and  her  influence  is  not  only  with  the  women,  but  with  the  men.  They 
have  great  confidence  in  her,  and  put  savings  in  her  hand  after  having 
signed  the  pledge.  And  she  keeps  them  from  week  to  week.  They 
have  not  only  done  that,  but  they  have  followed  her  to  the  temijerauce 
meeting,  and  to  the  house  of  God.  And  that  good  woman  is  following 
her  good  work  from  day  to  day,  although  she  is  a  wife  and  mother,  and 
has  some  grave  responsibilities  resting  upon  her.  And  I  think  of  a 
woman  in  Lancaster,  who  has  done  good  work  in  a  similar  direction. 


304  THE  CHURCH  AND  HER  AGENCIES. 

She  has  followed  intemperate  men  and  persuaded  them  to  sign  the 
pledge.  She  has  provided  a  home  where  they  can  read.  There  are  gen- 
tlemen of  means  who  have  thought  it  proper  to  engage  the  services  of 
ladies  in  this  kind  of  work,  and  where  they  have  the  means,  I  hold  they 
cannot  employ  it  to  greater  advantage  than  in  rescuing  women.  There 
are  women  who  have  leisure  upon  their  hands,  but  in  too  many  instances 
this  kind  of  work  is  made  to  depend  upon  those  who  have  very  little 
money  and  who  have  had  very  little  help  in  the  earlier  part  of  their  life, 
so  that  when  they  go  into  the  houses  it  is  thrown  out  to  them  that  they 
are  the  paid  servants  of  somebody.  We  have  in  our  churches  ladies 
who,  if  not  wealthy,  are  above  want,  and  ladies  with  tolerable  education ; 
and  because  of  that  wealtli  and  because  of  that  education  they  have  some 
influence,  and  could  go  into  the  homes  of  the  people,  following  them  in 
their  wayward  paths  and  trying  to  bring  them  back  again.  They  could 
work  better  and  would  not  be  scared.  One  Sunday  afternoon  I  went  to  a 
meeting  in  Foundry  Street,  and  there  heard  a  number  of  addresses  given 
by  ladies  who  are  associated  with  ministers — some  of  them  wives  of  i^om- 
inent  ministers  of  the  Methodist  Church — and  I  was  pleased  to  find  that 
these  ladies  had  given  themselves  heartily  to  this  work.  I  do  wish  that 
the  wives  of  our  laymen  were  as  hearty  in  this  kind  of  work  as  the  wives 
of  our  ministers.     We  want  those  who  are  influential  to  engage  in  it. 

But  the  question  is,  and  it  has  been  alluded  to  here  this  afternoon. 
Shall  women  preach  ?  So  far  as  I  know  there  is  no  great  wish  on  the 
part  of  the  women  to  occupy  our  pulpits ;  but  wherever  that  is  the  case 
the  Church  should  recognize  gifts.  I  say,  why  not  ?  Woman  is  engaged 
in  Sunday-school  work,  in  rescue  work,  in  the  visitation  of  the  sick,  in 
making  people  sign  the  temperance  pledge ;  why  not  in  preaching  ?  But 
she  is  engaged  in  preaching.  It  may  not  be  in  a  place  of  worship ;  it 
may  not  be  from  the  pulpit ;  but  I  hold  that  she  is  preaching.  If  she  is 
engaged  in  this  work,  then  the  question  will  be  asked.  Is  she  ordained? 
and  if  not.  Why  is  she  not  ordained  ?  If  women  are  moved  to  preach, 
and  if  they  are  competent  and  edifying,  I  hold  that  it  would  be  a  wise 
step  to  allow  the  Church  to  ordain  them  for  that  work.  If  God  has  or- 
dained her,  then  I  would  say,  let  the  Church  recognize  that  fact.  I  re- 
member some  time  ago  an  American  lady  who  came  to  England  said  that 
she  and  several  ladies  in  her  conOTCffation  had  recosjnized  that  a  certain 
young  man  had  gifts  which,  if  cultivated,  would  make  him  a  very  excel- 
lent minister.  They  decided  to  send  him  to  college.  They  subscribed 
money  among  themselves  to  buy  him  kid  gloves,  white  ties,  and  black 
clothes,  and  fitted  him  out  with  every  thing  necessary  to  make  a  minister. 
He  remained  in  college  several  years.  They  were  naturally  anxious  to 
know  what  progress  he  had  made.  They  arranged  with  their  pastor  to 
invite  him  to  preach  on  a  given  Sunday.  He  gave  out  the  hymn  and 
conducted  the  devotional  part  of  the  services,  and  all  went  very  well. 
But  when  he  came  to  his  sermon  he  took  as  his  text,  "It  is  a  shame  for 
women  to  speak  in  the  church."  "  Now,"  she  said,  "it  might  be  all 
very  proper  for  women  to  buy  kid  gloves,  white  ties,  and  black  clothes — 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  305 

there  was  no  shame  in  that ;  but  it  was  a  shame  for  a  woman  to  speak  in 
church !  "  Now,  I  say,  if  women  can  discharge  these  other  parts  of  Chris- 
tian work  equally  well  with  men,  I  see  no  reason  for  keeping  her  from 
the  pulpit.  If  she  can  have  gifts  that  will  fit  her  for  that  work,  I  see  no 
reason  why  she  should  not  be  admitted  to  ordination. 

The  Kev.  J.  W.  Lewis,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  opened  the  general  discussion,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  The  logic  of  events  argues  a  great  deal,  but  it  may  not 
settle  just  how  far  women  may  go  in  matters  of  public  concern.  _We  may 
not  take  mere  circumstances  for  providences,  however  plausible  it  might 
seem  to  do  so;  yet  when  we  consider  the  history  of  the  past  few  years,  the 
trend  of  thought  on  the  subject  of  "woman's  work,"  etc.,  enlarges  indefi- 
nitely. She  has  worked  her  way  into  almost  every  department  of  the  world's 
affairs ;  whether  according  to  the  proprieties  or  not  is  not  now  the  ques- 
tion. "We  have  this  fact  with  which  to  start,  namely:  To  the  present  vieio 
the  field  of  icomaro's  worTc  expands,  not  only  indefinitely,  hut  without  limit. 
And  if  we  are  to  call  events  providences,  we  may  well  ask.  Where  will 
these  women  stop  ?  But  this  is  the  fallacy  at  wliich  I  strike  first  of  all. 
A  movement  is  not  always  and  necessarily  providential  in  tendency  and 
final  result.  To  yield  that  point  is  to  give  up  the  field.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  may  be  said  that  the  excitement  of  the  Church  touching  the 
great  question  before  us  forces  us  to  ansAver  sooner  or  later  two  interroga- 
tives,  or  else  drift  we  know  not  whither  upon  an  increasing  current  of  pop- 
ular sentiment  and  opinion.  These  are  the  questions:  1.  What  shall 
woman  do  in  the  Church  ?  2.  How  shall  she  do  it  ?  Of  the  second  Ihave 
nothing  now  to  say.  When  the  first  is  answered,  then  the  necessities  of 
the  future  will  doubtless  solve  the  second  problem  in  spite  of  men  who 
make  circumstances  and  try  to  master  them. 

To  the  first  question  I  have  this  to  offer  in  a  general  way :  (1)_  There 
may  have  been,  and  were,  men  who  made  the  last  century  of  ecclesiastical 
history,  but  the  women  will  have  much  to  do  with  making  the  next,  and 
it  will  be  well  made. 

(rt)  Her  intuitive  mind  and  power  of  endurance,  her  courage  and  timid- 
ity, together  with  great  delicacy  of  taste  and  touch,  make  her  a  very  incar- 
nation of  expedients  for  the  work  she  is  so  manifestly  called  to  do. 

(b)  Her  natural  relation  to  Christianity  is  a  vital  one.  Her  virtue 
stands  or  falls  with  Him  who  was  born  of  a  virgin.  Nothing  can  justify 
such  a  birth  save  the  conquest  of  the  world  by  the  Son  of  Mary,  and  the 
universal  prevalence  of  those  principles  Avhich  Aveave  the  texture  of  the 
Christian  system.  The  hand  which  nurtured  the  infant  Jesus  is  reaching 
forth  to  crown  him.  It  grasps  the  moral  and  religious  issues  of  the  day 
with  relentless  agony.  Through  the  woman  sin  entered  into  the  world — she 
was  first  in  the  transgression— and  through  the  woman  the  expedient  of 
redemption  is  offered.  She  thrust  death  upon  the  man  in  the  first  instance, 
and  in  the  second  instance  she  taunts  us  with  the  gleam  of  a  false  hope  if 
Christ  is  not  triumphant.  The  only  consummation,  therefore,  that  can  fill 
her  horizon  is  the  enthronement  of  the  Babe  of  Bethlehem.  Nothing  else 
will  vindicate  her  from  a  twofold  curse  through  the  procession  of  the  ages. 
In  her  faith  she  sees  Satan  fall  from  heaven 

"  Swift  as  the  sparkle  of  a  glancing  star." 

She  is  now  fully  committed  to  the  fortunes  of  Christ  and  Christian  work. 
2.  But  in  fulfilling  her  mission  she    must  work  as  a  woman — with 
womanly  instincts,  and  womanly  ends  in  view. 


306  THE  CHURCH  AND  HER  AGENCIES. 

(a)  Her  natural  relation  to  man  must  be  held  priceless  and  inviolable. 
She  must  ever  stand  related  to  the  masculine  Church  as  she  does  to  her 
husband,  father,  and  brother,  not  as  a  subordinate,  but  an  equal,  yet  in  a 
different  sphere.  They  may  be  v^ives  and  mothers  and  daughters  and 
sisters  of  Jesus  Christ,  not  by  any  abnormal  construction,  but  by  a  spirit- 
ual affiliation  that  leaves  the  natural  attitude  undisturbed. 

(b)  But  what  is  this  natural  relation  of  the  man  and  the  vroman  ? 
"  Male  and  female  created  he  them" — not  ^^ female  and  male,''''  etc.  ]\Iark 
Hopkins,  in  his  Scriptural  Idea  of  Man,  says  that  wild  geese  travel  in 
convergent  lines  like  a  V,  with  a  gander  in  the  lead,  and  that  the  geese 
do  not  follow  merely  because  they  are  geese,  but  because  it  is  their  nature  to 
do  so.  The  relation  of  husband  and  wife  is  fixed  in  the  New  Testament  in 
immistakable  terms,  and  generalized  so  that  the  terms  man  and  woman 
are  put  relatively  as  in  Genesis. 

(c)  The  historical  testimony  is  emphatic.  Whenever,  in  the  flow  of  his- 
tory, a  woman  has  been  called  to  take  the  lead,  it  has  been  to  meet  an 
exigency  that  could  not  be  met  without  her.  And  when  the  exigency  is 
met  she  retires  to  her  proper  place.  Deborah,  Abigail,  Esther,  will  illus- 
trate the  point.  Her  leadership  where  it  has  not  been  hereditary  has  been 
temporary,  and  vigorous  because  of  its  brevity. 

{d)  The  baptism  of  the  Spirit  upon  "young  women"  and  "hand- 
maidens "  (Acts  ii,  17,  18)  argues  nothing  to  the  point.  She  needs  the 
endowment  of  power  for  any  work  for  the  Church.  His  effluence  is 
merely  to  qualify  for  work,  not  to  signify  the  extent  of  her  field.  The 
Holy  Ghost  will  not  bring  uj)  the  rear  unless  we  permit  him  to  go 
in  the  van.  He  must  direct  our  on-goings,  or  he  will  not  follow  us  with 
the  blessing  of  success. 

Two  avenues  of  progress  and  work  seem  clearly  open  to  our  women ; 
the  one  distinctively  evangelistic,  the  other  along  the  line  of  moral  reform. 
The  first  is  the  woman's  missionary  movement.  Up  to  this  point  it  has  been 
characterized  by  all  the  graces  of  trae  womanhood.  So  let  it  be  to  the  end 
of  time.  The  other  is  an  organized  reform,  the  name  of  which  makes  our 
hearts  beat  faster,  and  our  nerves  to  tingle ;  a  reform  that  the  pulpit  and 
press  of  the  Church  alike  welcome,  "  The  Women's  Christian  Temperance 
Union."  All  hail!  ye  workers  for  God  and  home  and  native  laud. 
But  if  this  is  "  a  political  party,  pure  and  simple,"  I  beg  to  be  excused. 

Lastly,  when  it  comes  to  orders  in  the  universal  Church,  the  Christly 
and  apostolic  limitation  must  never  be  transgressed  except  at  the  j^eril  of 
the  Church. 

Tlie  E.ev.  J.  M.  Buckley,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Churcli,  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  I  congratulate  Dr.  Fry  that  he  had  the  excellent  sense 
and  taste  not  to  introduce  controverted  questions  in  his  address.  If  sim- 
ilar congratulations  are  withheld  from  others,  it  is  for  want  of  occasion. 
One  might  think  from  the  platitudes  with  which  we  all  agree  which 
have  been  poured  upon  us  in  every  variety  of  speech  that  we  were  all 
living  about  fifteen  hundred  years  ago.  Every  sensible  woman  in  the  house 
must  be  sick  at  heart  at  the  low  tone  to  which  this  debate  has  fallen. 
Why  is  it  that  most  of  those  who  have  spoken  have  descended  to  lev- 
ity, and  told  anecdotes  more  ancient  than  the  oldest  chestnut  that  ever 
fell  among  the  leaves  of  autumn?  Who  dares  to  insinuate  that  he  loves 
women  or  respects  them  more  than  he  who  represents  another  view  of 
these  controverted  questions? 

One  speaker  spoke  of  "  a  reckless  faith  in  the  instincts  of  the  human 


GENERAL    EEMAEKS.  o 


"o: 


race."  I  thank  thee  for  that  word  "  reckless."  Mr.  President,  women  are 
different  from  men  in  responsiveness,  brilliancy,  delicacy,  and  some  other 
qualities,  but  they  are  neither  infallible  nor  perfect;  "Except  a  man  be 
born  ao-ain  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God  "  includes  woman  as  well  as 
man  °Their  relations  in  the  family  and  in  the  Church  are  fixed  by  the 
word  of  God,  which  declares,  •'  For  I  suffer  not  a  woman  to  teach,  nor  to 
usurp  authority  over  the  man."  "  For  Adam  was  first  formed,  then  Eve. 
And  Adam  was  not  deceived,  but  the  woman  being  deceived  was  m  the 
transgression."  .     .      . 

However,  let  us  see  how  far  we  agree.  We  all  agree  that  it  is  right 
for  women  to  speak  and  pray  in  public,  to  become  deaconesses,  to  lead 
class,  to  teach  in  Sabbath-schools,  to  explain  the  Scriptures  with  or  with- 
out a  text.  Where  do  we  divide  ?  It  is  upon  the  question  whether  or 
not  women  should  be  admitted  to  the  law-making  bodies  of  the  Church, 
and  be  ordained  ministers  and  appointed  to  pastorates.  Why  do  some  of 
us  oppose  these  things  ?  Because  we  believe  them  to  be  contrary  to  the 
Bible ;  because  we  believe  that  women  can  do  work  which  men  cannot  do, 
and  that  they  cannot  do  both  their  work  and  the  work  of  men;  because 
we  do  not  wish  women  to  give  up  a  liigher  power  for  a  loAver. 

The  effect  of  this  whole  business,  as  argued  by  these  extremists,  would 
be  the  elevation  of  single  women  at  the  expense  of  Tvives  and  mothers. 
You  cannot  possibly  have  permanent  organized  public  work  by  women 
without  coming  into  collision  with  motherhood;  therefore  you  put  a 
premium  upon  the  single  state.  A  subject  like  this  cannot  be  discussed 
in  any  merely  poeticafway.  The  second  speaker  sailed  majestically  and 
beautifully  like  a  swan;  but  like  the  swan  he  did  not  draw  more  than  two 
or  three  inches  of  water.  Five  minutes  is  a  short  tirne,  but  it  is  long 
enough  to  puncture  these  balloons  of  effervescent  oratorical  gas. 

Ml-.  J.  Bamford  Slack,  B.A.,  of  tlie  Weslejau  Methodist 
Church,  continued  the  discussion  of  the  afternoon  in  the  follow- 
inof  remarks : 

Mr  President :  I  have  only  one  or  two  words  to  say.  I  shall  not  at- 
tem-pt  to  answer  the  speech  of  Dr.  Buckley,  though  what  I  have  to  say 
will  essentially  answer  it.  Women  must  discover  for  themselves  the 
work  they  have  to  do  in  the  Church  of  Christ.  They  must  discover 
bv  experiment.  They  must  discover,  if  needs  be,  by  failure,  but 
discover  it  for  themselves.  And  I  think  this  is  a  fitting  commentary 
upon  every  speech  made  this  afternoon.  If  they  are  to  work  successfully 
thev  must  not  be  afflicted  or  trammeled  by  rules  and  regulations  passed  tor 
them  by  men.  That  is  evident  by  the  work  of  Elizabeth  Fry  and  others. 
It  is  evident  by  the  continued  success  of  the  sisterhood  m  West  London 
which  is  under  the  management  of  a  sister  here  to-day— the  wife  ot  Mr. 
Hugh  Price  Hughes.  Every  sister  who  joins  that  sisterhood  strikes  out 
for  herself  the  Hues  on  which  she  is  to  work.  ,  ^     .  * 

Is  it  possible  to  find  any  thing  more  incongruous  than  a  Contereuce  ot 
women  solemnly  discussing  the^work  of  men?  And  why  should  this 
Conference,  composed  exclusively  of  men,  presume  to  discuss  the  work 
of  women  «  If  it  were  in  order  I  should  be  inclined  to  move  an  adjourn- 
ment of  this  debate  until  woman  is  free  to  make  it  of  some  practical 
value,  or  free  to  speak  for  herself.  If  we  try  to  dictate  for  our  sisters 
what  work  thev  shall  do  and  how  they  shall  do  it,  I  think  they  will  retort 
as  the  old  Scotch  woman  did,  "That  is  where  the  apostle  Paul  and  me 
differs." 


308  THE  CHURCH  AND  HER  AGENCIES. 

The  Kev.  E.  E.  Hoss,  D.I).,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  Sontli,  spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  President  and  Brothers  of  the  Conference:  If  there  is  any  man 
here  who  has  a  higher  regard  for  women  than  I  have  I  want  him  to. 
stand  up  and  show  his  face.  The  highest  word  is  God,  and  next  to  that 
is  wife,  mother,  daughter,  sister.  This  whole  question  has  been  debated 
upon  one  side  as  if  it  were  a  question  of  equality  or  inequality  between 
men  and  women.  There  is  no  such  controversy.  It  is  a  question  of  same- 
ness or  difference.  If  God  had  wanted  men  and  women  to  stand  in  the 
same  place  and  do  precisely  the  same  work,  he  would  have  made  them 
alike.  The  fact  that  he  made  them  different  is  a  fact  that  he  intended 
them  to  stand  in  different  places. 

One  other  fact.  The  progress  in  Christian  civilization  is  the  result  of 
different  adaptation  in  the  work  of  men  and  women,  and  any  tendency  that 
looks  to  putting  them  to  doing  the  same  thing  is  a  tendency  to  barbar- 
ism ;  and  in  the  progress  of  civilization  as  the  ages  go  on  they  will  be 
less  and  less  alike.  Therein  I  have  the  greatest  respect  for  a  book  called 
the  New  Testament.  It  is  not  possible  to  go  through  the  chapters  of  the 
epistles  of  St.  Paul  and  take  the  view  that  has  been  presented  here  this 
afternoon.  To  do  so  is  logical  jugglery  to  which  I  cannot  give  my  con- 
sent. If  St.  Paul  does  not  mean  that  woman  is  to  be  prohibited  from 
holding  the  position  of  teacher  or  governor  in  the  Church,  why  then  it 
has  no  significance. 


^fc)' 


The  Rev.  J.  W.  Hamilton,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  continued  the  discussion,  as  follows : 

Mr.  ChaiiTQan  and  Brothers :  I  had  promised  myself  that  I  should  be 
here  only  to  serve;  not  to  speak.  But  some  things  which  have  been  said 
this  afternoon  make  that  promise  of  no  effect — some  parts  of  this  debate 
exonerate  me  from  all  such  obligation.  I  do  not  rise  to  reply  to  many 
things  which  all  must  agree  it  were  better  for  the  speakers  had  they  never 
been  said.  Let  us  lift  ourselves  to  the  dignity  of  a  great  occasion.  Let 
us  remember  to  say  some  things  worthy  of  ourselves  and  of  our  mothers, 
our  sisters,  our  wives,  and  our  daughters,  the  Christian  women. 

What  a  travesty  upon  the  learning  of  great  men  are  some  of  the  inter- 
pretations of  Scripture  we  have  heard  to-day,  when  we  recall  that  the 
exegesis  of  our  brother,  the  accomplished  and  eloquent  representative  of 
the  Irish  Church,  accords  perfectly  with  all  the  authoritative  Methodist 
commentaries !  No  construction  of  the  New  Testament  such  as  that  which 
has  been  presented  here  by  the  opponents  of  woman's  unrestricted  privi- 
lege in  the  Christian  Church  will  stand  for  a  moment,  if  we  are  to  receive 
and  accept  the  teachings  of  John  AVcsley,  Richard  Watson,  Adam  Clarke 
— it  has  been  stated  from  this  platform  that  Theodore  Parker  declared 
Adam  Clarke  the  scholar  of  a  thousand  years — and  Daniel  Whedon.  I 
have  not  time  in  five  minutes  to  indicate  further  the  conflict  which  these 
brethren  would  force  on  us  now.  If  I  had  the  time,  it  is  too  late  in  the 
history  of  the  Christian  Church — the  world  moves — to  admit  the  con- 
tradictions. Our  greatest  teachers  have  never  taught  that  the  writings  of 
Paul  contradict  the  words  of  Jesus.  Methodist  scholarship  is  all  the  one 
way. 

It  was  a  wrong  representation  made  by  the  brother  from  New  York  to 
say  it  is  claimed  that  a  woman  must  be  made  a  bishop.  It  is  not  assumed 
that  she  must  hold  any  particular  office  in  the  Church.     We  simply  insist 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  309 

that  all  laws  which  prevent  the  recognition  of  special  fitness  for  special 
work  must  be  rejoealed.     All  that  we  ask  is  a  fair  field  and  no  favor. 

In  reply  to  my  honored  and  polite  brother  from  the  South,  permit  me 
to  say  he  certainly  must  know  that  his  logic  will  apply  to  all  the  work  of 
the  eternal  years,  as  well  as  to  the  work  of  the  present  time.  Moral  prin- 
ciples do  not  change  with  the  changes  of  time  or  place.  I  have  under- 
stood until  now  that  men  and  women  were  not  made  alike,  for  quite  a 
different  reason  from  the  one  he  has  assigned.  I  do  not  understand  even 
now,  because  they  were  made  unlike,  that  God  ordained  invidious  dis- 
tinctions, unjust  orders  of  caste  to  match  their  unlikeness.  Queer  notion 
that — unlikeness  in  form  begets  unlike  ethical  relations  and  duties. 
Quite  to  the  contrary,  I  must  hold  that  all  the  shades  of  color,  previous 
or  present  relations  of  servitude,  or  the  existing  and  exacting  conditions 
of  sex  must  not  invalidate  constitutional  guarantees  to  life,  libertj^,  or  the 
pursuit  of  happiness,  and  must  not  invalidate  the  gifts,  graces,  and  use- 
fulness which  God  permits  and  God  bestows.  I  cannot  consent  to  elim- 
inate woman  from  her  relation  to  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount ;  I  submit  the 
Golden  Rule  in  Christian  work  and  the  Christian  Church  must  apply  to 
woman  as  to  man. 

Mr.  H.  J.  Farmer- Atkinson,  M.P.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Meth- 
odist Church,  spoke  as  follows  on  the  subject  of  discussion : 

Mr.  Chairman :  The  last  speaker  but  one  talked  about  logical  jugglery? 
and  said  if  God  intended  to  have  men  and  women  do  the  same  work  God 
would  have  made  them  alike.  "Why,  if  God  had  made  them  alike  they 
would  not  have  been  men  and  women.  Therefore,  if  that  gentleman's 
argument  was  not  logical  jugglery  what  was  it  ? 

Then  my  friend  Dr.  Buckley,  who  is  to  me  every  thing  that  affection 
can  be — model  editor  of  a  religious  pajDer,  model  minister  of  the  Western 
Connection ;  I  have  known  him  a  great  many  j^ears,  and  there  is  no  man 
I  love  more  than  Dr.  Buckley — seems  to  have  gotten  an  awful  twist 
upon  this  question.  He  said  that  we  were  trying  to  give  an  advantage  to 
the  single  woman  and  work  against  the  wife  and  mother.  A  woman 
need  not  be  a  wife  unless  .she  wishes.  If  a  woman  becomes  a  wife 
she  must  take  the  consequences.  If  she  loses  her  individuality  into  the 
individuality  of  another  person  it  is  because  she  can  look  up  to  him.  It 
is  because  he  is  better  than  she.  His  expression  upon  all  matters  is  her 
expression,  because  she  has  confidence  in  him  and  knows  that  he  is  better 
than  she.  But  she  has  an  influence  over  him ;  if  he  does  not  vote  the 
right  way  she  can  make  him.  In  nine  cases  out  of  ten  she  is  the  power 
behind  the  throne. 

A  single  woman  or  a  widow  if  she  pays  her  taxes  has  her  rights.  Now, 
for  instance,  there  is  Baron  Rothschild's  widow.  Her  coachman  can  ex- 
press his  opinion  upon  all  sorts  of  subjects,  but  she  cannot — ^upon  relig- 
ious questions,  partisanism,  Romanism,  the  Sabbath  question,  social  edu- 
cation and  temperance  reform,  and  upon  the  political  questions.  She 
has  helped  our  Methodist  societies  in  the  same  way  that  she  has  her 
Jewish  charges.  Why  cannot  she  vote  ?  Dr.  Buckley  cannot  answer. 
It  is  a  mistake  for  the  doctor  to  put  up  the  argument  he  does,  and  so  it  is 
with  the  logical  jugglery  man. 

You  have  spoken  of  leading  American  women,  but  you  have  not  men- 
tioned Mrs.  Booth.  I  have  heard  a  good  deal  of  Miss  Willard.  I  do  not 
know  Miss  Willard.  I  would  like  to  have  the  honor  of  meeting  her. 
When  I  know  something  about  her  I  can  speak  of  her.  But  I  do  know 
Mrs.  Booth.  If  you  want  to  turn  men  and  women  about  I  should  say 
that  Mrs.  Booth  is  more  entitled  to  be  General  Booth  than  the  general  is. 


310  THE  CHURCH  AND  HER  AGENCIES. 

The  Eev.  C.  F.  Eeid,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  made  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President :  Once  more  I  venture  to  claim  the  ear  of  this  Conference 
in  behalf  of  those  who  are  laying  in  the  great  empires  of  the  East  the 
foundations  of  our  Methodism.  And  I  wish  to  get  away  from  the  ab- 
stract discussion  of  this  subject  down  to  the  concrete  needs  of  our  work 
in  those  lands.  I  would  like  for  a  voice  to  go  out  from  this  Conference 
that  shall  reach  the  ear  of  the  powers  that  be  in  such  a  Avay  as  to  give  to 
those  of  our  sisters  who  are  working  with  us  in  these  countries  enlarged 
facilities  for  carrying  on  their  work. 

I  had  the  privilege  once  of  Avalkiug  through  the  streets  of  Hang  Chow 
with  a  woman.  In  her  hands  she  carried  a  basket  that  was  filled  with 
medicines.  There  was  a  great  deference  paid  to  her  as  she  walked 
through  the  streets.  This  little  woman  was  often  invited  to  distant  vil- 
lages, to  places  lying  about  that  center,  to  carry  on  her  work.  She  went 
where  no  man  could  go,  and  into  places  where  he  would  not  think  of 
going.  She  carried  every  thing  that  it  was  possible  for  an  embassador  of 
Christ  to  carry,  save  some  of  those  privileges  which  she  was  not  allowed 
to  exercise,  but  which  belonged  as  properly  to  her  office  as  any  thing  else 
belonged  to  it.  I  had  the  privilege  of  working  four  years  side  by  side 
with  a  lady  the  peer  of  any  lady  in  this  land.  She  is  a  sister  of  one  of 
the  best  known  names  in  Methodism,  and  like  h6r  brother  is  broad  in  cult- 
ure and  large  in  her  influence  for  good.  In  her  work  at  Shanghai  I  have 
followed  that  lady  down  alleys  into  which  I  would  not  have  gone  had  she 
not  led  me.  Into  many  homes  where  a  male  missionary  cannot  go  she 
carries  the  message  of  Christ's  love.  She  can  do  many  things,  but  there 
are  some  things  which  she  cannot  do.  Brothers  of  this  Conference,  I  ask  for 
these  women  working  with  us  in  those  empires,  who  suffer  every  thing 
that  we  suffer,  who  face  mobs  as  we  do — I  ask  for  them  the  privileges 
which  belong  to  them.  I  ask  that  when  by  their  ministries  they  have 
brought  a  soul  to  Christ  they  may  exercise  the  further  privilege  of  an 
embassador— that  of  administering  the  rite  of  baptism. 

The  Rev,  F.  W.  Bourne,  of  the  Bible  Cliristian  Church, 
spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  I  am  afraid  that  some  of  my  brothers  and  some  of  our 
Churches  are  taking  up  the  same  position  on  this  question,  using  the  same 
argument,  or  the  same  sophism,  that  some  clergymen  use  in  respect  to  our 
right  to  preach  the  Gospel.  I  will  not  enter  into  tlie  question  which  was 
raised  here  this  morning.  I  do  not  think  that  the  exact  truth  was  stated 
by  Mr.  Travis  or  by  Mr.  Simon.  There  are  mysteries  and  subtleties  and 
difficulties  which  neither  of  those  brethren  touched  on ;  but  to  those  of  us 
who  have  studied  the  subject  they  are  obvious. 

Awhile  ago  I  lived  in  a  parish  where  a  gentleman  with  high  sacerdotal 
persuasions  was  the  vicar.  I  was  on  good  terms  with  him.  But  I  shall 
not  soon  forget  his  saying  to  me  one  morning,  "I  should  like  to  know 
what  authority  you  have  for  preaching  the  Gospel."  He  almost  took  my 
breath  away.  He  thought  he  had  an  advantage  over  me,  and  repeated 
the  question  as  sometimes  we  repeat  our  text — "I  should  like  to  know 
what  authority  you  have  for  preaching  the  Gospel?"  Then  I  looked  into 
his  face  and  said:  "  You  wiU  excuse  me,  but  your  question  reminds  me 
of  a  scene  in  the  life  of  our  Lord.  After  he  had  done  many  of  his  mighty 
works — healed  the  sick,  cleansed  the  lepers,  cast  out  devils — the  scribes 
and  Pharisees  said  to  him,  '  We  would  like  to  see  a  sign  from  heaven  that 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  311 

thou  doest  these  things.'"  Why,  the  thincrs  themselves,  as  I  understand 
it,  were  the  signs  from  heaven.  And  in  like  manner  my  answer  that  "the 
power  to  teach  gave  me  authority  to  teach,"  I  regard  as  sufficient.  If  we 
lead  men  out  of  darkness  into  light,  and  turn  them  from  the  power  of 
Satan  unto  God,  it  is  impertinence  in  any  man  to  demand  our  authority  to 
preach  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 

But  do  not  we  take  that  same  position  in  relation  to  women  ?  We  seem 
to  think  the  test  is  not  sufficient  in  their  case.  There  is  a  rigorous,  ex- 
act, and  narrow  interpretation  of  the  words  of  St.  Paul  which  would  pre- 
vent any  person  being  married  in  any  chm-ch  because  no  woman  should 
speak  in  a  church.  I  represent  a  Church  that  has  had  some  experience  in 
this  matter.  The  period  of  that  Church's  greatest  prosperity  was  when 
such  persons  were  freely  employed  in  preaching  the  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ.  There  is  nothing  more  remarkable  than  this  fact,  that  women  of 
gentle  birth,  of  good  education,  always  of  native  modesty  and  love,  freely 
left  home  and  friends,  and  endured  all  kinds  of  hardships,  to  preach 
the  Gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Great  was  the  blessing  which 
accompanied  their  words.  Though  we  have  had  much  reason  to  rejoice 
in  our  ministry  from  the  beginning  until  now,  there  have  been  some  re- 
proaches, some  scandals ;  but  the  women  we  have  employed  have  had  a 
double  protection— the  grace  of  Christ  and  their  native  modesty  and 
purity,  and  in  no  instance  has  any  one  of  them  brought  any  reproach 
upon  their  sacred  name. 

The  Eev.  Stewart  Hoosen,  of  the  Primitive  Methodist 
Church,  contimied  the  discussion,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President  and  my  Christian  Brothers :  I  come  forward  this  after- 
noon to  further  the  evidence  given  by  my  predecessor  belonging  to  the 
Bible  Christian  denomination.  Part  of  what  I  had  intended  to  say  he 
has  said ;  so  I  will  not  repeat  it.  I  represent  a  Church  which  has  existed 
eighty  years,  and  during  the  whole  of  those  years  we  have  had  lady 
preachers  among  us,  and  until  within  the  last  two  or  three  years  lady 
traveling  preachers.  I  do  not  know  that  any  of  us  have  felt  ashamed 
that  we  have  had  those  names  upon  our  lists.  They  have  not  disgraced 
us.  We  consider  that  they  have  honored  us.  We  ask  that  women  should 
be  permitted  to  preach  when  God  gives  them  the  ability.  We  do  not 
plead  that  they  should  have  exceptional  positions.  But  it  is  a  little  dis- 
agreeable not  to  allow  them  a  place  in  the  pulpit.  I  think  that  they 
should  be  allowed  in  any  pulpit  in  the  land.  If  God  has  given  them 
ability  to  preach  the  Gospel,  they  should  be  permitted  to  preach  it.  For 
this  reason  Paul  says  there  is  no  difference ;  in  Christ  Jesus  you  are  one. 
There  is  another  reason,  and  it  is  a  very  strong  one :  these  ladies  give  us 
the  truest  signs  of  their  apostleship.  If  I  cannot  present  converts  I  liave 
no  right  to  preach.  These  ladies,  having  presented  converts,  are,  therefore, 
entitled  to  preach.  "These,"  said  St.  Paul,  pointing  to  his  converts, 
"are  the  signs  of  my  apostleship."  These  ladies  have  sent  thousands 
of  souls  to  Christ.     God  forbid  that  I  should  not  permit  them  to  speak. 

Tlie  Kev.  W.  F,  Oldham,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  President  and  Brothers :  The  very  first  speaker  on  this  side  of  the 
question  called  attention  to  the  ancient  order  of  chestnuts  dropped  into 
this  assembly.  All  the  chestnuts  were  not  dropi)ed  on  this  side  of  the 
question.     There  are  as  many  chestnuts  on  the  other  side. 

Speaking  for  American  Methodism,  I  would  say  that  the  intention  is 


312  THE  CHURCH  AND  HER  AGENCIES. 


not  to  ask  the  women  to  come  down  from  the  higher  to  a  lower  station. 
But  it  is  for  that  reason  that  the  speaker  ranges  himself  against  the  admis- 
sion of  women  to  the  ministry.  If  the  government  he  serves  is  a  higher 
service,  I  as  a  man  object  to  putting  women  on  a  higher  platform  than 
myself.  I  want  to  stand  as  high  as  the  women.  If  the  service  apart 
from  government  is  a  higher  platform  than  government  and  service  joined, 
they  have  no  advantage  over  us,  and  I  claim  that  they  should  be  admitted 
to  governmental  service.  Now,  I  notice  that  those  who  oppose  the  women 
on  this  subject  always  open  their  remarks  by  saying,  "No  man  puts  a 
higher  estimate  on  woman  than  I  do ;  if  there  is  any  man  who  has  a  higher 
estimate  of  woman  than  I  have,  let  him  show  himself."  But  you  need 
not  ask  what  the  rest  of  the  speech  will  be.  If  that  is  not  a  chestnut  I 
would  like  to  know  what  you  call  it  ? 

Those  who  op])ose  the  women  have  said  that  what  they  want  is  not  a 
sameness,  but  a  difference.  That  is  the  very  reason  that  we  trust  the 
women  will  be  allowed  into  the  councils  of  the  Church.  The  sameness 
of  the  male  we  wish  to  get  rid  of ;  it  is  the  supplemental  judgment  of  the 
women  that  we  are  desirous  of  getting.  We  want  woman  to  be  conjoined 
with  ourselves  in  judgment  and  in  the  execution  of  these  things.  These 
are  the  chestnuts  that  have  been  dropped  by  the  gentlemen  on  the  other 
side. 

I  want  to  make  one  statement  and  then  quit.  We  as  Methodists — I 
speak  for  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church — should  permit  women  to  have 
a  place  among  us ;  that  is,  that  we  should  have  the  benefit  of  her  counsels 
in  disposing  of  the  questions  that  pertain  to  women.  For  instance,  we  as 
a  General  Conference  have  apportioned  to  the  women  of  Episcopal  Method- 
ism the  missionary  interests  of  women  outside  of  the  United  States.  The 
Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  is  in  charge  of  the  teaching  of 
women  and  girls  outside  of  America.  What  is  the  main  legislation  in 
regard  to  it? — that  the  Society  shall  not  be  allowed  to  make  an  appeal  for 
funds  at  any  of  the  regular  services  of  the  church,  but  shall  call  a  s])ecial 
meeting  under  the  auspices  of  the  women,  if  the  pastor  will  allow — if 
male  autliority  does  not  forbid.  When  we  shall  begin  to  discuss  the  dea- 
coness question  in  the  Conference,  that  question  will  be  disposed  of 
with  some  warmth;  but  the  deaconesses  and  their  magnificent  leaders  will 
have  no  place  on  the  floor.  I  submit,  brothers,  that  there  ought  to  come 
a  day  when  woman's  judgment  in  these  matters  will  be  joined  with  ours. 

The  Rev.  Hugh  Price  Hughes,  M.A.,  of  the  "Wesleyan 
Methodist  Church,  continued  the  discussion,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  The  discussion  that  has  taken  place  here  creates  the  im- 
pression that  there  is  a  very  extreme  difference  of  opinion  among  us.  But 
Dr.  Buckley  says  that  he  has  no  objection  to  women  preaching  and  taking 
part  in  every  kind  of  devotional  or  evangelistic  work.  That  is  an  ad- 
vanced position.  The  only  objection  he  makes  is  to  women  taking  part 
in  the  law-making  of  the  Church. 

With  respect  to  the  one  remaining  point  I  would  say  that  I  am  surprised 
at  the  strength  of  Dr.  Buckley's  words  with  regard  to  "balloons,"  and 
Dr.  Hoss's  with  regard  to  "logical  jugglery."  Surely,  the  strength  of 
their  language  was  for  the  purpose  of  concealing  the  weakness  of  their 
argument.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  after  all  Dr.  Buckley  is  the  chief 
balloonist  and  Dr.  Hoss  the  chief  juggler. 

As  one  speaker  has  well  said,  "In  Christ  there  is  neither  male  nor 
female,  and  the  Church  would  do  well  to  imitate  Christ."  I  cannot  allow 
for  a  moment  that  Dr.  Buckley  has  correctly  expounded  St.  Paul.     St. 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  313 

Paul  thought  that  the  man  is  the  head  of  the  woman  as  Christ  is  the  head 
of  the  Church.  In  what  sense  is  Christ  the  head  of  the  Church?  To  im- 
pose disabilities  on  the  Church?  Certainly  not ;  but  for  the  purpose  of 
eual)ling  the  Church  to  share  his  joy  and  'his  throne ;  that  is  to  say,  his 
privileges  and  his  prerogatives,  his  sphere  and  his  authority.  Man  must 
in  like  manner  lift  up  woman  to  an  equality  with  himself. 

The  mission  of  man  is  to  give  to  woman  every  thing  that  he  himself 
enjoys,  and  to  permit  her  to  share  his  responsibilities  and  all  his  works  so 
far  as  the  Holy  Spirit  may  enable  her  to  do  so.  We  do  not  wish  to  force 
w-^Tien  into  any  position,  but  simply  to  remove  artificial  restrictions  and 
Ui.  .ecessary  disabilities  which  are  as  indefensible  in  the  case  of  sex  as  in 
the  case  of  color. 

The  Eev.  Bishop  J.  W.  Hood,  D.D.,  of  the  African  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Zion  Church,  concluded  the  discussion,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  I  have  always  been  interested  in  the  rights  of  women. 
My  mother  was  a  woman  in  the  fullest  sense  of  that  term,  and  she  believed 
in  woman's  rights  ;  and  I  presume  that  I  imbibed  from  her  that  sentiment, 
and  it  has  grown  with  my  growth  and  strengthened  with  my  strength 
until  it  has  become  a  part  of  me. 

At  the  risk  of  being  charged  with  telling  old-time  anecdotes  I  will 
remark  that  the  taking  of  the  rib  from  the  side  of  man  was  not  an  acci- 
dent, but  God  had  a  purpose  in  not  taking  it  from  his  feet,  that  she  could 
walk  over  him ;  nor  from  his  head,  that  she  might  rule  over  him ;  but  from 
the  side,  that  she  might  stand  up  with  him.  I  am  reminded  of  certain 
mistakes  that  men  sometimes  make.  I  remember  hearing  of  a  man  who 
took  his  text  from  the  first  chapter  of  the  Second  Epistle  of  John,  and 
somehow  he  got  mixed  up  with  Paul's  Epistle  to  Timothy,  and  tlien  he 
^ot  the  idea  in  his  head  that  the  epistle  meant  something  to  shoot  with. 
So  he  said,  I  take  my  text  from  the  one-eyed  chapter  of  the  two-eyed  John, 
where  Paul  was  shooting  at  Timothy. 

Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  the  question  is  whether  women  shall  preach  with 
Tvith  us.  Our  Church  takes  this  position — that  there  should  be  absolutely 
no  difference  of  rights  among  members  of  the  Church.  That  is  the  posi- 
tion that  our  Church  has  on  this  question.  Therefore,  we  have  had  no 
trouble  on  this  woman  question.  But  we  have  had  very  few  lady  preach- 
ers in  our  Church  in  all  its  history.  At  this  time  we  have  one,  and  she 
has  been  preaching  for  forty  years;  and  a  grand  good  woman  she  is. 
What  we  contend  for  is  that  woman  should  stand  on  the  same  platform 
with  her  l^rothers.  We  think  that  if  she  wishes  to  preach  she  should 
have  the  right  to  preach.  If  woman  is  called  to  preach  there  should 
be  nothing  to  prevent  her  preaching.  The  word  male  was  stricken  out 
of  our  Discipline  many  years  ago,  and  at  a  more  recent  period  every 
restriction  was  removed.  So  that,  as  far  as  our  Church  is  concerned,  woman 
can  go  to  a  General  Conference  as  a  delegate  in  common  with  man.  All 
she  needs  is  to  get  votes  enough  to  elect  her,  and  she  goes.  That  is  the 
position  our  Church  takes,  and  because  it  is  a  fact  I  wanted  it  to  be  stated 
here — that  there  is  one  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  that  guarantees  to 
women  all  rights  in  common  with  men. 


'■o-' 


The  Eev.  J.  M.  King,  D.D.,  reported  the  following  resolu- 
tion from  the  Business  Committee,  which  was  adopted  : 

Resolved,  1.  That  we  have  heard  with  pleasure   of  the  purpose  to  erect 
23 


314  THE  CHUECH  AND  HEE  AGENCIES. 

as  a  memorial  of  the  Second  Ecumenical  Methodist  Conference,  on  some 
suitable  site  in  this  city,  a  bronze  statvie  of  John  Wesley. 

2.  That  we  approve  of  the  enterprise,  and  commend  it  to  the  favorable 
consideration  of  our  people. 

3.  That  the  following  brethren  be  requested  to  constitute  themselves  a 
committee  to  perfect  the  plans  and  raise  the  funds  for  carrying  out  this 
purpose :  Bishop  C.  H.  Fowler,  San  Francisco,  Cal. ;  Mr.  James  B.  Pace, 
Richmond,  Va. ;  Mr,  Anderson  Fowler,  New  York ;  Colonel  E.  W.  Cole, 
Nashville,  Tenn. ;  Hon.  Matthew  G.  Emery,  Washington,  D.  C. ;  Mr. 
James  Long,  Philadelphia,  Pa. ;  Mr.  Samuel  Cupples,  St.  Louis,  Mo. ; 
Mr.  J.  B.  Hobbs,  Chicago,  111. ;  Mr.  John  A.  Carter,  Louisville,  Ky. ; 
Hon.  Charles  J.  Baker,  Baltimore,  Md. ;  Major  R.  W.  Millsaps,  Jackson, 
Miss. ;  Hon.  D.  A.  Stannard,  St.  Louis,  Mo. ;  Mr.  Justice  L.  Q.  C.  Lamar, 
Washington,  D.  C. ;  Mr.  H.  B.  Chamberlin,  Denver,  Col. ;  Mr.  L.  R. 
Moore,  Kansas  City,  Mo. ;  Captain  Charles  Goodall,  San  Francisco,  Cal. ; 
and  Hon.  J.  C.  Dancy,  Wilmington,  Del. 

The  session  was  closed  at  5  P.  M.,  with  the  benediction  by 
Bishop  HuEST. 


BUSINESS    PKOCEEDINGS.  315 


SEVENTH  DA  Y,    Wednesday,    October  14,  1891. 


TOPIC : 
EDUCATION. 


FIRST   SESSION, 


THE  Conference  opened  at  10  A.M.,  the  Eev.  J.  T.  Murray, 
D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  presiding. 
Hymn  248  was  simg ;  the  Kev.  P.  H.  Whisker,  D.D.,  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  read  the  first  chapter  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  ;  and  the  Pev,  J.  J.  Smith,  D.D., 
of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  led  the  Conference  in 
prayer.  The  Journal  of  the  sessions  of  the  previous  day  was 
read  and  approved. 

The  Secretary  presented  a  report  from  the  Business  Com- 
mittee, as  follows : 

1.  In  response  to  a  memorial  asking  that  this  Conference  take  the  neces- 
sary steps  to  extend  the  fraternal  greetings  of  the  Conference,  by  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  deputation  to  the  Pan-Presbyterian  Council,  to  be  held  at 
Toronto,  Canada,  September,  1892,  the  Committee  recommends  the  Con- 
ference to  extend  the  fraternal  greetings  proposed. 

2.  The  Committee  recommends  to  the  Conference  the  holding  of  a  love- 
feast  and  fellowship  meeting  on  Sunday,  October  18,  at  2:30  P.M.,  and 
that  the  Rev.  William  Arthur  be  designated  as  the  leader. 

The  foregoing  report  of  the  Committee  was  adopted. 

The  Eev.  Lewis  Cuets,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  for  the  special  Committee  on  the  Sabbath  Closing  of 
the  Columbian  Exposition,  presented  the  report  of  that  Com- 
mittee. After  discussion  and  verbal  amendments  the  report 
was  adopted,  as  follows  : 
To  the  United  States  Commissioners  of  the  WorWs  Columbian  Exposition  : 

The  Ecumenical  Methodist  Conference,  composed  of  five  hundred  minis- 
ters and  laymen,  representing  the  Methodist  Churches  throughout  the 
civilized  world,  respectfully  petition  your  honorable  body  to  prevent  the 
proposed  opening  of  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition  on  the  Lord's  day. 
We  make  this  petition  for  the  following  reasons  : 


316  BUSINESS    PKOCEEDINGS. 

1.  It  is  the  religious  conviction  of  the  great  majority  of  Christian  peo- 
ple that  God  commands  and  man  needs  the  observance  of  a  Sabbath. 

2.  The  opening  of  the  Exposition  on  Sunday  would  violate  the  Sabbath- 
keeping  traditions  of  the  American  people  and  their  Anglo-Saxon  ances- 
try, and  also  the  laws  of  the  United  States  and  of  Illinois. 

3.  The  Columljian  Exposition  ought  to  exhibit  to  visitors  from  other 
lands  a  characteristic  Christian  American  Sunday,  rather  than  a  weekly 
secular  holiday. 

4.  The  projjosed  opening  on  Sunday  would  deprive  the  thousands  of 
employees  in  the  service  of  the  Exjiosition  of  their  right  to  one  day  in 
seven  for  rest  and  worship.  The  same  injustice  would  be  done  to  the 
many  thousands  in  the  service  of  transportation  companies.  It  would 
also  furnish  an  excuse  to  employers  for  refusing  to  grant  holidays  for  the 
purpose  of  visiting  the  Exposition  which  would  otherwise  be  given  to 
their  employees. 

5.  The  spirit  of  the  movement  to  open  the  Exposition  on  Sunday  is  not 
philanthropic,  but  mercenary.  It  is  not  primarily  to  give  the  working- 
men  a  chance  to  visit  the  Exposition,  but  to  increase  the  gains  of  the 
transjiortation  comjianies  and  others  who  are  large  stockholders  in  the 
Exposition. 

6.  As  an  offset  to  the  plea  that  the  stockholders  will  lose  money  if  the 
Exposition  is  not  ojjen  on  Sunday,  we  beg  leave  to  remind  you  that  the 
Centennial  Exposition  of  Philadelphia  was  a  financial  success  with  the 
gates  closed  on  Sunday. 

7.  We  have  reason  to  believe  that  many  of  the  exhibitors  from  Great 
Britain  and  other  Christian  lands  will  refuse  to  exjiose  their  exhibits  on 
Sunday,  thus  rendering  the  Sunday  exhibit  very  unsatisfactory  to  visit- 
ors, and  at  the  same  time  silently  rebuking  the  mercenary  sjjirit  that 
would  open  the  gates  on  that  day. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  this  petition,  duly  certified,  be  forwarded 
by  the  Secretaries  of  this  Conference  to  the  Secretary  of  the  United 
States  Commissioners  of  the  "World's  Columbian  Exposition. 

The  Eev.  J.  M.  King,  D.D.,  presented  the  following  report 
of  the  Business  Committee,  in  response  to  a  memorial  relating 
to  Methodist  Federation : 

1.  That  the  Conference  recognizes,  with  gratitude  to  God,  the  growing 
desire  for  closer  co-oi^eration  among  tlie  evangelical  Churches  of  Chris- 
tendom, and  especially  hails  with  devout  thankfulness  the  extension  of 
that  desire  among  the  various  Methodist  Churches. 

2.  The  Conference,  though  the  time  may  not  be  come  for  the  organic 
union  of  the  different  Methodist  bodies,  cannot  doubt  that  concerted 
action  upon  many  questions  would  be  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  The  Conference  would  suggest  that  such  concerted 
action  might  be  possible  and  useful  in  the  following  great  i)rovinces  of 


BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS.  317 

the  Methodist  world,  namely,  («)  Great  Britain,  including  its  affiliated 
Conferences  and  missions;  (b)  the  United  States,  including  its  missions 
and  Mission  Conferences;  (c)  Australasia,  with  Polynesia  and  its  other 
missions ;  (d)  Canada,  with  its  missions. 

3.  This  Conference,  therefore,  respectfully  requests  the  Churches  repre- 
sented in  this  assembly  to  consider  whether  such  concerted  action  be  pos- 
sible, and  if  so,  by  what  means  and  in  what  way ;  and  directs  the  Secre- 
taries to  forward  a  copy  of  this  resolution  to  the  senior  bishop  or  president 
of  every  Conference  represented  here. 

Mr.  Thomas  Snape,  C.C,  of  the  United  Methodist  Free  Church :  Mr. 
President :  The  resolution  which  the  brother  has  just  read  was  passed  upon 
a  motion  of  mine  which  Mr.  T.  Morgan  Harvey  and  myself  drafted  and 
submitted  to  the  Business  Committee  before  Friday's  discussion  took  place. 
Our  hearts  were  full  to  overflowing  at  the  tone  and  spirit  of  that  discus- 
sion. The  day  is  one  which  will  ever  be  memorable  in  Methodist  history. 
It  was  obvious  that  the  desire  for  unity  had  taken  deep  hold  of  the  Meth- 
odist Churches,  and  it  was  necessary  that  in  some  form  that  desire  should 
be  embodied  in  a  resolution  of  this  Conference,  unless  it  were  to  fall  un- 
heeded and  fruitless  of  any  practical  result.  The  resolution  which  has 
been  read  has  been  amended  from  the  one  that  we  tabled.  That  was  done 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stephenson,  to  whose  head  and  suggestions  I  feel  person- 
ally very  greatly  indebted,  and  by  the  Business  Committee.  The  purport 
of  the  resolution  indicates  that  concerted  action  by  the  Methodist  bodies 
in  these  various  territorial  districts  will  probably  prove  of  the  very  greatest 
possible  advantage  in  promoting  the  interests  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  As 
to  the  means  by  which  those  advantages  may  be  accomplished,  it  will 
be  necessary  for  the  Conferences  in  these  territorial  districts  to  devise 
such  methods  for  themselves.  Probably  by  Conferences  at  more  frequent 
intervals  than  the  Ecumenical  Conference — by  means  of  quadrennial  Con- 
ferences in  the  various  districts,  and  by  decennial  Ecumenical  Conferences — 
there  will  be  means  of  devising  action  that  will  assist  us  in  carrying  out 
the  united  form  that  at  present  we  are  too  feeble  and  unable  to  enter  upon 
because  of  want  of  unanimity.  "We  know  that  the  problem  which  now 
confronts  us  is  one  that  requires  all  the  wisdom  and  energy  of  a  united 
Church.  In  my  judgment  that  problem  can  be  best  dealt  with  from  a 
Methodist  stand-point  by  a  i;nion  of  the  Churches  dealing  with  the  same 
subject.  Nothing  has  impressed  me  more  strongly  with  the  necessity  of 
some  unity  of  this  kind  than  the  testimony  which  was  given  to  us  from 
Japan  and  other  districts  of  the  foreign  mission  field,  every  one  of  which, 
without  a  dissenting  voice,  impressed  us  with  the  obligatory  character 
of  the  need,  if  we  are  to  do  our  work  successfully  abroad. 

Now,  in  this  and  in  similar  ways  it  appears  to  us  that  many  of  the 
Churches  will  be  likely  to  co-operate.  For  instance,  that  Conferences  in 
these  territorial  districts  named  in  this  resolution  meet  at  more  frequent 
periods  than  our  decennial  Ecumenical  Conference.  The  result  of  these 
Conferences  will  be  a  union  of  method  which  will  grow  and  conduce  to  a 


318  BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS. 

closer  uuion  still.  The  resolution  says  that  the  time  may  not  have  come 
for  organic  union  of  the  different  Methodist  bodies,  and  nciost  of  us  are  of 
that  opinion  at  the  present  time.  But  some  of  us  think  that  that  time 
will  arrive  more  quickly  than  others  expect.  If  the  Churches  to  w^hom 
this  resolution  is  addressed  will  go  and  act  upon  the  suggestions  advanced 
the  benefit  of  such  an  effort  cannot  be  seen — the  benefit  of  extending  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  as  against  sacerdotalism  in  contending 
with  the  mighty  forces  of  evil  sujiported  by  principalities  and  powers  and 
the  rulers  of  darkness  of  this  world.  Too  high  an  estimate  cannot  be 
placed  upon  the  good  that  will  come  to  the  world  from  a  unity  of  this 
kind — the  effort  of  such  an  ecclesiastical  mission  bearing  one  name,  in 
perfect  harmony,  and  in  the  spirit  of  unity  and  peace.  I  beg  to  propose 
the  adoption  of  the  resolution. 

Mr.  T.  Morgan  Harvey,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church:  Mr. 
President :  I  have  very  great  pleasure  in  rising  to  second  this  proposition. 
It  is  within  the  knowledge  of  most  students  of  Methodism  that  under  God 
John  Wesley  and  his  followers  were  the  means  of  saving  our  beloved  En- 
gland socially  and  morally.  If  there  can  be  union  of  thought  and  action 
on  the  part  of  the  several  sections  of  the  one  Methodist  Church,  there  is 
no  doubt  it  will  be  of  great  value,  not  only  to  the  Churches,  but  to  the 
nation  at  large.  It  has  been  pointed  out  again  and  again  that  our  di- 
visions at  home  are  a  disgrace  to  us.  We  should  be  friends,  closer 
together.  If  the  Conference  will  agree  to  this  proposition,  we  shall  see 
brighter  days  in  the  future,  and  we  shall  have  to  thank  God  for  this  reso- 
lution to-day. 

Hon.  H.  L.  Sibley,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church:  Mr.  Presi- 
dent :  I  rise  to  speak  in  favor  of  the  proposition  now  before  this  body 
for  the  purpose,  in  part,  of  expressing  some  thoughts  that  have  not  been 
expressed  so  far  upon  the  question  of  Christian  unity  and  union ;  and  for 
the  reason  that  in  some  aspects  of  the  discussion  that  has  hitherto  taken 
place,  and  is  involved  in  the  proposition  now  made,  I  am  a  little  indif- 
ferent to  what  seems  to  be  the  drift  of  thought.  I  like  the  proposition 
made  because  it  practically  looks  to  important  results  from  the  work  that 
shall  be  done  in  the  cause  of  Christ.  But  back  of  it  lies  the  thought,  so 
happily  enforced  by  Dr.  Hunt  the  other  day,  of  Christian  unity  as  the  life 
of  the  whole  movement.  I  maintain,  sir,  that  it  is  of  the  very  essence  of 
Christian  unity,  that  it  tends  toward  Christian  union.  There  can  be  no  real 
Christian  union  without  a  genuine  spiritual  unity,  and  when  that  exists  the 
tendency  toward  union  is  inevitable. 

I  maintain,  further,  that  it  is  the  nature  of  Christian  union  that  tends 
toward  uniformity — uniformity  in  the  forms  of  work  and  in  the  systems 
under  which  it  shall  be  done.  I  remember  what  seemed  to  me  a  striking 
and  sagacious  remark  of  Mr.  Arthur  in  his  observations  on  this  point,  that 
there  would  be,  as  he  conceived,  no  Christian  union  of  any  considerable 
extent  unless  it  were  organic.  And  I  think  the  wisdom  of  that  thought 
is  only  equaled  by  the  tongue  of  fire  which  he  can  command  and  the 
pen  of  flame  which  wrote  The  Tongue  of  Fire.     I  am  against  the  drift  of 


BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS.  319 

thought  heretofore  expressed  in  the  Couference,  and  believe  that  union 
must  result  in  unity.  The  outcome  of  union  and  the  tendency  toward 
unity  among  Canadian  Methodists  has  been  an  organic  union  of  Canadian 
Methodism,  resulting  in  a  uniformity  which  I  believe  to  be  the  logical  and 
necessary  outcome  of  Christian  unity  as  the  primary  thought  wherever  it 
exists.  So  that  I  say  to  my  mind  it  is  the  inevitable  outcome  of  a  gen- 
eral spirit  of  unity  of  Christians  that  there  should  be,  first,  union,  and  then 
uniformity  in  tlie  systems  that  govern  and  control,  and  are  the  earthly 
agencies  of  their  work.  And  to  no  body  of  Christians  should  I  apply  the 
thought  as  to  Methodism,  that  stands  divided  to-day  in  this  country,  if 
not  elsewhere,  in  my  estimation,  in  such  a  way  as  to  constitute  a  reproach 
to  Methodism  as  it  now  exists  in  our  laud. 

I  wish  to  add  that  this  union  is  one  which  should  be  organic,  and  there- 
fore vital.  There  cannot  be  a  union  by  coercion  or  mechanical  action  or 
contention.  The  basis  of  organic  force  is  spiritual  unity,  which  lies  back 
of  it  and  is  the  germ  of  it. 

Bishop  C.  R.  Harris,  D.D.,  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion 
Church :  Mr.  President :  There  has  been  a  question  as  to  whether  there  is 
any  use  in  trying  to  have  co-operation  before  we  have  organic  unity. 
I  believe  that  organic  unity  is  to  be  promoted  by  co-operation.  And  I 
believe,  further,  that  organic  union  of  those  branches  of  Methodism  which 
are  more  closely  related  than  other  branches  is  to  be  effected  before  the  or- 
ganic union  of  the  entire  body  of  Methodists  in  the  world.  And  to  this 
end  I  think  we  ought  to  know  them ;  to  this  end  I  think  the  report  is 
directed.     I  am  heartily  in  favor  of  any  proposition  that  relates  to  it. 

The  thought  occurred  to  me  during  the  reading  of  the  report  as  to 
-whether  another  division  might  not  be  added,  namely,  that  of  African 
Methodism.  But  there  is  already  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  three  great 
bodies  of  African  INIethodism  assembled  in  this  Conference  to  unite.  A 
meeting  has  already  been  held  in  one  of  the  churches  in  this  city,  consist- 
ing of  delegates  from  each  of  those  branches,  and  a  committee  has  been 
appointed  to  bring  forward  to  a  succeeding  meeting,  which  will  take  place 
to-night,  resolutions  whicli  shall  tend  toward  closer  fraternal  union  be- 
tween these  bodies,  and  also  organic  union.  The  same  idea  that  was  ad- 
vanced before  us  has  come  before  you.  Somebody  said  there  is  no  use 
trying  to  have  organic  union  until  you  have  fraternal;  and  some  said 
there  could  not  be  fraternal  union  Ijefore  you  had  organic  union.  But  we 
will  try  to  meet  both.  "We  will  bring  forth  propositions  for  organic  union 
and  fraternal  union.  If  we  cannot  strike  hands  on  one  we  will  on  another. 
Because  I  believe  the  great  heart  of  Methodism  beats  for  concerted  action, 
and  so  far  as  we  can  overcome  our  special  liking — I  cannot  get  the  word — 

A  Voice  :  Prejudice  ? 

Bishop  Harris:  No,  I  will  not  say  that — "attachment,"  that  is  the 
-word — for  any  particular  form  of  politics  or  particular  color — so  soon  as 
we  can  get  rid  of  those  differences,  if  that  time  ever  should  come,  as  I  hope 
it  will,  we  can  all  ])e  merged  into  one  great  Methodist  body — all  the 
branches  that  are  now  represented.     But,  as  I  have  said,  I  do  not  expect 


320  BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS. 

that  time  for  generations  to  come.  Especially,  so  far  as  black  and  white 
are  concerned.  I  think  that  all  the  white  bodies  will  get  together  before 
the  black  will  come.  That  is  my  opinion.  But  it  is  merely  an  opinion. 
But  I  say  that  until  the  grand  union  of  all  the  bodies  of  Methodism  can 
be  accomplished  we  ought  to  try  those  more  closely  related  to  each  other. 
Now,  it  was  said  the  other  day  that  Methodism  on  the  Continent,  or, 
rather,  in  the  Old  World — in  Great  Britain,  we  will  say — can  co-operate 
more  closely  than  can  the  bodies  of  the  English  Methodism  and  American 
Methodism.  I  think  that  remark  was  made  by  Dr.  Stephenson.  Of  course, 
on  this  continent  the  white  Methodists  can  more  closely  affiliate  among 
themselves,  and  the  black  Methodists  among  themselves.  So  that  I  be- 
lieve there  will  be  a  union  first  of  the  black  Methodists  among  themselves 
—I  hope  first,  because  I  want  to  be  first  in  every  thing  that  is  good.  We 
will  have  a  union  of  all  the  bodies  of  African  Methodism  on  this  conti- 
nent; and,  if  my  English  brethren  will  excuse  me,  I  will  say  that  I  want  a 
union  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  and  then  a  union  of  all  the  other  branches  not  Episcopal, 
and  then  a  union  of  the  whole ;  and  with  this  desire  I  shall  vote  heartily 
for  the  resohitions  offered. 

The  Chairman  :  The  morning  hour  has  expired,  and  Dr.  Stephenson  is 
entitled  to  ten  minutes  to  close. 

Dr.  Stephenson  :  I  think  it  would  be  disadvantageous  to  what  we  are 
seeking  to  accomplish  if  this  debate  were  hurried.  If  those  who  have  a 
different  view  from  what  is  expressed  in  the  resolution  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  expressing  their  views  I  think  it  would  be  more  satisfactory. 
If  you  will  permit  me  to  make  a  motion  I  will  move  a  postponement  of 
the  consideration  of  the  report. 

The  Chairman  :  The  question  is  upon  postponing  the  debate  until  to- 
morrow morning  at  the  close  of  devotional  service. 

The  motion  was  agreed  to. 

Rev.  Hugh  Price  Hughes  :  Mr.  Chairman :  Am  I  in  order  to  raise  a 
point  of  order  before  the  decision  is  made  ?  The  i:)oiut  of  order  is  this; 
Whether  the  motion  to  postpone  can  be  separated  from  the  motion  to 
print.  I  do  not  wish  any  body  to  be  debarred  from  speaking  on  the 
printing  of  the  resolutiou.     I  move  that  the  report  be  printed. 

The  Chairman  :  The  question  is  on  the  printing  of  the  report. 

The  Secretary  :  Without  any  motion  or  action  by  the  Conference  I 
will  see  that  the  resolution  is  printed. 

The  topic  of  the  day  was  taken  up,  being  the  subject  of  "  Edu- 
cation." In  the  absence  of  the  Eev.W.  H.  Fitchett,  B.A.,  of  the 
Australasian  Methodist  Church,  the  Rev.  William  Morley,  of 
the  same  Chnrch,  read  the  following  essay  of  Mr.  Fitchett  on 
the  "Eeligious  Training  and  Culture  of  the  Young:" 


ESSAY    OF   KEV.    W.    H.    FITCHETT.  321 

Mr.  President:  My  subject,  in  a  sense,  represents  an  impossibility.  It 
passes  the  wit  of  man  to  discuss  adequately  "  the  religious  training  of  the 
young"  in  twenty  minutes;  or  to  discuss  it  at  all,  and  say  any  thing  which 
some  one  else  has  not  already  said,  or  think  any  thing  which  some  one  else 
has  not  already  thought.  Yet  the  subject,  justly  enough,  finds  a  place  in 
our  discussions,  for  it  touches  the  most  urgent  need  of  the  world  and  the 
most  peremptory  duty  of  the  Church. 

Let  us  set  out  by  defining  our  terms.  What  exactly  do  we  mean  by 
"the  religious  training  of  the  young?"  We  do  not  mean  merely  that 
some  little  fringe  of  religious  phrases,  some  faint  embroidery  of  religious 
facts,  shall  be  tacked  on  to  the  general  training  of  om-  children.  The 
Church  of  Christ  stands  for  this  conception :  that  the  whole  training  of 
the  child  must  be  religious  in  its  spirit,  in  its  methods,  and  in  its  ends. 
We,  at  least,  who  believe  that  the  end  of  life  is  religion,  must  believe  that 
the  whole  training  of  those  who  are  entering  life  ought  to  be  religious. 
And  consider  what  religion  means  and  is.  Religion  is,  first,  a  set  of  his- 
toric facts ;  it  is,  second,  a  code  of  divine  laws ;  it  is,  third,  the  power  of  a 
personal  and  divine  life.  Historic  facts,  whose  home  is  the  memory! 
August  moral  laws,  whose  realm  is  conduct !  And  a  personal  divine  life, 
whose  kingdom  is  the  heart !  And  "  religious  training  "  means  this :  that 
every  child  shall  be  trained  in  the  historic  facts  of  religion;  it  shall  be 
disciplined  into  obedience  to  the  laws  of  religion ;  it  shall  be  quickened 
with  the  divine  life  of  religion.  This  is  the  debt  due  to  every  child  born 
into  the  world,  and  Christ's  Chiu-ch  stands  as  pledge  and  surety  that  all 
that  human  effort  can  do  to  pay  this  great  debt  shall  be  done.  This  is 
God's  ideal  and  plan,  and  ours  must  be  as  high.  We  may  not  whittle 
down  the  divine  conception,  but  in  God's  strength  try  ourselves  to  climb 
to  its  august  height. 

Why  do  we  talk  specially  about  the  religious  training  of  the  young? 
Education  is  surely  as  wide  as  life.  We  are  all  children  and  scholars  in 
the  great  school  of  time  and  life,  even  to  gray  hairs.  Ay !  but  the  young 
have  susceptibilities,  tremulous,  tender,  responsive,  which  are  at  once  their 
best  possession  and  their  sorest  peril.  In  the  morning  hour  of  Ufe  the 
soul  is  strangely  plastic.  The  hungry  memory  clamors  to  be  fed.  The 
tender  imagination  stands  with  open  door  and  offers  itself  to  every  vis- 
itant. The  affections,  like  the  tendrils  of  a  climbing  plant,  reach  out 
through  the  air  for  an  object  to  which  they  may  cling.  The  awakening 
conscience  waits  listening  to  catch  the  voice  of  law ;  and  this  hour  alike 
of  the  child's  greatest  hope  and  of  its  greatest  peril  is  the  hour  of  the 
Church's  most  urgent  duty. 

The  work  of  teaching  the  child  is  shared  (though  not  equally)  by  three 
"•reat  agencies:  1.  The  Church.  2.  The  Parent.  3.  The  State.  And 
since  we  are  a  Conference  of  Churches  let  us  begin  with  ourselves.  What 
is  the  Church's  duty  in  the  religious  training  of  children? 

I.  The  Church.. 
There  is  the  direct  and  personal,  the  unshared  and  untransferable  duty 


322  EDUCATION. 

of  the  Church  toward  children.  We  are  to  be  a  standing  -vidtness  to  the 
great  truth  that  every  child  has  been  redeemed  by  Christ  and  belongs  to 
him.  And  we  are  to  teach  every  child.  For  consider:  The  Church 
holds  the  suj^reme  teaching  organ  of  Christianity,  the  jjulpit;  and, 
alas !  we  have  with  infinite  disaster  suffered  the  teaching  office  of  the 
pulpit  for  children  to  be  half  forgotten.  "Feed  my  lambs,"  Christ 
said  to  his  gathered  apostles,  when  giving  them  their  commission. 
Always  he  is  saying  it.  And  the  ministry  that  does  not  feed  Christ's 
lambs,  or  that  does  it  only  by  proxy,  what  shall  be  its  epitaph?  Yet 
we  fail  here,  and  if  we  are  honest  men  we  shall  confess  our  failure.  Is 
there  any  minister  who,  looking  back  across  a  ministry  of  twenty  years, 
does  not  wish,  and  wish  with  sharp  pangs  of  remorse,  that  he  had  done 
more  for  the  children?  It  is  true  we  have  invented  a  special  agency,  the 
Sunday-school,  for  the  religious  training  of  childhood.  Thank  God  for 
it,  and  for  all  that  it  has  done — for  its  machinery,  for  its  literature,  for 
its  great  army  of  faithful  workers,  for  the  multitudes  it  has  given  to  every 
branch  of  Christian  work  and  to  heaven  itself  !  But  has  the  last  word 
been  spoken  on  Sunday-school  development  ?  Even  the  Sunday-school 
fails,  and  fails  most  with  those  who  need  it  most,  the  older  scholars.  It 
fails,  as  the  Church  fails,  in  finding  work  for  the  brains  and  the  tongues 
and  hands  of  the  youths  and  maidens  under  its  influence.  And  it  fails, 
often,  by  unwise  separation  from  the  Church,  to  its  own  sore  loss,  and  the 
Church's,  too.  We  want  a  new  Robert  Raikes,  who  shall  give  us  an  even 
nobler  Sunday-school  than  we  have  to-day.  Let  us  hope  he  is  born  already 
and  somewhere  is  ripening  for  his  great  work. 

But  I  would  urge  the  Church  has  not  exhausted  its  own  personal  duty 
toward  childhood  when  it  has  invented  the  Sunday-school.  The  pulpit  has 
a  too-often-forgotten  ministry  for  the  young.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that 
in  the  hymn-book  used  by  the  English  branch  of  Methodism  and  its  allies 
there  is  not  a  single  child's  hymn!  We  have  a  separate  hymn-book,  no 
doubt;  and  that  is  symptomatic  of  our  policy — oiu*  evil  policy— of  treating 
the  direct  instruction  of  cliildren  as  somehow  outside  the  scope,  or  beneath 
the  dignity,  of  the  pulpit.  The  presence  of  children  is  an  accident  in  the 
services  of  the  Church.  It  would  almost  be  worth  publishing  a  new 
hymn-book  to  fill  that  melancholy  and  expressive  blank !  I  would  jilead 
for  a  fuller  recognition  of  children  in  the  regular  ministry  of  the  pulpit 
and  in  the  ordinary  machinery  of  the  Church.  In  the  old  Coptic  Church  at 
Cairo — and  the  Coptic  Church  comes  by  direct  line  of  descent  from  apos- 
tolic times — I  saw  a  larger  place  and  office  given  to  children  than  is  given 
by  any  Protestant  Church  in  the  world.  The  old  plan  of  jjersonally  cat- 
echising the  children  of  a  town  or  parish  by  the  minister  is  dead ;  it  died 
of  pure  impracticability.  But  we  may  evolve  new  plans.  In  some  churches 
the  minister  preaches  a  five-minute  sermon  for  the  children,  in  others 
there  is  at  least  a  children's  hymn  sung.  The  plans  may  vary,  liut  the 
Church  of  to-day  must  somehow  recognize  more  fully  than  it  does  that 
the  pulpit  itself  has  a  direct  ministry  for  children ;  that  the  ordinary  ma- 
chinery of  the  Church  must  find  room  for  them. 


ESSAY   OF   REV.  W.    H.    FITCHETT.  323 

II.  The  Parent. 

We  have  to  watch  our  allies ;  and  first  of  these  is  the  parent.  Let  us 
remember  what  the  Church  is.  lu  a  sense  it  is  the  articulate  conscience 
of  Christianity — that  is,  it  is  its  function  to  be  the  voice  and  witness  and 
guard  of  duty.  So  it  is  the  business  of  the  Church  to  quicken  the  con- 
science, to  interpret  the  duty  of  all  who  hold  the  great  trust  of  parent- 
hood. "  The  hand  that  rocks  the  cradle,"  some  one  has  said,  "rules  the 
world;  "  but  that  is  a  cheap  bit  of  rhetoric.  We  may  say  in  sober  truth 
a  greater  thing.  The  pope  claims  that,  by  virtue  of  his  office  as  successor  of 
St.  Peter,  he  holds  the  keys  of  heaven  and  hell ;  and  we  smile  at  the 
claim !  But  in  a  sense  every  parent,  as  far  as  his  child  is  concerned,  holds 
in  his  hand  the  keys  of  that  character,  which  is  more  than  heaven  and 
hell,  since  it  includes  both!  The  father  stands  to  his  child  through  those 
supreme  years  when  reason  is  awaking  and  character  is  taking  shajje  as 
God !  The  child  looks  up,  and  the  first  figure  he  sees  is — the  father's !  In 
the  tiny  circle  of  that  child's  life  the  father  is  law-giver,  judge,  providence ! 
This  is  the  reading  of  a  parent's  office  which  the  Church  has  to  enforce. 
This  is  the  task  of  the  Church,  to  interpret  nobly,  wisely,  incessantly,  with 
fidelity,  with  courage,  the  great  office  and  trust  of  parenthood — to  teach 
all  parents  how  early  duty  begins,  how  wide  its  scope,  how  tremendous 
its  responsibilities,  how  supreme  the  rewards  of  success,  how  beyond  speech 
or  imagination  tlie  penalty  of  failure.  "The  crystal  bars,"  Mrs.  Brown- 
ing says — 

"The  crystal  bars  shine  faint  between 
The  soul  of  child  and  mother." 

But  that  is  spoken  of  the  child  in  heaven  and  the  mother  on  earth.  How 
will  the  ' '  crystal  bars, "  think  you,  shine  betwixt  a  mother  in  eternal 
bliss  and  a  child  in  eternal  darkness.  .  .  .    ! 

III.  The  State. 

Some  of  us  do  not  like  the  interference  of  the  State  in  education, 
many  of  us  mistrust  it.  But  we  have  to  accept  facts,  and  fit  our  methods 
to  facts.  The  trend  of  modern  politics  every-where  is  to  give  the  State  a 
larger  and  still  larger  share  in  the  great  field  of  education.  Lowell  ad- 
vises us  "not  to  prophesy  unless  we  know,"  but  I  venture  to  assert  that 
we  are  face  to  face  with  two  swift-coming  certainties:  first,  that  within  a 
briefly  measurable  time  primary  education  every-where  will  be  in  the 
hands  of  the  State ;  and,  second,  that  the  coming  education  will  be  free,  com- 
pulsory, and  secular.  Does  that  near  certainty  create  no  new  duty  for 
the  Church?  For  consider  the  logic  of  the  situation.  It  is  an  axiom  of 
the  newer  politics  that  ignorance  is  a  menace  to  good  citizenship,  and  means 
loss  and  peril  to  the  State.  Better  to  have  fields  unfilled  and  mines  un- 
wrought  than  citizens  uninstructed.  So  the  State  makes  itself  respon- 
sible for  education,  enforces  it,  pays  for  it,  tests  it.  And  when  the  State 
enters  the  field  of  primary  education  no  competitor  is  possible.  A  vast 
monopoly  is  created !     Now,  State-paid  and  compulsory  education  must 


324  EDUCATION. 

sooner  or  later  be  secular.  For  in  process  of  time  two  impossibilities 
come  to  light.  First,  it  is  impossible  that  the  State  can  teach  all  creeds ; 
second,  it  is  impossible  that  it  can  enforce  one  creed  on  all.  And  here  is 
the  great  peril  which  creates  a  new  duty  for  the  Church,  that  in  ten  years 
the  primary  State-paid  and  State-enforced  education  of  the  civilized  world 
will  be  secular.  And  the  peril  is  that  it  may  be  secular  in  the  sense  of  being 
not  only  non-Christian,  but  anti-Christian. 

The  history  of  my  own  colony,  Victoria,  is  at  this  point  a  lesson  and  a 
warning.  Nowhere  else  in  the  civilized  world  has  the  function  of  the 
State  in  education  been  interpreted  as  generously  and  discharged  in  a 
sense  so  nobly  as  in  Victoria.  This  community  of  a  little  over  a  million 
people  spends  £800,000  a  year  in  free  primary  instruction !  If  England 
sjjent  on  the  same  scale  it  would  have  an  educational  budget  of 
£33,000,000!  If  the  United  States  did  as  much  in  proportion  to  its 
numbers  it  would  have  an  educational  budget  of  over  £60, 000, 000  ster- 
ling !  But  Victoria  has  made  one  tragical  and  well-nigh  fatal  mistake. 
It  undertook  to  banish  from  primary  education  every  thing  to  which  on 
so-called  "religious"  grounds  any  one  could  object.  So  it  banished 
the  New  Testament  to  please  the  Jew,  and  both  Testaments  to  satisfy  the 
infidel.  It  next  vanished  history  to  satisfy  the  Catholic,  and  religion 
itself  of  every  sort  to  appease  the  atheist.  But  the  Bible  is  so  subtly 
interwoven  with  English  literature  that  it  was  found  the  very  school-books 
of  the  children  had  an  offensive  flavor  to  secular  palates.  So  the  lesson- 
books  were  dissected,  not  to  say  disinfected,  and  every  trace  of  Christianity 
effaced.  Longfellow's  "Hesperus" and Burns's  "  Cotter's  Saturday  Night" 
were  mutilated  in  order  to  purge  them  of  Christian  references.  But  it 
was  soon  found  that  authoritative  morality  had  disappeared  with  the 
Bible.  No  teacher  was  able  to  say,  "Thou  shalt  not  lie,"  or,  "Thou 
shalt  not  steal,"  to  the  children  he  taught.  But  the  human  conscience, 
like  nature,  abhors  a  vacuum,  and  it  was  soon  found  necessary  to  fill  up 
the  moral  gulf  created  by  the  banishment  of  religion  from  primary  educa- 
tion. The  State  found  that  if  it  taught  at  all  it  must  teach  morality,  and 
accordingly  a  new  moral  text-book,  divorced  from  God,  and  an  authorita- 
tive moral  law  was  placed  in  the  schools — a  code  of  morality  with  Util- 
itarianism for  its  basis.  A  boy  was  taught  to  be  honest  because  it  paid 
best,  and  not  to  lie  lest  he  should  be  found  out.  Thus  extreme  secular- 
ism resulted  in  this  amazing  paradox — the  creation  of  a  State-taught  non- 
Christian  morality.  The  Gospel  according  to  Matthew  was  forbidden, 
and  the  gospel  according  to  Mill  endowed ;  and  this  was  the  logical  con- 
clusion reached  by  an  extreme  secularism. 

All  this  should  serve  as  a  warning.  That  primary  education  through- 
out the  civilized  world  will  become  a  State  function  is  almost  certain. 
Compulsory  and  State-paid  education  must  be  secular,  and  it  may  become 
secular  in  the  acrid  and  bitterly  antiChristian  sense.  The  Christian 
Church  in  all  lands  should  stand  for  one  wise  policy  in  education.  Edu- 
cation must  have  a  moral  element.  Morality  has  no  living  root  apart  from 
an  authoritative  moral  law  and  a  personal  law-giver.     In  primary  educa- 


ADDRESS    OF    KEV.    T.    B.    APPLEGET.  325 

tion  the  Bible  must  find  a  place.  No  child  should  be  compelled  to  read 
it  -who  objects,  or  whose  parents  object ;  but  no  child  should  be  forbidden 
to  read  it  who  desires.  Secularism  must  not  be  allowed  to  become,  as  in 
France  it  is,  and  as  in  Victoria  it  has  been,  a  fetich  and  a  tyranny. 

If  I  had  time  I  might  point  out  that  the  peril  of  higher  education — the 
education  of  our  colleges  and  universities—  is  that  it  steeps  the  memory 
and  imagination  of  our  youth  in  what  are  too  often  the  foul  waters  of 
heathen  literature.  Authors  are  read  and  studied  in  our  universities 
under  the  disguise  of  dead  languages  which  if  printed  in  honest  English 
would  be  prosecuted  by  the  Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice.  And 
heathen  ideals  of  statesmanship,  of  conduct,  of  public  duty,  are  thus  im- 
pressed upon  the  minds  of  those  who  in  future  years  have  a  place  in  what 
are  called  the  ruling  classes.  I  must,  however,  conclude  by  saying  that  in 
the  religious  training  of  the  young  there  are  in  brief  three  jiroblems. 
First,  how  to  use  for  childhood  the  great  teaching  function  of  the  Church 
itself,  and  to  make  Christ's  Church  a  shelter  and  school  and  home  of 
children  every-where.  Second,  how  to  keep  the  ideal  of  parenthood 
clear  and  high,  and  in  harmony  with  God's  own  plans.  And,  third,  how 
to  insure  that  the  new  education,  which,  like  a  tide,  is  flowing  through  all 
the  channels  of  modern  civilized  life,  shall  flow  Christward. 

The  Kev.  T.  B.  Appleget,  of  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church,  gave  the  following  appointed  address  on  "  The  Familj':" 

Mr.  President:  I  am  to  speak  of  "the  family"  as  a  factor  in  the  relig- 
ious training  of  children.  I  cannot,  then,  encroach  upon  the  discussion 
of  to-morrow,  when  the  training  of  children  outside  of  the  family  will  be 
the  topic.  Nor  will  my  silence  upon  the  subject  of  mission  schools  and 
children's  homes  be  interpreted  as  showing  any  lack  of  hearty  sympathy 
in  the  work  of  those  noble  men  and  women  who  are  doing  so  much  to 
find  liomes  for  the  homeless,  and  to  rescue  the  forsaken,  the  neglected, 
and  the  fallen.  My  only  theme  is,  "The  family  relation  with  reference 
to  the  salvation  of  the  young  in  Christian  families."  I  thank  the  com- 
mittee in  that  I  need  not  do  more  than  call  attention  to  the  dignity  and 
importance  of  this  relation.  In  regard  to  other  forces  which  have  in  these 
later  days  been  devised  for  the  entertainment  and  so-called  culture  of 
children,  there  may  arise  in  thoughtful  minds  grave  doubts  whether  they 
be  of  God  or  not,  but  all  will  admit  that  the  highest  and  most  sacred  re- 
sponsibility of  maturity  for  the  training  of  youth  finds  its  divinely  ordained 
expression  in  the  parental  relation.  I  say  this  with  all  the  more  freedom 
in  this  presence  because  Methodism  has  always  been  a  household  religion. 
If  one  change  more  than  another  came  to  England  in  the  revival  of  1739, 
and  to  the  world  since,  it  was  not  in  theological  institutions  nor  in 
churches  so  much  as  in  the  home  aspect  of  religious  life.  The  word  of 
God  had  been  expounded  in  universities  and  discussed  in  pulpits,  but  then 
it  came  to  be  the  bread  of  life,  broken  every  day  in  the  homes  of  common 
people,  and  forming  a  large  part  of  the  home-life  and  conversation  of  all 
who  were  blessed  by  it.     The  home  circle  at  once  became  a  prayer  circle 


326  EDUCATION. 

and  a  love-feast.  John  Wesley  learned  religious  truth  and  gained  the 
impulses  of  vital  piety  at  the  knee  of  his  devout  mother ;  and  most  appro- 
priately has  one  of  the  great  branches  of  Methodism  honored  its  most  re- 
cent and  most  promising  organization  of  young  people  by  giving  it  the 
name  of  that  Ej^worth  home. 

A  few  years  since  I  watched  with  interest  the  building  of  a  wonderful 
structure,  over  which  every  day  multitudes  of  peojile  now  pass  from  their 
business  in  one  city  to  their  homes  in  another.  For  years  the  architect 
planned  and  delved  until  upon  either  side  of  the  river  there  rose  a  mighty 
pile  of  stone,  resting  upon  and  anchored  to  the  very  rock  ribs  of  the 
earth.  Then,  as  if  by  magic,  the  hand  of  genius  spun  the  web  upon 
which  the  ceaseless  traffic  now  goes  safely  on.  All  this  great  superstruct- 
ure, these  cables,  rods,  cords,  platforms,  and  tracks,  although  sound  and 
perfect  in  every  detail  of  their  construction,  are  strong  and  useful  and  safe 
only  as  they  are  connected  to  the  two  supporting  piers.  So  I  view  the 
great  problem  of  the  salvation  of  children  of  Christian  families.  From 
the  cradle  to  the  kingdom  of  grace  in  conversion  may  be  a  long  and 
tedious  way.  To  expedite  the  passage  curious  webs  of  invention  have 
been  woven — attractions  for  the  eye,  the  ear,  the  heart ;  culture  for  body, 
mind,  and  soul ;  schools  and  classes,  societies,  leagues,  and  bands.  God 
bless  them  all — ay,  God  has  blessed  them  all — but  there  are  two  rock- 
touching  piers,  and  only  two — God  gives  the  child  to  the  parent  and  says, 
"  Nurse  it  for  me."  God  lays  the  duty  on  the  Church  and  says,  "  Of  such 
is  the  kingdom,  feed  my  lambs."  And  just  so  far  as  any  effort  for  the 
spiritual  training  of  the  child  recognizes  that  the  duty  of  such  training 
begins  at  home  on  the  one  side,  and  the  object  of  such  training  is  to  be 
church  memljership  and  a  religious  life  at  the  other,  only  so  far  can  there 
be  strength  and  safety  in  the  effort.  How  deceptive,  how  dangerous,  how 
carefully  to  be  watched,  how  fearfully  to  be  avoided,  then,  must  we  hold 
any  plan  or  device,  however  complete  in  organization  and  attractive  in  its 
details,  which  robs  the  home  on  the  one  side  or  cheats  the  Church  on  the 
other.  Let  Christian  parents  and  the  Christian  Church  remember  that  the 
blessing  promised  "  to  you  and  to  your  children  "  can  only  be  fully  secured 
when  the  holy  and  solemn  obligations  of  the  parental  relation  are  fully 
realized,  and  the  tender  ties  of  the  home  circle  are  most  sacredly  pro- 
tected. 

Far  up  in  the  wilds  of  the  Adirondack  forests  the  red  deer  slakes  his 
thirst  in  mossy  springs  and  the  trout  leaps  in  rippling  rills  which  hun- 
dreds of  miles  away  form  the  mighty  river  through  whose  waters  the  dis- 
covery of  Watt  first  successfully  propelled  a  keel.  By  strict  legislative 
enactment  the  Empire  State  carefully  guards  this  wilderness,  for  when- 
ever the  ax  of  the  vandal  shall  fell  those  forest  trees,  whenever  the  sum- 
mer sun  shall  kiss  those  mossy  springs,  then  the  great  city  will  cease  to 
be  the  commercial  metropolis  of  America,  and  the  Statue  of  Liberty  will 
stand  upon  a  mud-flat  as  a  laughing-stock  of  the  world.  In  the  holy 
ordinance  which  makes  of  twain  one  flesh;  in  the  abiding  love  and  ten- 
der pity  of  parents  for  children ;  in  the  quiet  and  retirement  of  Christian 


ADDRESS    OF    EEV.    ROBERT    CULLEY.  327 

homes;  in  the  sweet  communion  of  fireside  affections;  in  the  gentle  re- 
straints of  the  household;  in  mother's  kiss  and  father's  counsel;  in  the 
daily  reading  of  the  family  Bible;  in  the  sacred  breathings  around  the 
family  altar — here  are  the  springs  of  the  great  river  which  is  to  bear 
our  children  unto  the  Church  and  unto  God.  And  every  blow  at  the 
natural  or  legal  protection  of  these  dear  home  interests  is  a  vandal  act,  a 
crime  that  must  bring  to  society  and  the  Church  its  certain  and  baneful 
result.  Well  then  may  the  Christian  look  with  horror  at  the  constantly 
increasing  tendency  to  loosen  the  marriage  tie,  and  I  am  glad  that  it  has 
come  to  pass  that  an  American  judge  in  one  of  these  United  States  has 
dared  to  say,  ' '  There  can  be  no  legal  dissolution  of  the  marriage  tie  in 
the  State  of  Georgia  except  by  death."  And  side  by  side  with  divorce, 
and  both  striking  at  the  very  roots  of  the  family  tree,  I  place,  but  cannot 
name,  that  cowardly,  murderous,  and  suicidal  evasion  of  parental  responsi- 
bility, the  particular  shame  and  disgrace  of  the  so-called  higher  class 
civilization  of.  the  nineteenth  century.  And  if  you  shall  insist,  as  I  wish 
it  could  be  insisted,  that  these  two  great  dangers  cannot  affect  Christian 
homes,  let  me  call  your  attention  to  others.  Is  there  not  a  growing  ten- 
dency to  abandon  that  good  old  Methodist  custom  of  taking  young  chil- 
dren to  church  ?  Is  not  the  instruction  of  young  children  in  Bible  truths 
and  religious  thought  more  than  ever  before  relegated  to  the  Sunday- 
school?  and  is  not  the  age  when  they  are  too  old  to  attend  Sunday-school 
constantly  decreasing  ?  Is  there  not  a  disposition  to  impose  upon  others 
the  burdens  God  has  called  upon  us  to  bear  ?  Is  there  a  pastor  here  who 
has  not  been  importuned,  ' '  Please  go  speak  to  my  child — it  would  not  do 
for  me  to  speak  to  him  on  such  a  subject  ? "  And  who  of  you  has  not 
been  tempted  when  you  have  thought  of  the  neglected  families  of  some 
very  enthusiastic  workers  in  outside  fields  to  say  to  them  as  the  Master 
said  to  one  who  was  asking  for  a  disciple's  mission,  "  Return  to  thine  own 
house,  and  tell  what  great  things  God  hath  done  for  thee  ?" 

Are  we  not  more  careless  than  our  fathers  were  of  what  our  children 
read,  where  our  boys  spend  their  leisure  hours,  and  what  society  our 
daughters  seek  ?  Or,  rather,  have  we  not  forgotten  that  our  children 
must  have  books,  entertainment,  and  society,  and  that  if  home  is  not  the 
place  where  they  can  find  these  things  the  place  where  they  can  find  them 
will  be  a  home  for  them  ? 

Yesterday  I  stood  by  the  tomb  of  the  man  whose  simple  rhyme  has 
awakened  more  patriotic  and  tender  sentiment  in  the  breasts  of  humanity 
than  any  other,  and  I  close  with  the  appeal  to  all  Christian  parents  that 
they  make  home  a  sweet  home ;  for  however  wide  your  sphere  of  use- 
fulness, no  richer  reward  can  come  to  you  than  when  at  the  great  roll- 
call  you  can  answer,  ' '  Behold  I  and  the  children  which  God  hath  given 
me." 

The  Rev.  Robert  Gullet,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  as  a  substitute  for  tlie  Hon.  John  Ev'ans,  of  the  Metli- 
odist  Episcopal  Church,  absent  on  account  of  sickness,  gave 


328 


EDUCATION. 


the  second   appointed  address,  entitled  "  The  Sunday-School," 
as  follows : 

Mr.  President  and  Brethren :  I  heard  only  a  few  hours  ago  that  the 
gentleman  announced  to  speak  upon  the  subject  of  Sunday-schools  would 
be  unable  to  do  so.  I  was  asked  to  say  a  few  words  on  this  subject; 
and  inasmuch  as  it  is  very  near  my  heart,  and  I  am  supposed  to  know 
something  of  our  Sunday-school  work  in  the  old  country,  I  am  glad  to 
respond.  I  make  no  apologies,  but  I  ask  the  indulgence  of  this  vast  au- 
dience as  I  attempt  hurriedly  to  offer  a  few  hints  as  to  how  to  improve 
our  Sunday-school  work  and  methods. 

As  to  the  work  of  the  Sunday-schools  in  this  great  land,  we  on  the 
other  side  of  the  water  have  much  to  learn.  As  a  Sunday-school  man, 
a  secretary  representing  more  than  one  million  Sunday-school  scholars 
and  teachers  connected  with  our  own  Church,  I  have  to  bear  testimony 
this  morning  to  the  very  great  stimulus  and  help  which  we  have  received 
from  this  side  of  the  water  in  regard  to  Sunday-school  rooms  and  ap- 
pliances for  more  efficiently  carrying  on  that  work.  Therefore,  what  I 
shall  have  to  say  wall  not  be  to  my  friends  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic, 
but  to  my  brethren  who  rejiresent  the  Eastern  Churches.  During  the 
last  few  years  in  the  old  country  we  have  made  very  rapid  strides  indeed 
as  to  our  school-rooms  and  appliances.  There  is  still  need  for  improve- 
ment in  this  direction.  "We  have  made  very  great  advances  in  our  chil- 
dren's books  and  in  the  general  literature  of  the  Sunday-schools.  We 
have  some  firms  in  London,  such  as  the  Religious  Tract  Society,  Nelsons, 
and  others,  who  publish  some  of  the  most  exquisite  books  for  children. 
We  have  made  improvement  in  our  aids  and  helps  for  the  teachers  in  car- 
rying on  their  work.  But  I  rejoice  still  more  in  the  improved  attitude 
of  the  Church  toward  our  Sunday-schools.  We  do  not  now  regard  them 
as  outer  courts  of  the  great  building,  but  we  regard  the  Sunday-school  as 
one  and  indivisible  with  the  Church. 

But,  sir,  I  think  the  grandest  argument  in  the  old  country  that  the  in- 
dustrial classes  are  not  antagonistic  to  Christianity,  but  the  reverse,  is  to 
be  found  not  only  in  the  fact  that  the  preacher  of  the  Gospel  who  has 
something  to  say  will,  in  the  large  cities,  find  a  large  class  of  working- 
men  listening  to  him,  but  that  we  have  more  children  and  young  people 
in  the  Sunday-schools  in  England  and  Scotland  and  Wales  than  are  to  be 
found  in  all  the  elementary  schools  put  together.  Mr.  Mundella,  a  very 
great  authority  on  this  subject,  stated  that  there  were  more  children  in 
our  Sunday-schools  than  were  in  the  elementary  schools.  And  in  order 
that  I  might  be  exact  I  have  obtained  the  figures.  I  cannot  speak  of  Ireland ; 
but  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Wales  we  have  in  our  Sunday-schools  one 
million  and  ninety-five  thousand  more  children  than  are  to  be  found  in  all 
the  elementary  schools  put  together.  I  know  there  is  an  answer  to  this, 
that  in  Wales  there  are  many  scholars  who  are  old  men  and  women.  But 
I  am  willing  to  give  a  million  as  a  set  off,  and  then  we  have  ninety-five 
thousand  to  spare.     It  is,  then,  a  fact  that  we  have  the  children  of  the  in- 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    ROBERT    CULLEY.  329 

dustrial  classes  in  our  Sunday-schools.  And  what  are  we  going  to  do  with 
them?  With  all  honor  to  my  brother,  Peter  Thompson,  at  St.  George's,  and 
my  equally  honored  brother.  Price  Hughes,  in  West  London,  I  wish  to  say 
that  I  hope  that  this  Conference  will  bear  in  mind  that  it  is  more  impor- 
tant to  save  the  child  from  knowing  the  horrors  of  the  slums  than  to  save 
him  when  he  is  adrift.  What  are  we  going  to  do  with  this  young  life  ? 
When  we  open  a  mission-school  in  any  of  our  great  cities  it  is  filled  al- 
most instantly.  That,  in  my  judgment,  and  I  hope  in  the  judgment  of 
this  Conference,  is  one  of  the  best  proofs  that  we  have  these  young  chil- 
dren o-iven  to  the  Church  of  Christ  to  be  led  to  him  and  trained  for  Chris- 
tian  service.  Without  at  all  reflecting  upon  those  whom  I  do  not  repre- 
sent, 1  would  like  to  give  two  or  three  figures  which  will  state  in  a  sen- 
tence or  two  our  position  on  the  other  side  of  the  water.  Our  Sunday- 
schools  in  Great  Britain  are  held  twice  every  Lord's  day ;  and  out  of 
7,000  Sunday-schools  6,000  schools  are  found  in  public  worship  hearing 
the  word  from  the  pastors  of  the  Church.  We  have  390,635  scholars 
attending  in  the  morning  and  675,000  in  the  afternoon.  We  have  about 
a  quarter  of  a  million  scholars  above  fifteen  years  old.  Including  our 
juniors  we  have  245,000  enrolled  as  church  members,  and  350,000  mem- 
bers of  our  junior  temperance  societies.  I  wish  I  could  this  morning  go 
into  detail.  But  I  would  suggest  that  the  most  important  thing  to  be 
considered  is.  How  can  we  best  help  our  teachers,  so  that  we  may  pro- 
duce better  work  in  our  schools  and  secure  better  results? 

Of  course,  the  answer  given  is  that  the  only  certain  method  of  retaining 
our  scholars  among  us  is  in  seeking  their  conversion  to  God.     I  believe 
that.     That  is  the  most  sure  and  effective  way  of  retaining  them.     But, 
sir,  let  me  state  this  morning — and  I  could  give  you  fact  after  fact  to 
prove  it— if  we  have  teachers  of  the  right  stamp  in  our  schools  we  can 
retain  our  scholars.     There    has    been  in  recent  years  the  most  rapid 
advance  of  education  on  our  side  of  the  water  as  there  has  been  on  this 
side.     But  I  am  sorry  to  say— listen  to  it— the  majority  of  Christians,  I 
fear,  but  at  any  rate  a  large  proportion  of  them,  are  of  the  impression  that 
if  the  teacher  has  a  warm  heart  it  docs  not  matter  how  he  may  teach  the 
Christian  religion.     The  young  people  are  taught  almost  perfectly  what 
they  have  to  learn  in  the  elementary  schools.     We  have  teachers  who  are 
trained,  and  before  they  are  accepted  as  such  they  are  examined  by  a 
Board  of  Examiners  to  be  sure  that  they  can  teach.     We  want  our  teach- 
ers to  understand  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  and  to  be  able  to  teach  that 
truth.     I  can  bear  testimony  to  the  fact  that  the  Sunday-School  Union 
has    classes  for    teaching   Hebrew  and    Greek,  which  classes   are   well 
attended  by  the  teachers.     We  have  model  lessons  for  teachers  given  in 
different  parts  of  the  country  to  young  children,  and  then  criticisms  are 
given  upon  the  way  these  lessons  are  communicated.     Better  still,  some 
of  our  most  distinguished  theological  professors— such  as  Professor  Davi- 
son and  Professor  Beet — give  lectures  upon  the  Bible  and  upon  theology 
in  order  to  help  the  teachers.       Where  we  have  teachers  of  the  right 
stamp  we  have  solved  the  question  of  retaining  our  scholars.     I  could 
24 


330  EDUCATION. 

take  you  to  a  school  where  every  Sunday  morning  at  half  past  nine  there 
are  found  two  hundred  and  fifty  young  men  above  nineteen  years  old. 
How  is  it  ?  Because  they  have  teachers  not  only  consecrated  to  God  and 
devoted  to  this  work,  but  deeply  devoted  to  and  in  sympathy  with  the 
needs  of  the  young  men.  In  the  first  class  you  will  find  the  mayor  of  the 
borough,  in  the  second  class  an  alderman  of  the  borough,  and  in  the 
third  class  the  son  of  the  member  of  Parliament.  And  they  are  found 
there  not  because  of  their  social  qualifications,  but  because  they  are 
Christian  men,  and  determined  that  they  will  not  let  our  young  men  go 
adrift.  And  I  wish  here  to  say  one  other  word.  I  am  afraid  that  very 
much  of  the  teaching  in  the  schools  on  our  side  of  the  water  is  very  mis- 
cellaneous, very  indefinite,  and  very  incoherent.  I  rejoice  that  we  have 
the  international  lesson;  lam  thankful  that  we  use  it  in  our  schools. 
But  we  too  seldom  have  a  teacher  who  will  take  a  book  of  the  Bible,  a 
gospel  or  an  epistle  in  its  completeness  and  scope  and  purpose,  and  deal 
thoroughly  with  it ;  our  teaching  is  altogether  too  fragmentary  and  inco- 
herent. I  know  that  complaints  and  recrimination  will  not  cure  any 
thing.  The  way  to  cure  the  evil  is  to  show  our  teachers  in  town  and 
country  a  more  excellent  way. 

And  I  want  to  plead  for  the  young  men  of  our  towns  and  cities  in  old 
England.  My  brethren  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church  and  their 
connection  will  bear  me  out  that  we  have  had  to  contend  inch  by  inch  for 
the  ground  we  have  won.  The  reasons  I  need  not  explain;  and  per- 
haps if  some  of  us  were  in  the  position  of  the  parochial  clergy  we  should, 
like  them,  try  to  get  the  children  into  our  school.  But  we  would  not 
adopt  their  methods. 

But  I  want  my  brethren  to  take  care  and  not  close  one  village  school. 
I  have  adopted  this  method  in  my  work :  Where  little  village  schools 
were  about  to  be  closed  because  workers  were  lacking,  I  have  suggested 
to  some  warm-hearted,  devoted  Christian  lady  in  some  market-town  that 
she  should  go  over  a  few  miles  and  work  the  village  school ;  and,  Mr. 
President,  I  have  not  failed  in  securing  some  Christian  women  who  would 
walk  four  miles — and  I  could  give  you  cases  this  morning,  if  it  were  nec- 
essary— to  keep  these  schools  from  being  closed.  It  is  no  good  crying 
about  this  or  that  being  the  difficulty;  we  must  see  to  it  that  these 
schools  are  kept  open,  because  we  shall  have  to  grow  our  members  and 
teachers  from  them.  What  we  want,  therefore,  to-day  is  to  understand 
the  wisest  and  best  methods  of  leading  children  to  Christ,  of  training  them 
for  Christ,  and  setting  them  to  do  his  work. 

The  Eev.  L.  J.  Coppin,  D.D.,  of  the  African  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  opened  the  discussion  upon  the  topic  of  the 
morning,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  I  desire  to  present  a  few  thoughts.  We  must  all  be 
grateful  to  Almighty  God  for  the  great  revival  in  the  Sunday-school  work 
by  the  introduction  of  the  international  system  of  education,  lifting  the 
Sunday-school  to  a  place  of  dignity  and  purity  perhaps  not  even  dreamed 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  331 

of  by  Christian  workers.  But  we  must  have  our  eyes  open  to  the  fact  of 
the  disparagement  between  Sunday-school  statistics  and  church  member- 
ship. Church  membership  is  very  much  larger  than  the  Sunday-school, 
wheu  the  reverse  should  be  the  case.  We  sometimes  point  the  finger  of 
scorn  at  the  Catholic  Church  for  bringing  its  children  into  the  Church, 
and  we  adopt  the  preposterous  idea  that  we  should  not  bring  our  children 
into  the  Church. 

The  next  thought  is,  We  appear  to  be  afraid  that  in  bringing  our  chil- 
dren to  Christ  too  early  they  will  not  be  quite  converted,  and  the  result  is 
we  have  three  periods:  one  is  the  innocent  childhood,  ano^er  young 
manhood,  sowing  wild  oats,  and  the  third  revival-meetings,  with  an  at- 
tempt to  bring  them  back  again.  Instead  of  taking  the  advice  of  wise 
Solomon  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  trying  to  retain  them  when  we 
have  them,  we  allow  them  to  grow  up  with  the  hope  that  we  may  by 
revivals  bring  them  back  to  Christ.  The  most  feeble  effort  is  much  bet- 
ter than  an  indifferent  standing  off  waiting  for  any  period  of  time.  If  we 
exert  our  strength  in  doing  what  I  think  to  be  a  proper  duty — retain  the 
children  in  the  fold  of  Christ  and  not  allow  them  to  sli])  out  of  our  hands 
and  run  the  risk  of  bringing  them  back  again — we  would  meet  with  more 
success.  If  any  of  our  children  die  before  they  have  attained  the  age  of 
twelve  years,  we  say.  Why,  of  course  they  went  to  heaven.  Now,  if  the 
child  be  a  fit  companion  for  God  and  the  angels  in  heaven,  I  do  not  see 
why  he  is  not  a  fit  companion  for  members  of  the  Church ;  and  if  we  are 
willing  to  grant  that  he  goes  to  heaven  at  that  age,  we  are  certainly  will- 
ing to  have  his  company  in  the  Church.  The  child  had  better  belong  to 
the  Church  than  to  belong  to  the  devil,  and  if  he  is  in  the  Church  belong- 
ing to  Christ  he  will  remain  there  unless  he  raises  himself  out  of  the 
Church. 

The  Rev.  Frank  Ballard,  M.A.,  B.Sc,  of  the  Wesleyan 
Metliodist  Church,  made  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President  :  I  wish  briefly  to  call  the  attention  of  this  Conference  to 
one  fact,  and  then  to  ask  a  question. 

Mr.  Culley,  in  his  encouraging  paper,  has  honestly  as  well  as  earnestly 
reminded  us  of  the  great  difficulties  attached  to  Sunday-school  teaching, 
looked  at  in  its  purely  mental  aspect.  As  an  old  school-master,  and  having 
visited  Sunday-schools  for  many  years,  1  must  submit  a  kind  of  ijessimistic 
note  to  that  gentle  warning  of  ]\Ir.  Culley.  He  has  not  truly  left  us  in 
a  fool's  paradise,  but  I  am  afraid  that,  on  the  whole,  we  are  still  in  dan- 
ger of  underestimating  the  very  great  and  solemn  seriousness  of  our  posi- 
tion in  this  matter.  I  may  assume  from  what  we  have  heard  here  this  aft- 
ernoon that  in  the  future,  through  State  aid,  education  will  become  more 
and  more  secular.  May  I  remind  this  Conference — for  we  all  here  desire 
to  be  practical — that  it  is  not  merely  a  question  of  quality,  but  also  of 
quantity.  An  ordinary  child  has  somewhere  about  eighty  or  ninety  waking 
hours  in  the  week.  Out  of  those  five  and  twenty  are  to  be,  we  hear,  un- 
der the  control  of  secular  education.  The  rest  of  the  hours  are  inevitably 
under  the  influence  of  our  modern  environments.  So  we  get,  on  the  whole, 
about  two  and  a  half  hours  once  a  week  for  religious  instruction.  I 
caknowledge  that  we  may  take  comfort  from  the  encouragement  of  our 
worthy  secretary.  But  when  I  look  at  the  whole  case  according  to  hon- 
est facts  my  heart  sinks  within  me. 

Then  the  question  I  want  to  ask  is  this.  We  find  in  the  old  country  I 
am  sorry  to  say — that  it  often  happens — too  often — that  the  only  quaU- 
fication  for  teaching  the  Sunday-school  teacher  possesses  is  willingness. 
I  submit  to  the  wise  brethren  who  are  here,  and  especially  to  the  laymen, 


332  EDUCATION. 

whether  or  not  they  find  in  their  business  that  willingness  is  a  sufficient 
qualification  for  the  discharge  of  important  and  difficult  duties  ?  Let  us 
by  no  means  underrate  it.  But  can  any  man  doubt  that  the  time  has  come 
when  we  should  look  for  something  more  than  mere  willingness  ? 

I  submit,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  our  only  hoj^e  lies  in  the  direction  of  in- 
creased discipline.  But  how  we  are  to  get  it  I  scarcely  know.  I  ventured 
once  in  England  to  urge  that  Sunday-school  teachers  should  be  admitted 
to  their  position  only  after  competitive  examination.  Of  course,  I  was 
laughed  at.  It  may  perhaps  be  somewhat  Utopian  or  Quixotic;  but  I 
should  like  to  ask  my  brethren  here — for  we  have  heard  of  the  efficiency 
of  Sunday-schools  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic — I  should  like  to  ask  how 
there  can  be  any  development  or  increase  of  discipline  without  applying 
some  such  principle  of  selection  ?  If  the  putting  of  a  test  of  that  kind 
would  exclude  workers  who  present  themselves  on  the  ground  of  willing- 
ness, what  are  we  to  do  to  improve  the  efficiency  of  those  who  wish  to 
teach,  but  who  come  qualified  with  nothing  beyond  zeal  ?  The  trouble 
about  teaching  is  that  of  all  things  it  is  the  most  difficult  to  do.  We  hear 
it  sometimes  stated  across  the  water  concerning  popular  preachers,  that 
so  and  so  cannot  talk  to  cliildren — cannot  even  effectively  address  a  Sun- 
day-school. And  yet  he  has  been  educated — perhaps  trained  as  a  univer- 
sity man.  But  in  almost  all  our  Sunday-schools  we  have  for  teachers  men 
and  women  with  no  training  beyond  the  week's  struggle  for  existence. 
How,  then,  can  we  wonder  at  comparatively  poor  results  of  their  teaching  ? 
I  have  paced  Sunday-school  floors  for  many  a  year  with  heartache,  and  am 
driven  to  affirm  to-day  that  the  quality  of  teaching  which  children  get  on 
a  Sunday  afternoon  is  sadly  insufficient  and  terribly  significant  when  we 
consider  the  signs  of  our  times.  I  should  be  very  glad,  therefore,  to  learn 
from  any  one  here  present  who  can  show  it  how,  while  retaining  all  the 
value  and  power  and  fire  of  willing  workers,  we  can  by  some  process  suc- 
ceed in  making  them  as  truly  able  to  teach  as  we  are  glad  to  know  they  are 
willing. 

Tlie  Rev.  A.  B.  Leonard,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  EpiscojDal 

Church,  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President  :  I  wish  to  put  in  a  little  plea  for  the  Sunday-school 
teacher.  I  do  not  know  what  we  would  do  in  this  country  if  it  were  not  for 
that  class  of  teachers  which  are  spoken  of  as  poor  Sunday-school  teachers. 
And  then  I  want  to  say  that  the  question  raised  by  the  gentleman  who 
has  just  taken  his  seat  may  be  answered  by  the  pastors  of  the  churches 
themselves.  Every  pastor  of  the  church  ought  to  consider  himself  the 
head  teacher  of  the  Sunday-school,  and  he  ought  to  be  capable  of  taking 
his  teachers  into  training  and  preparing  them  for  the  highest  possible  use- 
fulness in  their  work.  We  have  in  this  country — not  as  universally  as 
they  ought  to  be — teachers'  meetings,  for  the  instruction  of  the  teachers  ; 
and  our  pastors,  to  some  extent,  and  with  considerable  success,  prepare 
their  Sunday-school  teachers  for  their  work.  Have  teachers  received  prac- 
tical instruction  in  their  work  ?  Pastors  are  more  to  blame  for  inefficient 
teachers  than  are  the  teachers  themselves.  If  we  w\ant  a  better  clnss  of 
teachers  we  must  give  greater  attention  to  their  instruction  in  methods  of 
teaching  and  in  exegesis  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

The  Eev.  William  I^icholas,  D.D.,  of  the  Irish  Methodist 
Church,  continued  the  discussion  in  the  following  remarks : 

Mr.  President :  I  wish  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Conference  to  the 
first  paper  we  have  had,  on  ' '  The  Family. "    The  family  organization  is  one 


GENERAL   REMAKKS. 


333 


divinely  instituted  and  one  that  we  have  at  our  hands— one,  I  am  convinced, 
which  is  not  utilized  for  the  extension  of  Christ's  kingdom  to  any  thing 
like  the  extent  to  which  it  might  be  employed.  The  duty  of  parents  in 
the  training  and  teaching  of  their  children  is  by  a  large  number  of  per- 
sons simply  ignored.  Even  Mr.  Ballard,  in  his  address  this  morning- 
Mr.  Ballard  generally  notices  all  the  points  that  require  to  be  noticed— 
replied  that  the  only  persons  who  were  interested  in  religious  instruction 
and  the  training  of  children  were  the  Sunday-school  workers. 

A  Voice:    O,  no!    O,  no!  ■,     •    ^      ^^ 

Mr.  Nicholas  :  He  said  they  have  so  many  hours  for  secular  instruction 
and  rnodcru  environment,  and'we  (Sunday-school  workers)  have  only  two 
hours  for  religious  teaching.  We  have  in  our  evangelical  workof  teach- 
ino-  children  an  instrumentality  that  is  not  by  any  means  utihzed  as  it 
should  be.  It  is  not  insisted  upon  as  it  ought  to  be.  I  think  we  rarely 
hear  a  sermon  in  the  Methodist  Church  on  the  duty  of  parents— in  our 
own  land,  at  anv  rate.  Then  I  think  the  number  of  means  employed  for 
doing  good  so  fully  occupy  the  time  of  parents  that  in  many  cases  they 
cannot  devote  attention  to  their  home  duties.  In  the  life  of  Mr.  Foster, 
recently  published,  it  was  stated  that,  when  he  was  a  little  boy,  he  was 
riding  on  the  top  of  a  coach  in  some  part  of  England.  He  was  there, 
apparently,  traveling  by  himself.  The  heart  of  some  sympathetic  lady 
who  happened  to  be  traveling  by  the  same  coach  was  touched  by  the  ap- 
pearance of  this  boy  traveling  by  himself,  and  she  said:  "Little  boy, 
where  is  your  mother?"  ' '  She  is  holding  a  mission  in  Ireland. "  ' '  Where 
is  your  father  ?  "  "  He  is  holding  a  mission  in  America."  And  there  was 
the  little  boy  bv  himself  in  England.  That  is  an  extreme  illustration  of 
what  I  mean.  The  father  is  occupied  on  Monday,  Tuesday,  and  so  on  all 
the  week,  and  the  mother  is  occupied,  and  there  is  no  opportunity  for 
training  the  children  in  the  home,  and  family  worship  is  performed  in  a 
perfunctory  way,  without  any  exposition  or  application  of  the  Scriptures 
and  the  training  of  the  children  as  they  should  be  in  the  knowledge  of 
Christ.  . 

There  is  another  thing  that  I  would  like  to  say— that  the  Church  itself 
is  to  a  large  extent  to  Ijlame  for  the  number  of  children  who  get  away 
from  her  control.  The  Church,  to  a  very  large  extent,  turns  a  cold 
shoulder  to  the  children.  I  was  delighted  to  hear  the  remarks  of  my 
brother  in  black— I  think  that  is  the  expression— the  remarks  he  made  a 
short  time  ago  about  the  children.  If  we  do  not  teach  the  child  that  he 
is  by  nature  "a  child  of  the  devil,  we  sometimes  come  near  to  it.  If  _we 
would  teach  cliildreu  that  they  are  members  of  the  Church  of  Christ, 
absolute  members  of  it,  it  would  be  much  more  to  the  purpose.  We  make 
infant  baptism  what?  A  mere  nonentity ;  an  empty  form.  Wedo  not 
regard  it  as  conferring  any  privilege  upon  the  child,  or  as  entailing  any 
obligation  upon  ourselves.  We  baptize  the  children  and  leave  them  there 
without  taking  further  notice  of  them. 

The  Kev.  D.  J.  Waller,  D.D.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 

Church,  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  I  wish  to  say  that  I  believe  it  is  true  of  this  country 
and  of  every  other  country  that  the  success  of  the  Gospel  depends  upon 
the  salvation  of  childhood.  I  glory  in  the  life-boat,  and  I  am  proud  of 
my  nation  when  it  goes  ofE  to  save  men  on  a  foundering  ship ;  but  the 
light -houses  on  the  coast  that  are  a  protection  to  our  shippingsave  far 
more  lives  than  the  life-boats.  Where  hundreds  are  saved  by  the  life-boats 
millions  are  saved  by  the  light-houses.     I  believe  in  missions,  but  if  we 


334  EDUCATION. 

had  the  spiritual  history  of  all  the  converted  who  constitute  the  members 
of  the  Church  of  Christ  to-day,  we  should  find  that  an  overwhelming 
majority  are  either  the  children  of  religious  people  or  have  received 
religious  instructions  in  school.  The  responsibility  is  primarily  in  the 
household.  This  responsibility  cannot  be  put  elsewhere,  for  God  has  put 
it  there.  It  is  the  bouudeu  duty  of  the  parents  to  fulfill  the  obligation 
resting  upon  them  ;  but,  alas,  too  many  of  them  are  not  what  they  ought 
to  be.  Even  religious  homes  are  not  what  they  should  be  in  this  important 
matter. 

I  was  much  impressed  with  the  paper  of  Mr.  Fitchett,  of  Australia.  He 
said  they  take  the  Bible  out  of  the  schools  in  Victoria  and  then  they 
thrust  it  upon  the  criminal  when  he  enters  the  cell.  Surely  it  would 
have  been  better  to  have  kept  it  in  the  schools.  I  have  taken  an  interest  in 
American  education  and  I  know  how  much  and  how  little  religious  instruc- 
tion is  given  in  the  common  schools.  Horace  Mann  expressed  an  opinion 
that  the  time  would  never  come,  and  that  it  was  inconceivable  that 
religion  would  not  be  taught  in  all  the  common  schools  in  America. 
From  official  returns  it  is  evident  that  the  common  schools  are  now 
generally  secular  schools.  I  indorse  the  words  of  Dr.  Arthur  Edwards  in 
the  last  Ecumenical  Conference.  He  said:  "The  United  States,  for  in- 
stance, has  State  schools,  with  whose  religious  influence  the  evangelical 
Churches  are  not  content.  Alleged  political  '  fair  play '  in  schools  sup- 
ported from  the  common  public  treasury  permits  any  and  all  views  of  the 
person  of  Jesus  Christ  and  all  statements  concerning  the  origin  and 
sovereignty  of  'the  things  that  appear.'  Such  unavoidable  toleration 
generally  results  in  perpetual  conflict  that  emasculates  conscience  and 
destroys  divine  authority.  The  evangelical  C;hurches,  therefore,  have 
their  own  schools,  which  are  loyal  to  Christ."  From  the  first,  however, 
the  great  universities  in  America  have  all  been  denominational,  and  I  am 
glad  to  find  that  the  Churches  of  this  country  are  undertaking  their  re- 
sponsibility more  seriously  than  before.  As  to  my  own  country,  I  am  glad 
to  say  that  the  Wesleyan  Church  has  not  resolved  that  we  will  abandon 
our  educational  system. 

Reference  was  made  in  a  previous  session  to  the  decision  of  a  Special 
Educational  Committee  recently  held,  the  resolutions  of  which  were 
adopted  by  our  last  Conference.  In  order  that  there  may  be  no  mistake 
as  to  the  attitude  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church  on  this  important 
matter,  I  ask  attention  to  the  following  resolutions,  which  were  unani- 
mously adopted : 

"  1.  That  the  primary  object  of  Methodist  policy  in  the  matter  of 
elementary  education  should  be  the  establishment  of  school  boards 
every-where,  acting  in  districts  of  sufficient  area,  and  the  placing  of  a 
Christian  unsectarian  school  within  reasonable  distance  of  every  family, 
especially  in  the  rural  districts. 

"2.  That  no  national  system  of  education  will  meet  the  necessity  of 
the  country  which  shall  exclude  from  the  day-schools  the  Bible,  and  re- 
ligious instruction  therefrom  by  the  teachers,  suited  to  the  capacities  of 
the  children, 

"3.  That  all  modifications  of  the  national  policy  in  respect  to  ele- 
mentary education  should  be  made  in  view  of  the  ultimate  establishment 
of  a  complete  national  system  of  schools  under  adequate  and  representa- 
tive public  management. 

"4.  That  so  long  as  denominational  schools  form  part  of  the  national 
system  of  education  our  connectional  day-schools  and  training  colleges 
should  be  maintained  in  full  vigor  and  efficiency." 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  335 

The  Rev.  William  Gibson,  B.A.,  of  the  Weslejan  Meth- 
odist Church,  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  I  have  only  one  thing  to  say.  In  Mr.  Appleget's  address 
there  was  this  sentence :  ' '  The  great  John  Wesley  at  the  knees  of  his  de- 
voted mother."  The  character  of  John  Wesley  was  formed  in  his  infancy 
by  his  talented  and  devoted  mother.  Methodism  began  in  the  home  at  Ep- 
worth.  Of  this  we  have  not  the  slightest  doubt.  But  as  a  rule  we  do 
not  look  after  children  until  they  are  four  or  five  years  old.  And  the 
thing  I  wish  to  say  this  morning  is  that  we  as  Methodists  ought  to  adopt 
some  system  whereby  we  will  look  after  children  of  one  or  two  years  old. 
In  Foundry  Church  on  Sunday  last  I  heard  this  statement  from  Mrs. 
Hughes :  "We  have  in  West  London  a  mission  home  for  young  children, 
wliere  children  can  be  brought  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the 
mothers  going  away  and  coming  back  for  the  children  in  the  evening." 
We  liavevery  much  to  \eavn  from  America  from  what  is  called  the  kinder- 
garten system.  In  France  the  question  is,  How  shall  we  get  hold  of  the 
children?  and  I  believe  the  solution  of  the  question  is  that  we  should 
adopt  your  kindergarten  system — lay  hold  of  the  children  in  the  earlier 
years.  It  was  said  by  a  notable  woman,  "  Give  me  a  child  until  it  is  a  year 
old,  then  I  do  not  care  who  has  to  do  with  it."  The  great  question  is 
how  children  may  be  held. 

Mr.  N.  "W.  Helme,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church, 
concUided  tlie  discussion,  as  follows  : 

Mr,  President :  I  am  just  old  enough  to  appreciate  the  marked  contrast 
between  the  position  and  the  object  of  Sunday-schools  of  to-day  with 
that  of  my  boyhood,  when  it  was  one  of  the  great  objects  to  teach  the  A 
B  C.  I  remember  when  the  great  majority  of  our  teachers  were  occupied 
with  teaching  the  rudiments  of  elementary  education,  and  my  grand- 
father, who  founded  the  first  Sunday-school  in  Lancaster,  paid  teachers 
to  do  that  work.  Now,  sir,  the  Sunday-school  has  before  it  a  very  much 
greater  task  and  a  far  grander  mission ;  for  we  aim  at  nothing  less  than 
the  conversion  of  the  children  to  Almighty  God.  We  have  before  us  the 
work  of  leading  our  children  in  their  early  years  to  Christ.  And  so,  in 
order  that  this  may  be  accomplished,  I  hold  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
Church  to  pay  the  greatest  attention  to  the  selection  of  the  men  into 
whose  hands  they  place  the  management  of  this  great  undertaking.  And 
that  is  the  one  reason  for  my  rising — to  urge  upon  this  Conference  of  our 
Churches  that  they  should  select  men  of  the  greatest  ability  for  officers  in 
our  Sunday-school  work. 

A  resolution  of  sympathy  with  the  Rev.  C.  H.  Spurgeon  in 
his  illness  was  referred  to  the  Business  Committee. 

The  doxology  was  sung,  and  the  Conference  was  closed  with 
the  benediction  by  the  Re\'.  J.  T.  Murray,  D.D. 


336  EDUCATION. 


SECOND  SESSION. 


The  Conference  met  at  2:30  P.  M.,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Fergu- 
son, D.D.,  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church,  in  the  chair. 
The  6th  hymn  was  sung,  and  the  Rev.  Stewart  Hoosen,  of 
the  Primitive  Methodist  Church,  read  a  portion  of  the  fourth 
chapter  of  the  First  Epistle  of  Peter,  and  led  the  Conference 
in  prayer. 

The  programme  of  the  afternoon  was  taken  up,  and  the  Rev. 
John  Smith,  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church,  read  the  fol- 
lowing appointed  essay  on  "  Elementary  Education — How  It 
May  Be  Best  Promoted  :  " 

Mr.  President :  I  shall  not  waste  the  time  and  try  the  patience  of  the 
Conference  by  attempting  to  prove  that  which,  in  a  "Methodist  assembly, 
needs  no  proof,  namely,  that  elementary  education  is  a  desirable  thing. 
Methodism  was  born  in  a  university,  and  has  never  been  ashamed  of  its 
birthplace,  nor  has  it  ever  known  a  war  with  learning.  Methodists  of 
every  name  have  every- where  and  every-when  acted  in  accordance  with  the 
injunction  of  Washington,  the  father  of  this  great  nation,  in  his  farewell 
address  to  his  fellow-citizens,  to  j^romote  as  an  object  of  primary  im- 
portance institutions  for  the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge.  There  is  a 
large  class  of  persons  who  deny  that  education  is  the  birthright  of  every 
child,  and  a  lai'ger  class  still  who  only  concede  the  right  from  motives  of  fear 
or  public  utility ;  but  neither  of  these  classes  has  sent  representatives  to  this 
Conference.  Nor  is  it  necessary  for  me  to  reason  in  the  capital  of  America 
that  education  is  something  more  than  a  personal  accomplishment,  more 
than  a  private  benefit;  that  it  is  a  public  boon  of  priceless  value;  for  the 
Americans  have  been  the  leaders  of  popular  education,  and  stand  to-day 
the  vanward  soldiers  in  the  battle  against  ignorance  and  stupidity.  They 
have  devoted  to  the  support  of  public  education  more  land  than  the  area 
of  England  and  Scotland  and  Ireland  combined,  and  they  are  the  only 
nation  in  the  world  that  spends  twice  as  much  public  money  upon  educa- 
tion as  on  war  or  preparations  for  war.  I  have  heard  many  delightful  and 
inspiring  statements  in  this  Conference,  but  no  statement  has  delighted 
me  more  than  that  which  I  heard  from  the  lips  of  Dr.  W.  T.  Harris,  the 
Commissioner  of  Education,  last  Saturday,  touching  the  progress  of  edu- 
cation in  the  fifteen  former  slave  States  of  this  country.  In  those  States 
and  the  District  of  Columbia  there  are  1,238,622  colored  children  in  the 
various  public  schools.  The  total  amount  expended  in  thirteen  years  on 
the  education  of  whites  and  blacks  in  those  States  is  $216,644,699. 

Still,  elementary  education  is  to  a  large  extent  an  experiment.  Much 
as  to  the  best  method,  the  2:)roper  scope,  and  suitable  means  has  to  be  dis- 
covered. Thirty  years  ago  Mr.  Lowe's  revised  code  was  intended  to  place 
elementary  education  in  England  on  a  definite  and  final  basis,  Instead  of 


ESSAY    OF    REV.    JOHN    SMITH.  337 

allowing  it  to  continue  a  preliminary,  provisional,  and  tentative  system. 
But  notwithstanding  the  marked  advance  of  thirty  years  no  scheme  yet 
devised  can  be  considered  as  complete  and  final.  It  seems  to  me  that  the 
means  and  methods  of  education  must  change  with  the  changing  customs 
of  men  and  nations.  They  are  wise  and  good  only  for  the  time,  the  con- 
dition, or  stage  of  development  of  the  people  who  made  them.  Our  folly 
lies  in  attempting  to  stereotype  them  and  make  them  serve  under  a  new 
order  of  things. 

There  is  certainly  a  strong  and  wide-spread  determination  to  enlarge 
the  contents  and  extend  the  period  of  elementary  education,  so  that  it  is 
gradually  encroaching  on  what  has  hitherto  been  regarded  as  the  prov- 
ince of  secondary  education.  Clearly  there  can  be  no  finality  in  either 
the  subjects  of  primary  education  or  the  means  of  promoting  it.  For  no 
sooner  have  we  secured  what  we  have  called  a  forward  movement  than  we 
set  about  asking  how  it  can  be  improved.  And  it  is  well  that  it  should  be 
so,  because  dropping  into  a  rut  is  the  next  thing  to  dropping  into  the  grave. 

But  what  is  education?  Many  definitions  might  be  quoted  in  reply. 
But  we  need  only  act  on  the  advice  given  to  us  more  than  once  in  this 
Conference  by  the  Rev.  William  Arthur,  and  look  the  word  steadily  in 
the  face  and  ask  its  meaning.  Then  it  becomes  evident  that  it  does  not 
mean  a  war  against  nature;  not  the  suppression  of  inclination;  not  the 
culture  of  one  group  of  faculties ;  not  stuffing  and  cramming  the  memory 
with  dates  and  facts  and  figures ;  not  the  forcing  of  the  mind  into  a  given 
groove  or  attitude ;  not  the  mere  acquisition  of  knowledge  of  whatever 
kind  it  may  be ;  not  the  fashioning  of  the  child  upon  a  given  model,  but 
the  free  unfolding  and  training  of  whatever  joowers  and  faculties  lie  in 
germ  in  its  heart  and  mind.  Selden  wrote  more  than  two  hundred  years 
ago  that  wit  must  grow  like  fingers.  If  it  be  taken  from  others,  it  is  like 
plums  stuck  upon  black-thorns ;  there  they  are  for  awhile,  but  they  come 
to  nothing.  The  popular  representation  of  the  child's  mind  as  a  clean 
sheet  of  note-paper  on  which  you  can  write  something  is  false,  for  we  do 
not  write  upon  a  blank,  dead  surface,  but  have  to  deal  with  living  forces, 
and  must  supply  such  food  as  they  can  retain,  digest,  and  assimilate.  It 
follows  that  true  education  cannot  be  put  into  the  mind  as  if  it  were  an 
empty,  dead  receptacle,  but  must  be  to  a  large  extent  a  process  of  self- 
evolution. 

This  is  the  conception  that  dominates  the  kindergarten  system  of  edu- 
cation, according  to  its  author — a  system  that  ought  to  be  universally 
adopted.  The  school  is  a  garden  for  children  where  they  are  planted, 
watched,  and  nourished,  and  where  under  wise  care,  knowledge,  and 
treatment  they  may  grow  and  shoot,  gather  strength  and  beauty  as  do  the 
plants,  according  to  the  laws  of  God  as  made  manifest  in  their  nature. 
For  the  laws  which  regulate  the  growth  of  the  human  mind  are  just  as 
fi^ed  as  those  which  regulate  the  mechanical  forces  or  natural  growth  in 
the  vegetable  world.  This  conception  of  the  education  of  a  child  for  the 
sake  of  the  perfection  of  its  own  being  is  beautiful  and  true,  for  it  rests 
upon  the  imperishable  principles  of  nature  and  reason. 


33S  EDUCATION. 

But  the  ultimate  end  of  education  is  trained  capacity  for  fruitful  action. 
Public  opinion  judges,  and  will  continue  to  judge,  of  education  by  the 
capacity  it  bestows  for  work  of  some  kind.  The  one  question  which 
practical  people  will  insist  on  asking  concerning  a  youth  is  not,  "  What 
does  he  know?"  but,  "  What  can  he  do?  "  If  he  can  do  somethino-  if  he 
can  only  do  one  thing  well  and  rapidly,  he  will  survive  in  the  fierce  com- 
petition of  modern  life  and  command  position  and  pay.  The  imperious 
demands  of  the  times,  arising  out  of  the  special  developments  of  society, 
make  more  and  more  imperative  the  need  of  so  molding  the  early  train- 
ing of  children  that  the  knowledge  they  gain  may  have  some  prac- 
tical utility  in  the  battle  of  life.  The  education  which  does  not  do  this  is 
a  false  education. 

It  seems  to  me  that  elementary  education  must  have  a  certain  complete- 
ness in  itself,  and  at  the  same  time  that  it  should  be  sufficiently  broad  and 
inclusive  as  to  form  an  equal  ground-work  on  which  the  special  training 
of  later  years  may  rear  its  superstructure.  Training  for  special  callings 
will  differ  according  to  the  circumstances  and  natural  aptitude  of  the 
child.  But  for  the  purpose  of  elementary  education  an  average  must  be 
taken,  and  a  general  education  devised  for  the  ideal  average  scholar.  The 
scope  of  primary  education  is  being  enlarged  by  the  ever-increasing  num- 
ber of  subjects  which  are  regarded  as  essential  to  it.  The  famous  trinity 
of  R's  no  longer  satisfies  the  needs  of  the  times  nor  the  requirements  of 
official  codes. 

The  importance  of  training  children  to  express  inward  thought  in  out- 
ward form  has  led  to  the  almost  universal  adoption  of  drawing  as  a 
necessary  element  in  primary  education.  The  child  expressed  the  idea 
l^rettily  when  she  told  her  mother,  when  chatting  with  her  about  her 
school,  ' '  That  in  drawing  you  had  to  think  and  think  and  think,  and 
then  put  a  Une  round  your  think. "  So  much  of  science  is  being  brought 
to  bear  upon  life  and  trade,  commerce  and  agriculture,  as  to  render  a  thor- 
oughly ignorant  man  more  helpless  in  a  civilized  community  than  an  un- 
tutored savage  in  the  wilds  of  Africa.  Even  farming  is  becoming  more 
and  more  a  scientific  profession.  Hence  the  demand  for  elementary  science 
and  manual  instruction  is  becoming  louder  and  more  general.  And  as 
machines  become  more  delicate  and  complex,  as  new  processes  decide  the 
victory  in  this  or  that  department  of  manufacture,  and  as  financial  exact- 
itude and  foresight  exert  increasing  influence  over  commerce,  the  demand 
for  men  of  trained  intelligence  will  become  universal  and  imperative. 
The  blunt  workman  must  be  turned  into  the  skilled  artisan. 

The  omission  to  teach  the  duties  of  a  citizen  as  part  of  elementary  ed- 
ucation is  to  me  altogether  unaccountable.  When  we  consider  that  the 
people  are  getting  more  power  into  their  hands,  that  their  votes  carry 
elections,  change  administrations,  and  decide  policies,  it  seems  the  most 
natural  thing  that  they  should  be  taught  their  duties  to  the  commonwealth 
as  well  as  enjoy  its  rights  and  privileges.  To  confide  the  destinies  of  a  nation 
to  men  who  have  never  been  taught  the  duties  of  a  citizen  may  be  as  dis- 
astrous to  the  general  good   as   to    class   interests  and  privileged  orders. 


ESSAY    OF   REV.    JOHN    SMITH.  339 

Yet  South  Australia  is  the  only  country,  so  far  as  I  can  gather,  that 
distiactly  includes  the  duties  of  a  citizen  in  its  course  of  elementary 
education. 

Then  there  should  be  sufficient  scope  in  elementary  education  for  spe- 
cific teaching  on  the  great  social  questions  of  the  day.  Take  the  temper- 
ance question  as  an  example  of  what  I  mean.  The  United  Kingdom 
Band  of  Hope  is  doing  a  splendid  work  by  sending  its  staff  of  duly  qual- 
ified lecturers  to  give  illustrated  scientific  addresses  in  day-schools  on  the 
nature  and  effects  of  alcohol  on  the  human  body.  But  why  not  make  the 
question  a  part  of  the  early  training  of  children?  Seventeen  of  the  States 
of  America  have  done  so  already.  And  the  subject  is  not  neglected  in 
Canada ;  for  I  find  among  the  subjects  for  the  examination  papers  of  last 
year  in  the  city  of  Toronto  such  questions  as  these:  ''  Explain  the  action 
of  alcohol  on  the  muscular  system; "  "Explain  the  effects  of  alcohol  on 
the  heart  and  lungs."  I  find  that  Toronto  has  included  a  kindred  ques- 
tion in  its  course  of  elementary  education.  Here  is  a  toi:»ic  for  an  exam- 
ination paper :  Give  six  reasons  why  "bishops  and  ministers  and  young- 
people  should  not  smoke."  I  beg  pardon.  "Bishops  and  ministers  "  is 
a  marginal  note  of  my  own.  It  does  not  stand  in  the  original  text,  but  it 
ought  to  have  been  there,  for  if  there  are  six  reasons  why  young  people 
should  not  smoke,  surely  there  are  sixty  why  bishops  and  ministers  should 
decline  the  unclean  practice. 

If  it  be  necessary  thus  to  train  and  equip  our  sons  for  the  work  they 
will  have  to  do  in  the  world,  what  shall  we  say  of  our  daughters  ?  The 
brightness  and  joy  of  the  homes  in  which  it  will  be  their  lot  to  live  will 
depend  mainly  on  them.  At  home  for  a  man  ought  to  mean  shut  up  for 
awhile  with  neatness,  order,  and  beauty.  But  how  can  this  be  unless 
the  maiden's  education  is  molded  with  a  view  to  her  future  position  and 
relations  as  wife  and  mother.  No  girl's  education  can  be  considered  com- 
plete which  does  not  include  music,  needle-work,  cookery,  laundry,  and 
domestic  economy.  I  can  readily  understand  how  the  objection  of  mere 
smattering  wdll  arise  against  such  an  extensive  curriculum  of  element- 
ary education.  My  reply  is.  Extend  the  period  of  education,  and  then 
make  attendance  at  evening  continuation  classes  for  technical  instruction 
compulsory. 

It  is  a  thousand  pities  that  a  subject  of  such  vital  concern  to  the  child, 
the  family,  and  the  State  as  education  should  ever  have  been  made  the 
foot-ball  of  political  parties  and  rival  Churches.  Yet  in  other  lands  as  well 
as  in  England  popular  education  has  been  a  long,  fierce  struggle,  and  the 
battle  is  still  unfinished.  Much  has,  however,  been  won.  The  days  of  a 
narrow  code,  low  standards,  and  lower  proficiency  are  passed.  A  general 
sense  of  the  national  importance  of  education  has  been  created.  The 
qualifications  of  the  teacher  are  no  longer  summed  up  in  the  .possession  of 
a  rough  tongue,  a  loud  voice,  and  a  good  stout  birch-rod.  Payment  by 
results — the  fruitful  source  of  cramming  and  over-pressure,  and  the  poison 
fatal  to  all  sound  educational  work — is  practically  abolished.  The  in- 
spector has  been  changed  from  a  mere  examiner  and  registrar  of  results 


340  EDUCATION. 

into  an  inspector  of  methods  and  reasons  and  character  of  the  work  done. 
And  under  the  shadow  cast  before  by  a  great  event  a  political  party  has 
repented  and  become  extremely  teachable,  and  given  what  they  had  pro- 
tested would  ruin  the  country,  and  which  they  would  never  grant — free  ed- 
ucation for  England — given,  however,  on  terms  which  only  settle  the 
matter  after  a  fashion  and  for  a  time.  The  battle  is  not  finished.  The 
half-time  system,  the  plague  of  teachers,  the  perplexity  of  managers,  and 
the  temptation  of  parents,  must  cease.  The  battle  cannot  tenninate  so 
long  as  there  is  half  a  million  of  Methodist  children  forced  by  law  into 
Church  of  England  schools  under  the  irresponsible  mismanagement  of  a 
parish  priest  whose  supreme  concern  is  to  save  their  souls  from  the  heathen- 
ism of  dissent.  We  claim  the  right  to  follow  our  children  within  the 
walls  of  these  schools  and  assist  by  voice  and  vote  in  their  education. 

The  school-rooms  where  the  ventilation,  the  lighting,  and  seating  are 
opposed  to  the  laws  of  health,  modern  science,  and  common  sense  must  be 
removed,  and  the  school-house  made  the  brightest,  cleanest,  and  most  at- 
tractive in  the  community,  and  kept  well  supplied  with  the  best  facili- 
ties and  apparatus  for  education.  Suitable  provision  for  the  buoyant  and 
gleeful  life  of  the  children  is  essential  to  the  success  of  school  work.  The 
keen  rivalry  of  games  and  sports  not  only  gives  free  and  joyous  play  to 
the  jihysical  powers  of  the  children,  but  throws  some  cheer  into  their  daily 
tasks,  and  helps  to  keep  them  fresh  and  sweet.  ' '  How  have  you  managed 
to  fill  the  deserted  school  so  soon  ?  "  was  the  question  addressed  to  the 
newly  appointed  teacher  who  applied  to  the  managers  for  increased  ac- 
commodation. "I  can  only  account  for  it  on  the  ground  that  I  make 
education  a  pleasurable  and  gleeful  exercise  to  the  children  as  far  as  I 
can,"  he  replied. 

The  teacher  is  the  school.  Get  the  right  teacher  and  he  will  make  the 
right  method.  Get  the  teacher  whose  mental  culture  and  attainments  are 
of  the  best  order  with  great  natural  aptitude  for  teaching  ;  then  give 
him  large  freedom,  and  he  will  succeed.  Do  not  require  him,  as  a  con- 
dition of  his  engagement,  to  act  as  choir-master,  or  organist,  or  parish 
clerk,  or  take  charge  of  the  Sunday-school,  or  do  a  little  secretary's 
work,  or  act  as  sexton,  and  dance  attendance  on  the  parson  at  all  public 
meetings.  Leave  him  free  to  attend  to  his  own  proper  work.  In  the 
task  of  instruction  so  lightly  assumed,  so  unworthily  esteemed,  no 
amount  of  wisdom  would  be  superfluous  and  lost,  and  even  a  child's 
elementary  training  would  be  best  conducted,  were  it  possible,  by  Omnis- 
cience itself.  If  so  what  shall  we  say  of  the  English  pulpit-teacher  system — 
a  system  which  has  no  existence  in  America,  and  which  I  have  heard 
laughed fto  scorn  by  some  of  the  most  prominent  educators  in  New  York, 
Boston,  Toronto,  and  this  city — a  system  which  is  utterly  indefensible 
and  must  go  ? 

Make  the  school  an  object  of  public  care  and  management.  Encourage 
the  people  in  every  possible  way  to  take  a  pride  in  their  schools.  Take 
all  public  schools  out  of  the  hands  of  those  men  whose  su2)reme  concern 
is    to  use  them  for   the  purpose  of  putting  a  sectarian  brand  upon  edu- 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    J.    D.    HAMMOND.  341 

cation,  and  wlio  care  more  for  the  brand  than  they  do  for  the  education 
itself.  Free  elementary  public  schools,  and  keep  them  free,  from  the 
dominination  of  the  Roman  dogma,  the  Church  Catechism,  and  the  Meth- 
odist creed.  Put  all  schools  intended  for  the  people,  and  paid  for  by  the 
people's  money,  under  their  complete  management  and  control,  and  you 
will  have  the  very  best  guarantee  of  their  efficiency,  economy,  and  success. 

The  Rev.  J.  D.  Hammond,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  South,  gave  the  following  appointed  address  on 
''The  Ethics  of  Elementary  Education." 

Mr.  President  and  Brethren:  The  true  theory  of  education  covers  the 
whole  ground  of  spiritual  culture.  Elementary  education  is  that  which 
belongs  to  the  period  of  childhood.  Ethics  is  defined  as  "The  system 
of  morals  reached  by  the  scientific  investigation  of  the  moral  conscious- 
ness, as  enlightened  and  purified  by  the  Christian  religion."  We  shall 
not  discuss  the  various  systems  of  pedagogy,  but,  rather,  seek  to  ascertain 
the  best  form  of  teaching  morals  in  connection  with  any  proper  system 
during  its  elementary  stages. 

Elementary  education  begins  when  the  child  begins  to  notice,  and  should 
conclude  with  a1)out  the  thirteenth  year  of  life.  During  this  period  hu- 
man nature  undergoes  its  most  rapid  and  important  changes.  The  bodily 
changes  are  great,  but  those  of  the  spiritual  nature  are  greater  and  far 
more  important.  Physical  life  simply  needs  to  be  preserved  and  allowed 
to  develop  normally.  Nutrition  must  be  supplied,  disease  averted,  and 
excesses  prevented.  Nature,  thus  assisted,  will  do  the  rest.  Gymnastics 
and  athletics  have  their  uses  later  on.  The  physical  energies  of  the  child 
will  supply  all  the  outward  activities  necessary  to  symmetrical  growth. 

But  the  psychological  activities  of  this  period  are  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance and  demand  the  greatest  care.'  Starting  with  the  mind  practi- 
cally a  blank,  the  infant  begins  the  task  of  acquainting  itself  with  itself 
and  with  the  outer  world.  It  is  said  that  man  learns  more  during  the 
first  three  years  of  childhood  than  in  the  whole  period  of  college  life. 
With  the  child  the  mechanical  memory  is  in  the  ascendant ;  facts  are  ac- 
cepted without  question;  all  material  objects,  with  their  various  qualities, 
are  learned  and  adjusted  with  reference  to  the  ideas  of  time  and  space ; 
the  grammar  and  vocabulary  of  the  mother-tongue  are  acquired ;  numbers, 
names,  and  jjersons  are  laid  hold  of  and  retained;  the  presentative  and 
representative  powers  are  most  active  and  require  special  care.  The 
logical  faculty  should  not  be  cultivated,  but  rather  held  in  abeyance,  dur- 
ing this  period. 

Conscience  is  an  active  force,  and  yet,  if  left  alone,  not  a  safe  moral 
guide.  The  doctrine  that  "  an  erring  conscience  is  a  chimera"  finds  no 
confirmation  in  the  facts  of  childhood.  At  this  period  must  be  learned 
the  answer  to  that  great  social  question,  "  Who  is  my  neighbor  ?  "  Dur- 
ing infancy  the  child  is  trained  to  absolute  selfishness,  and  the  remaining 
part  of  his  elementary  culture  should  serve  to  correct  this  evil  and  to  get 
him  properly  adjusted  to  his  fellow-men.     He  must  here  learn  the  lessons 


342  EDUCATION. 

of  good-will  to  men ;  of  justice ;  of  fair  play ;  and  self  service  by  serving 
others.  These  four  principles,  it  is  said,  lie  at  the  basis  of  institutional 
life,  toward  which  the  education  of  childhood  must  be  especially 
directed. 

The  best  writers  recommend  for  training  in  these  principles  such  ma- 
terial as  classical  myths,  fables,  folk-lore,  all  proper  fiction ;  and  jiartic- 
ularly  the  narrative,  prophecy,  parable,  miracle,  and  general  teaching  of 
the  Bible.  "Whatever  in  the  sphere  of  literature  has  survived  has  done 
so  because  of  its  adaption  to  the  intellectual  needs  of  men.  No  real  dis- 
covery is  ever  made  the  second  time.  Aristotle  discovered  the  formal 
laws  of  thought.  They  cannot  be  re-discovered  any  more  than  could  some 
new  Columbus  re-discover  America.  No  less  original  and  final  are  those 
rich  products  of  literature  which  have,  after  earnest  seeking  on  the  part 
of  the  masters,  during  all  ages,  been  brought  forth  from  the  depths  of  the 
human  mind.  From  the  earliest  days  these  products  have  been  embodied 
in  fable  and  myth,  folk-lore  and  proverb,  comedy,  tragedy,  epic,  and  lyric. 
They  have  outlived  empires,  survived  the  neglect  of  men,  and  justified 
themselves  against  the  attacks  of  "  higher  criticism."  Though  they  have 
often  been  submerged  by  the  current  of  events  they  have,  by  some  renais- 
sance, as  often  re-appeared  and  been  eagerly  re-appropriated  by  the  race. 
They  are  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  ethical  training  of  the  young.  They 
make  their  appearance  in  the  lullaby,  the  nursery  rhyme,  and  the  oft- 
repeated  evening  tale.  They  are  not  wanting  in  the  wisely  ordered 
school.  Under  their  influence  the  childish  heart  glows  with  sympathy 
for  the  oppressed,  and  burns  with  indignation  against  the  oppressor; 
while  it  throws  an  ideal  light  over  all  objects  and  learns  a  reverence 
for  "  whatsoever  things  are  lovely  and  of  good  report."  True  and  noble 
ideals  rnust,  at  any  cost,  be  constantly  kept  before  the  expanding  powers 
of  childhood.  No  truer  thing  has  ever  been  said  than  that  "  the  child  is 
father  to  the  man ;  "  and  true  manhood,  though  it  must  "  put  away  childM 
things,"  will  ever  retain  the  image  and  superscription  of  childhood. 

The  beffinninff  of  the  downfall  of  child  nature  is  when  it  discovers  that 
its  bright  ideals  have  no  counterpart  in  the  reals  of  common  life.  And 
yet  the  child  must  sooner  or  later  see  actual  life  in  all  its  impurity  and 
cruelty.  No  amount  of  care  can  prevent  him  from  realizing  that  men  are 
false  and  foul,  "  hateful  and  hating  one  another." 

"  Sprung  from  the  man  whose  guilty  fall 
Corrupts  his  race  and  taints  us  all." 

And  what  he  observes  in  others  he  will  detect  in  himself.  Now  the 
problem  confronts  us:  "How  shall  he  be  taught  practically  to  love  this 
unloving,  unlovely  neighbor  as  he  loves  himself  ?  "  for  we  find  him  to  be 
as  completely  disqualified  for  the  task  as  is  the  hardened  sinner. 

The  lesson  can  only  be  learned  in  the  school  of  divine  charity.  The 
moral  shortcomings  of  the  child  are  traceable  to  only  one  source,  which 
was  made  plain  to  the  young  ruler  in  the  words,  "One  thing  thou  lack- 
est."     There  is  a  missing  link  which,  before  any  training  can  be  of  use, 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    J.    D.    HAMMOND.  343 

must  be  supi)lied.  Just  as  no  amount  of  nurture  can  fill  an  old  soldier's 
empty  sleeve,  so  no  education  can  bring  into  being  this  lacking  element 
of  the  child's  moral  nature.  It  must  he  supplied.  To  require  the  child 
to  conduct  himself  properly  toward  his  neighbor  without  supplying  the 
source  of  such  conduct  is  as  unwise  as  is  the  attempt  to  supply  that 
source  by  any  educational  process.  The  one  thing  lacking  is  the  vital  con- 
nection of  the  spiritual  nature,  by  faith,  with  the  Author  of  its  being. 
The  defect  of  this  point  is  the  necessary  outcome  of  forces  operative  in 
the  embryonic  and  irresponsible  stages  of  life.  It  is  because  the  moral 
agent  is  not  born  aright  that  he  "  must  be  born  again."  Any  system  of 
education  that  makes  no  account  of  this  defect  is  itself  fatally  defective. 
To  fulfill  the  saying,  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  and  hate  thine 
enemy  "  does  not  constitute  one  a  proper  member  of  society.  All  alike  may 
go  with  publicans  and  Gentiles  to  the  extent  of  loving  friends  and  of 
saluting  brethren ;  but  to  go  to  the  extent  of  loving  enemies  and  of  pray- 
ing for  persecutors  one  must  be  the  child  of  the  "Father  which  maketh 
his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  the  good,  and  sendeth  his  rain  on  the  just 
and  the  unjust." 

Now,  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  the  moral  defect  in  question  be 
remedied  sometime  during  the  period  of  elementary  education.  Whatever 
is  done  for  the  spiritual  nature  of  the  child  must  be  thoroughly  and  honestly 
done.  To  compel  the  performance  of  that  which  is  contrary  to  instinct 
and  self-interest  is  to  teach  hypocrisy.  If,  then,  the  high  ethical  princi- 
ples necessary  to  self-conduct  and  the  proper  treatment  of  others  are  to 
be  taught  at  all,  they  must  be  taught  in  harmony  with,  and  not  in  an- 
tagonism to,  the  nature  and  interests  of  the  child.  In  other  words,  that 
nature  must  be  supernaturally  changed  to  correspond  with  those  principles. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  a  very  grave,  though  a  common  error,  to  sup- 
pose that  the  supplying  of  this  one  lacking  element  in  conversion  may 
do  away  with  the  necessity  for  the  training  of  the  intellectual  powers. 
That  the  intellectual  machine  should  work  normally  is  one  of  the  essen- 
tials to  the  highest  morality.  Errors  in  judgment,  fallacious  reasoning, 
grotesque  ideals,  sluggish  intellections — the  unavoidable  accompaniments 
of  undertraining — will  be  followed  by  abnormal  emotion  and  ill-advised 
volition  as  surely  as  the  tides  respond  to  the  action  of  the  moon. 

Conscience  must  be  trained  to  uncompromisingly  demand  "truth  in  the 
inward  parts;"  to  utterly  despise  all  sham  and  pretense,  so  that  it  will 
never  consent  to  the  subtlest  and  most  plausible  of  immoralities  and  per- 
mit its  possessor  to  "think  himself  to  be  something  when  he  is  nothing." 
At  this  period  the  eye,  the  ear,  the  touch  must  be  trained  to  report  to 
the  mind  the  phenomena  of  the  material  world  with  absolute  precision. 
Neglect  at  this  point  cannot  be  atoned  for,  and  will  cause  the  subsequent 
operation  of  the  mind  to  be  uncertain  and  painful.  By  being  taught  to 
thus  observe  nature  truthfully  the  child  will  best  be  taught  to  love  it  and 
to  discover  it  in  "  the  w^orks  of  the  Lord  and  the  operations  of  his  fin- 
gers." Purified  and  kept  by  the  power  of  God  the  heart  of  childhood  is 
peculiarly  fitted  to  live  in  communion  with  land  and  sea  and  sky. 


3i4 


EDUCATION. 


Mere  secularism  cannot  comprehend  the  need  of  this  vital  union  between 
culture  and  religion.  Its  scientific  ethics,  with  the  jjower  of  God  ex- 
tracted, is  no  more  than  paganism.  The  morality  of  Christianity  is  in- 
separable from  its  religion  and  impossible  without  it.  Being  centered  in 
the  person  of  Christ,  it  necessitates  the  religious  experience.  And  yet  the 
State,  like  a  cold,  philosophical  machine,  is  doing  the  work  of  elementary 
education  for  Protestant  Christendom.  The  Church  puts  nothing  into  it 
beyond  what  she  puts  into  it  indirectly.  As  the  result  of  recent  legisla- 
tion in  Christian  countries  well-nigh  all  the  children  of  these  countries 
are  carried  through  State  elementary  schools.  But  of  all  these  not  more 
than  six  per  cent,  seek  further  instruction.  What  becomes  of  the  remain- 
ing ninety-four  per  cent.  ? 

Education  in  the  real  sense  hardly  begins  until  the  elementary  state  is 
passed.  Between  the  ages  of  thirteen  and  seventeen  is  the  vital  period. 
Here  character  is  formed  and  destiny  fixed.  But  the  ethical  element  of 
the  education  of  this  period  is  dependent  on  that  of  the  preceding ;  while 
to  neglect,  at  this  period,  to  supplement  the  elementary  work  is  to  well- 
nigh  destroy  it.  And  the  only  method  by  which  this  continuous  develop- 
ment can  be  insured  is  the  implanted  desire  for  an  all-round  culture  result- 
ing from  Christian  morality.  It  is  a  fact  that  religious  revivals  are  gen- 
erally followed  by  the  awakening  of  the  desire  for  education  on  the  part 
of  the  young. 

The  results  of  the  failure  alluded  to  are  seen  on  every  hand.  It  is 
estimated  that  in  one  of  the  large  cities  of  Christendom  a  third  of  all  the 
crimes  are  committed  by  boys  under  the  age  of  fifteen.  A  member  of  the 
British  Parliament  has  recently  made  a  collection  of  forty  penny  publica- 
tions issued  weekly  in  another  city  which  have  a  circulation  of  a  million, 
exclusively  among  the  children  of  the  poor.  They  contain  only  the  lit- 
erature of  crime.  These  children  have  no  choice — nothing  is  in  reach  of 
either  their  pockets  or  their  brains  but  the  ' '  penny  dreadful "  and  the 
"dime  novel."  Thus,  with  the  same  appetite  for  romance  and  mystery 
that  is  found  among  the  more  highly  favored,  they  sit  down  to  this  daily 
feast,  of  which  it  has  been  said,  ' '  Every  dish  is  false  and  every  condiment 
vile."  The  characters  and  the  principles  by  which  their  sympathies  are  en- 
listed are  false ;  and  so  their  views  of  society,  and  of  their  own  relation  to 
it,  become  wholly  wrong.  It  is  not  the  fact  that  these  ninety-four  per  cent, 
become  possessed  of  the  instincts  of  the  brute  that  renders  them  a  con- 
stant menace,  but  it  is  the  fact  that  with  these  instincts  they  unite  the  intel- 
lect and  daring  of  men.  Again,  when  we  consider  that  the  lucrative  occu- 
pations are  reserved  for  the  few  who  have  had  at  least  some  training,  that 
training  requires  patience  and  long  continued  effort,  and  that  these  are 
largely  hereditary  and  confined  to  the  privileged  few,  we  are  driven  to 
conclude  tliat,  as  the  case  stands,  the  masses  are  helpless  in  the  grasp  of 
fate.  And  so  it  is  not  strange  that  the  great  body  of  tramps  and  anarchists 
is  steadily  growing,  and  that  the  crude,  immoral  young  life  of  the  nation, 
like  some  Samson,  is  constantly  tugging  at  the  twin  pillars  of  the  social 
fabric,  which  at  times  seems  likely  to  tumble  about  it,  and  crush  both  it 


ADDliESS    OF    ALDERMAN    J.    H.    CROSSFIELD.  345 

and  the  privileged  lords  who  sit  above  on  cushioned  seats,  curiously  watch- 
ing its  blind  moments. 

But  why  should  the  case  stand  thus?  "  The  world  is  my  parish,"  is  the 
motto  of  Methodism.  The  masses  have  a  sacred  claim  against  us  that  can 
only  be  satisfied  by  the  expenditure  on  our  part  of  all  that  is  necessary  to 
supply  them  with  the  elements  of  right  and  happy  living.  The  inhab- 
itants of  the  heights  along  the  base  of  which  malaria  is  generated  will 
some  day  discover  that  up  the  crevices  which  lead  to  their  fastnesses  poison- 
ous gases  have  crept  into  their  remote  homes  to  destroy  both  them  and  their 
children ;  and  that  their  only  protection  is  to  l)e  found  in  draining  and  cul- 
tivating the  marshes  below.  Peter  said  to  the  crippled  man,  "Such  as  I 
have,  give  I  thee."  And  only  when  the  Church  has  imparted  such  as  she  has, 
by  enabling  the  cripple  to  walk,  by  imparting  to  him  an  independent  man- 
hood, is  her  debt  paid.  The  mission  is  a  fundamental  need,  but  experi- 
ence has  shown  that,  when  it  confines  itself  to  the  production  of  the  spas- 
modic revival  wave,  this  will  pass  over  the  fetid  waste  of  slumdom 
leaving  only  a  momentary  tinge  of  light  which  soon  fades  back  into  the 
original  gloom.  Let  there  be  added  the  patient  care  and  training  of  the 
disordered  powers  until  they  shall  act  nonnally,  and  until  the  depraved 
taste  shall  prefer  the  pure  and  simple  things  of  truth.  "Then  shall  the 
wilderness  and  the  solitary  place  be  glad  for  them,  and  the  desert  shall 
rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose." 

In  the  absence,  tlirongli  sickness,  of  the  Rev.  Anthony 
Holliday,  of  the  United  Methodist  Free  Church,  who  was  tlie 
second  appointed  speaker,  Mr.  Alderman  J.  H.  Crossfield, 
CO.,  J.P.,  of  the  same  Church,  gave  the  second  appointed  ad- 
dress, on  "  Sectarianism  and  State  Education,"  as  follows : 

Mr.  President:  I  regret  extremely  the  absence  of  my  colleague  and 
friend,  Mr.  Holliday.  He  is  extremely  unwell,  and  only  within  the  last 
half  hour  gave  up  his  intention  of  coming  here  to  make  this  address. 
Therefore,  I  have  had  but  a  short  time  for  the  collection  of  my  thoughts, 
and  I  do  not  think  I  shall  wait  for  the  gavel  before  concluding  my  remarks. 

The  topic  assigned  to  Mr.  Holliday  was  "  Sectarianism  and  State  Educa- 
tion " — that  the  education  of  the  young  people  of  this  and  other  civilized 
countries  is  to  be  controlled  by  the  States  themselves ;  and  I  suppose  that 
the  connection  of  sectarianism  with  the  management  of  the  schools  simply 
means  the  intrusion  of  certain  sects  for  sectarian  purposes  into  places  into 
which  they  have  no  business  to  enter.  All  agree  that  State  education 
should  be  free,  compulsory,  and  progressive.  I  cannot  speak  for  Amer- 
ica; but  so  far  as  England  is  concerned,  I  am  quite  prepared  to  say  that 
what  we  get  under  our  sectarianism  is  schools  that  are  to  a  considerable 
extent  not  free  and  not  jirogressive.  The  purpose  for  which  sectarianism 
has  laid  hold  of  those  schools  in  England,  and  introduced  the  school 
catechism,  is  not  to  turn  out  little  boys  and  girls,  but  little  bigots,  who 
will  perpetuate,  so  far  as  they  possibly  can,  that  evil  spirit.     Under  the 


346  EDUCATION. 

division  which  prevails  there  the  English  is  divided  into  two  nations,  one 
Conformist  and  the  other  Non-conformist.  But  I  fear  that  my  American 
brothers  will  scarcely  understand  the  state  of  serfdom  under  which  we 
labor  in  the  old  country.  It  is  somewhat  of  the  character  of  that  which 
prevailed  in  recent  times  in  America  in  regard  to  the  Negro  schools.  In 
the  sparsely  settled  district  the  laboring  man  and  his  children  are  very 
much  in  the  condition  of  the  colored  people  of  the  United  States.  And 
not  only  in  the  rural  districts,  where  practically  the  management  of  day- 
schools  is  in  the  hands  of  clergymen,  but  in  our  cities.  I  am  a  member 
of  the  Manchester  School  Board.  We  have  three  members  on  that  Board, 
and  there  are  four  Roman  Catholics  and  seven  representatives  of  the  Es- 
tablished Church.  There  are  members  who  wish  to  extend  the  monopoly 
which  the  Established  Church  has  had  and  get  the  children  into  their  own 
schools,  manipulating  them  at  their  will.  The  upshot  of  it  is  there  is  no 
possibility  of  the  schools  being  progressive.  We  have  a  Jacob's  ladder ; 
but  it  is  half  way  up  in  the  clouds.  Our  children  have  very  little  chance 
of  rising  from  the  elementary  to  a  higher  grade  school,  and  then  on  to  the 
university.  We  stop  short  at  the  sixth  standard,  and  turn  many  boys  and 
girls  out  at  the  fourth  or  fifth  standard.  It  is  so  elementary  that  nothing 
grows  out  of  it. 

I  do  not  wish  to  detain  you  by  referring  to  these  matters  to  any  great 
extent,  but  I  wish  to  say  that  our  duty  as  citizens  and  Methodists  is  to 
take  care  that  the  ranks  of  citizensliip  are  not  invaded ;  that  the  rights  of 
Non-conformists,  as  we  call  them  in  our  country,  are  not  invaded ;  that 
the  day-schools  become  the  best  possible  medium  of  education  for  the 
young ;  that  they  are  not  restricted  in  regard  to  salaries,  or  by  any  lower- 
ing of  the  scale  of  education ;  and  that,  as  in  this  country  the  pupils  have 
an  opportunity  of  preparing  themselves  to  become  presidents  of  the 
United  States,  so  in  our  country  they  may  have  the  opportunity  of  be- 
coming prime  ministers  of  England. 

I  wish  our  friends  in  America  would  set  us  a  better  example.  Their 
difficulty  is  with  the  Catholic  priest.  They  will  have  to  watch  him.  He 
is  sleek,  and  will  wire  his  way  into  their  day-school.  The  Roman  Catholics 
in  our  country  contend  for  the  education  of  the  children  in  their  own 
schools.  If  they  would  pay  for  it,  it  would  be  all  right.  But  w^e  do  not 
wish  to  pay  for  strictly  sectarian  education,  and  that  is  what  we  have  to 
do.  We  have  to  pay  for  it  from  our  municipal  funds.  In  England,  w^hen 
our  new  liberal  government  comes  into  office,  one  of  the  earliest  things 
we  shall  do  will  be  to  set  our  school  system  free,  and  place  it  in  the  hands 
of  our  best  and  noblest  citizens. 

The  Hon.  J.  C.  Dancy,  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal 
Zion  Church,  gave  the  third  appointed  address,  as  follows,  on 
"  Secondary  Education  :  " 

Mr.  President  and  Members  of  the  Council :  By  your  courtesy  I  stand 
here,  the  only  colored  layman  in  the  body,  to  advance  a  few  thoughts  on 
"  Secondary  Education."     While  unequal  to  the  task  of  doing  justice  to 


ADDKESS    OF    HON.    J,    C.    DANCY.  347 

the  subject,  yet  I  acknowledge  its  scope  and  breadth,  and  gladly  yield  to 
your  kind  invitation  to  contribute  a  word  in  its  support,  recognizing  as  I 
do  its  importance  as  a  chief  lever  in  the  uplifting  of  the  human  race. 

Mind,  not  scholarship,  makes  the  man.  Mind  is  innate  and  indigenous 
to  the  soil,  while  scholarship  is  its  ornament.  Scholarship  gives  increased 
latitude  to  mind,  and  aids  its  development  by  a  better  acquaintance  with 
the  minds  and  opinions  of  others.  It  does  not  follow,  necessarily,  that 
the  riper  the  scholarship  the  greater  will  be  the  mind ;  but,  rather,  the 
more  intimate  will  be  the  acquaintance  with  other  minds.  Scholarship 
ripens  and  ennobles  mind,  and  gains  for  it  admiration  and  respect;  but 
mind  may  and  does  exist  to  a  marvelous  degree  without  scholarship.  One 
of  the  best  and  most  skilled  mechanics  I  ever  knew,  who  could  easily  cal- 
culate the  number  of  feet  of  lumber  required  for  any  size  of  building,  and 
who  took  huge  contracts  on  his  own  calculations,  knew  not  his  own  name 
when  he  beheld  it. 

Scholarship  affects  mind  as  fire  affects  gold — it  removes  the  dross,  puri- 
fies it,  causes  it  to  glisten,  lends  to  it  value,  and  shows  it  to  better  advan- 
tage and  effect.  Mind  is  not  circumscribed  to  any  condition  or  nationality 
or  race.  It  is  common  to  almost  all  races  in  a  greater  or  less  degree. 
There  is  no  royal  road  to  its  attainment.  It  must  exist  in  the  man,  and, 
so  existing,  is  as  capable  of  the  highest  development  in  one  man  as  in 
another  man;  in  one  race  as  in  another. race.  It  is  neither  racial  nor  sec- 
tional.    It  exists  in  European,  Asiatic,  and  African  alike. 

For  purposes  of  discovery  and  scientific  research,  and  in  order  to  an  in- 
timate knowledge  of  ancient  and  foreign  peoples  and  the  records  of  their 
times,  acquaintance  with  their  language  is  highly  essential,  and  special- 
ists in  higher  scholarship  are  indispensable  to  such  research.  Hence  the 
need  of  Greek  and  Hebrew  scholars.  But  for  immediate  purposes — the 
ends  and  aims  of  ordinary  life — the  intermediate  or  secondary  education 
sufficeth.  Sufficient  for  the  day  is  the  necessity  thereof.  It  is  this  edu- 
cation which  is  the  active,  controlling,  ruling  force  of  the  world  to-day. 
It  largely  originates,  plans,  organizes,  and  pushes  to  a  successful  issue  the 
great  moral,  political,  and  religious  agencies  which  are  civilizing  and 
evangelizing  mankind  every-where. 

Secondary  education  is  the  education  between  the  elementary  and  the 
classical.  It  is  usually  acquired  in  the  schools  under  splendid  discipline; 
it  is  often  acquired  under  severe  disadvantages  in  the  humble  cottage.  It 
has  formed  the  basis  of  some  of  the  grandest  characters  in  the  world's 
history.  The  philosophy  of  the  tallow  chandler's  son,  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin ;  the  scientific  lore  of  the  newsboy  Edison,  the  electric  wizard ;  the 
dazzling  brilliancy  of  the  world-famed  Spurgeon ;  the  poetic  genius  of  the 
beloved  Whittier ;  the  success  in  evangelistic  labors  of  Dwight  L.  Moody ; 
the  eloquence  of  Frederick -Douglass;  the  unrivaled  courage  and  loving 
devotion  of  Garrison ;  the  unrivaled  statesmanship  of  Lincoln ;  the  edi- 
torial triumphs  of  Horace  Greeley;  the  pulj)it  abilities  of  Bishops  Asbury 
and  Harris  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Marvin  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  Jones  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion 


348  EDUCATION. 

Church,  and  "Ward  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Cliurcli;  the  or- 
ganizing skill  of  Rush  and  Allen  and  Clinton  and  Campbell  and  Hood 
and  Turner  and  Moore  and  Halsey  and  Lomax ;  and  the  mathematical  skill 
of  Benjamin  Banneker,  the  publisher  of  the  first  American  almanac,  all 
attest,  in  eminent  degree,  the  great  influence  of  this  education  in  develop- 
ing great  minds  and  giving  to  the  world  great  leaders. 

It  is  the  influence  of  this  kind  of  education  that  has  been  the  leading 
element  in  the  growth  and  success  of  Methodism  the  world  over — and 
Negro  Methodism  especially.  The  bishops  and  clergy  of  this  latter 
branch  have  been  almost  invariably  denied  the  higher  education,  but 
have,  in  numerous  instances,  availed  themselves  of  the  secondary,  and  have 
thus  been  enabled  to  carry  the  torch  of  Christian  civilization  into  the 
dark  and  benighted  corners  of  densest  ignorance,  bigotry,  and  supersti- 
tion, and  under  God  transformed  such  communities  into  those  of  light, 
liberty,  and  Christianity.  Animated  and  emboldened  by  such  influences, 
school-houses  have  sprung  up,  churches  have  grown  and  flourished,  and 
darkened  intellects  and  benumbed  consciences  have  been  enlightened  and 
aroused  into  a  state  of  healthy  mental,  moral,  and  religious  activitj^,  until 
a  million  converted  souls  testify  to  its  incalculable  benefits.  Under  its 
benign  influence,  through  these  divine  agencies,  new  conditions  have 
obtained  almost  every-where,  a"  new  regime  is  to  be  observed  in  contigu- 
ous, yea,  and  even  widely  separated  communities,  and  thus  a  long  de- 
spised and  ignorant  class  have  begun  a  new  and  most  glorious  career,  as 
if  starting  from  a  spell  of  years. 

Methodism  in  America  is  indebted  chiefly  to  this  education  for  its  mar- 
velous and  rapid  growth.  It  has  kept  pace  with  the  rapid  strides  and  de- 
velopment of  the  country  itself,  and  has  ever  retained  its  hold  on  the  toil- 
ing masses  because  it  has  kept  in  tovich  with  these  masses,  from  whose 
ranks  have  come  many  of  its  wisest  counselors,  ablest  preachers,  and  best 
equipped  leaders.  No  pioneer  settlement  has  been  too  densely  wooded, 
and  no  privation  has  been  too  severe,  for  these  plain-spoken  men  of 
God  to  cast  their  lot  with  those  settlers,  and  present  to  them  the  word  of 
truth  and  salvation  as  they  knew  and  interpreted  it.  For  the  most  part 
these  men  have  stood  for  right,  truth,  and  justice;  and  when,  therefore, 
in  the  course  of  time,  the  greatest  of  all  questions  with  which  this  nation 
has  had  to  deal  came  up  for  settlement,  the  sentiment  among  them  largely 
predominated  in  favor  of  "liberty  for  each,  for  all,  and  forever."  They 
had  mingled  with  the  lowly,  had  risen  in  numerous  instances  from  ob- 
scurity, and  their  training  in  the  severe  school  of  adversity  furnished  in- 
spiration for  the  support  of  a  cause  which  was  conceived  in  the  interest 
of  manhood's  rights  and  religious  liberty.  It  was  this  education,  let  me 
assure  you,  which  has  given  you  fifty  representatives  in  this  body  speak- 
ing for  a  colored  Methodist  constituency  aggregating  more  than  a  million 
souls.  For  this  higher  civilization  in  America,  therefore,  we  are  chiefly 
indebted  to  the  leadership  of  these  men  of  average  learning,  but  hvimani- 
tarian  instincts. 

During  the  early  days  of  Methodism  the  work  was  chiefly  committed  to 


ADDRESS    OF    HON.    J.    C.    DANCY.  349 

the  lowly  and  to  men  of  moderate  learning,  but  their  piety  and  enthusiasm 
and  religious  zeal  made  up  for  the  lack  in  mental  acquirements,  and  the 
work  flourished  elsewhere.  But  now  we  have  men  of  erudition  and  ri2:)e 
scholarship  in  all  her  various  branches  of  both  races,  and  these  are  the  re- 
sults of  the  secure  foundation  that  was  laid  by  their  predecessors,  which, 
being  properly  built  ujion,  now  finds  an  army  of  able  champions,  better 
prepared  by  training  to  dispense  the  word  than  the  path-finders  ever 
dreamed  men  of  their  Church  would  be.  This  same  education  is  to  con- 
tinue for  quite  awhile  yet  to  play  an  important  part  in  the  further  spread 
of  Methodism,  as  it  must,  necessarily,  of  Christianity  generally,  and  in 
the  development  of  a  higher,  better,  and  grander  civilization  than  any 
hitherto  attained.  Five  thousand  of  my  people  thus  prepared,  for  present 
needs,  to  carry  the  gospel  lamp  into  divers  places,  and  to  lead  the  people 
aright,  would  be  a  consummation  of  which  the  whole  Christian  world 
would  feel  proud,  as  it  would  very  greatly  advance  the  cause  of  Christian- 
ity in  the  world. 

In  many  quarters  lie  dormant  the  fertile  brains  of  many  a  mute,  inglo- 
rious son  of  genius,  whose  mental  development,  even  to  a  secondary  de- 
gree, might  prove  him  a  blessing  to  humanity,  and  his  store-house  of  mind 
one  of  the  choicest  products  of  modern  civilization.  But  without  fair 
training  those  talents,  lost  in  their  obscurity,  undeveloped  and  unknown 
to  their  possessor,  are  allowed 

' '  To  blush  unseen 
And  waste  their  sweetness  on  the  desert  air." 

They  cannot  know,  without  reasonable  training,  that  character  is  essential 
to  complete  happiness,  and  to  learn  further  that 

' '  High  thoughts  and  amiable  words. 

And  courtliness  and  the  desire  of  fame. 

And  love  of  truth,  and  all  that,  makes  a  man." 

This  secondary  education,  I  take  it,  includes  character-making,  and 
is  incomplete  without  it.  It  contemplates  the  fixing  of  an  absolute  stand- 
ard of  right  and  wrong,  and  insists  on  a  love  for  the  one  and  unmixed 
hatred  for  the  other.  It  completes  the  home  education,  and  cultivates 
simple  tastes  and  generous  sympathies  and  impulses.  It  teaches  that  what 
a  man  is  is  the  best  apology  for  what  he  has  been.  It  gives  one  a  splendid 
insight  into  inductive  reasoning,  which  is  so  fundamental  in  the  study  of 
natural  science,  and  hence  has  been  productive  of  many  of  the  world-lead- 
ing scientists.  We  must  look  to  this  education,  in  a  large  measure,  for  the 
correct  training  of  the  conscience,  which  Coit  insists — and  we  agree  with 
him — "Is  the  highest  part  of  education."  "It  is  twofold,"  says  this 
writer,  "subjective,  by  keeping  the  springs  of  action  clear  of  evil  habits 
and  influences  from  without,  which  pervert  and  blind  the  moral  sense  ; 
and  objective,  by  bringing  the  '  Light  w^hich  lighteth  every  man  '  as  near 
the  boy's  heart  as  we  can,  until  duty  rules  him  and  every  pulse  beats  to 
airs  divine."      True,  every  word. 

I  ai'gue,  further,  that  the  wide-spreading  imperfections  of  home  life,  and 


350 


EDUCATION. 


the  tremendous  disorganizing  force  of  early  self-indulgence,  and  the  inver- 
sion of  the  true  objects  of  life,  are  to  be  met  by  a  heart-training  which 
must  find  its  theater  in  the  future  in  the  common  schools,  which  are  to 
educate  the  heart  and  hand  as  well  as  the  head,  and  thus  meet  the  great 
end  looked  for  from  secondary  training.  It  must  be  inculcated  in  the 
minds  of  the  young  that  the  patent  of  true  nobility  is  not  an  arrogant  as- 
sertion of  superiority,  but  finds  its  claims  supported  by  true  character  and 
a  well-developed  Christian  manhood. 

Those  marvelous  transformations  whereby  conditions  have  been  leveled, 
readjusted,  and  harmonized,  and  a  mutual  sympathy  engendered— changes 
which  have  benefited  the  human  family  so  greatly — are  the  result  of 
the  influence  exerted  by  this  education.  In  the  commercial,  industrial, 
and  agricultural  world  it  is  this  education  which  stirs  enthusiasm,  excites 
competition,  engages  all  classes  in  the  great  race  of  life  with  each  one 
striving  to  win,  and  thus  constantly  providing  new  channels  for  the  exercise 
of  God-given  talents,  and  opportunities  for  eking  out  an  honest  existence 
opened  to  all.  Through  the  influence  of  this  education  the  lowly  have  been 
exalted,  the  weak  things  of  the  world  have  confounded  the  mighty,  mid- 
night darkness  of  religious  superstition  and  bigotry  has  been  turned  into 
the  meridian  light  of  religious  day,  the  lion  of  hate  is  learning  to  lie  down 
with  the  lamb  of  peace  and  love,  and,  to  cap  the  climax,  in  our  own  great 
nation  the  auction-block  has  been  turned  into  a  school-house. 

This  education  enables  one  intelligently,  and  with  ease,  fluency,  and 
felicity,  to  express  thoughts,  and  to  show,  without  sentimental  weakness, 
a  delicate  and  tender  sympathy,  the  best  and  finest  adornment  of  a  manly 
character.  It  should  develop  a  genial  nature  and  uniform  good  temper, 
which  preclude  every  thought  of  indignity  to  others  or  the  cherishing  of 
unfriendly  feeling  toward  any.  It  prejiares  one  for  direct  contact  with 
the  problems  of  life  and  nature,  through  which  alone  thought  is  made 
free.  It  throws  the  student  early  on  his  own  resoui-ces,  and  thus  forces 
him  to  think  for  himself  ;  and  hence  the  great  army  of  the  world's  think- 
ers and  producers  in  the  religious,  industrial,  and  scientific  world  to-day. 
They  launch  out  into  new  and  undiscovered  fields  of  thought  and  research 
as  a  prerequisite  to  success  in  later  years,  and  succeed  so  marvelously 
because  they  deserve  to  succeed. 

But  confining  our  discussion  strictly  to  the  Church,  we  would  remark 
that  this  secondary  education  has  made  a  leading  factor  thereof  a  most 
valuable  tributary  in  supjilying  Methodism  with  that  help  which  has  been 
so  indispensable  to  its  growth  and  glory.  I  refer  to  the  work  of  the  laity. 
It  is  to  this  great  and  active  army  that  the  ministry  has  looked  for  strength 
and  support  in  the  class-room,  in  the  Sunday-school,  in  the  business  meet- 
ings of  various  church  boards,  and  other  spiritual  and  temporal  affairs. 
The  infiux  into  Sunday-schools,  the  prayer  and  church  meetings,  of  an 
immense  number  of  young  and  old  has  been  largely  due  to  the  in- 
fluence which  the  active,  aggressive,  intelligent  laity  have  exerted  by 
their  earnest,  zealous,  persistent,  intelligent  efforts  and  appeals  to  get 
them  into  these  places  of  worship,  that  they  might  read,  learn,  inwardly 


ADDRESS    OF    HON.    J.    C.    DANCY.  351 

digest,  hear  the  word,  be  convinced  of  its  truth  and  efficacy  and  made 
sensible  of  their  error,  and  happily  converted  and  regenerated  through  its 
preaching.  The  many  teachers  in  all  our  Sunday-schools — and  many  of 
these  do  similar  work  iu  our  common  schools — are  beacon-lights  for  the 
rising  generation,  and  through  their  secondary  training  are  enabled  to 
direct  the  movements  of  these  rising  youths,  and  will  be  ever  pointed 
to  by  tliem  as  the  chief  instruments  in  their  escape  from  the  thraldom  to 
which  they  were  so  early  liable. 

I  would  further  argue  that  it  is  from  the  ranks  of  these  teachers  and 
these  class-leaders  that  there  have  come  into  the  religious  arena  so  many 
successful  and  well-equipped  ministers,  whose  training  suits  them  to  the 
flocks  to  which  they  are  called  to  administer,  and  who,  on  account  of  this 
training,  do  not  put  the  feed  so  high  that  the  rank  and  file  of  their  con- 
gregations are  unable  to  reach  it,  and  hence  suffer  for  plain,  simple,  com- 
prehensible preaching.  They  are  aware  that  they  are  feeding  lambs  and 
not  giraffes,  and  gauge  their  feeding  accordingly.  A  good  sister,  used  to 
hearing  preaching  whose  chief  merit  was  its  inability  to  be  readily  inter- 
preted, owing  to  its  top-loftiness  and  disposition  to  darken  counsel,  re- 
marked, on  hearing  a  really  great  man  preach  a  simple  yet  grand  sermon, 
that  "it  was  really  nothing,"  as  she  "  understood  every  word  he  uttered." 
Secondary  education  must  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  play  no  inconsid- 
erable part  in  its  further  spread,  triumph,  and  glory. 

I  would  remark,  in  the  next  place,  that  secondary  education  is  the  educa- 
tion of  the  masses,  since  it  is  the  education  of  most  enlightened  countries. 
Neither  the  States  nor  the  nation  undertakes  to  educate  higher,  except  for 
naval  or  military  purposes.  It  is  the  education  which  is  the  prescribed  course 
in  the  common  or  public  schools,  as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn,  of 
all  English-speaking  nationalities.  It  is  accepted  as  comprehensive,  best 
suited  to  the  needs  of  ordinary  business  and  industrial  life,  and  capacitates 
the  possessor  for  the  able  and  efficient  exercise  of  all  the  duties  imposed 
by  the  elective  franchise,  and  thereby  prepares  him  to  be  either  an  hum- 
ble modest  citizen,  or  to  fill  any  station  iu  civil  life  to  which  his  confiding 
countrymen  may  call  him.  Industrial,  normal,  and  preparatory  schools, 
and  even  schools  of  technology,  may  be  rightfully  classed  as  schools  fur- 
nishing secondary  education.  The  training  may  be  slightly  removed  from 
the  common  school  course,  but  the  extent  of  the  training  is  in  such  easy 
reach  by  the  completion  of  this  course  as  to  make  the  difference  almost 
imperceptible,  except  as  the  one  or  the  other  makes  a  specialty  of  certain 
kinds  of  instruction  not  given  iu  the  common  schools. 

I  would  be  among  the  last  to  decry,  condemn,  or  belittle  the  influence 
of  classical  training.  We  owe  to  it  what  we  are  in  a  great  measure,  and 
what  Protestantism  is  in  the  world.  It  was  Wiclif  who,  through  his 
learning,  gave  us  the  translation  of  our  Bible,  which  broke  upon  the  world 
as  a  new  and  vivid  revelation — a  hidden  treasure  hitherto  unknown  and 
denied  to  the  masses;  it  was  Luther  who  moved  Christendom  by  the 
great  Reformation;  it  was  the  classical  training  of  John  Wesley  which 
made  it  possible  for  him  to  start  the  newer  reformation  which  relies  not 


352  EDUCATION. 

on  cold  formality  for  success  in  religion,  and  who  brought  into  life  a 
burning,  glowing,  blazing  Methodism,  which  in  little  over  a  century  is 
established  as  far  as  civilization  is  known ;  and  it  was  John  Calvin  who 
declared  the  great  doctrine  which  has  been  the  chief  weapon  of  a  great 
and  stupendous  army  of  believers. 

And  yet  it  is  the  Darwins  who  by  their  learning  would  produce  man 
out  of  monkeys  by  a  jjrocess  of  evolution;  and  it  is  Herbert  Spencer  who 
by  the  law  of  natural  selection  would  produce  the  diffei'ent  varieties  of 
species ;  and  in  the  religious  world,  learned  clergy  who  expatiate  grandly 
and  eloquently  against  the  whole  Bible  being  divinely  iusjnred.  In  such 
cases  learning  is  harmful  for  such  minds,  as  it  magnifies  self,  minimizes 
the  importance  of  religious  loyalty,  and  creates  doubt,  anxiety,  and  distrust 
every- where.  And  hence  the  new  school  of  agnostics  and  skeptics  who 
doubt  the  power  of  the  divine  mind  to  have  brought  into  existence  at 
creation's  dawn  any  species  of  the  animal  kingdom,  when  it  was  his  to 
but  will  a  world  and  it  was  ushered  into  existence  with  a  precision  and 
order  born  of  obedience  to  the  omnipotent  will. 

The  men  educated  below  this  standard  eschew  this  dangerous  ground 
or  know  not  enough  to  plunge  headlong  into  the  discussions  to  be  lost  in 
their  fog  and  mystification.  They  dive  not  down  into  the  discussion  of 
higher  criticism,  because  they  know  too  little  of  it  to  discuss ;  nor  do  they 
cringe  in  the  face  of  modern  ecclesiasticism.  They  accept  the  plain  word 
as  it  is,  and  rely  upon  its  proper  interpretation  through  the  daily  mani- 
festations of  its  truths  in  the  moral,  physical,  and  religious  world.  They 
go  not  off  at  a  tangent  and  become  lost  in  the  labyrinths  of  the  unknown 
and  inexplicable,  but  gladly  receive  the  words  of  truth  as  they  find  them 
and  try  to  make  them  the  rule  of  their  life  and  action,  and  are  thus  the 
recognized  shepherds  who  know  their  sheej)  and  are  known  and  followed 
by  them.     They  are  almost  always  orthodox  in  the  faith. 

I  have  endeavored  to  point  out  dangers  as  well  as  promises  in  this 
paper,  and  rejoice  in  the  grand  achievments  of  secondary  education. 

The  Rev.  J.  Swann  Withington,  of  the  United  Methodist 
Free  Church,  opened  the  discussion  of  the  afternoon,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  We  have  arrived  at  an  advanced  position  in  reference  to 
national  education,  thanks  to  a  cheap  press,  thanks  to  the  teaching  of 
Non-conformist  pulpits.  Much  had  been  done  in  England  before  1870, 
the  year  Mr.  Forster  succeeded  in  persuading  the  British  House  of  Com- 
mons to  take  rigorous  and  decided  action.  The  Church  of  England  had 
schools  in  almost  every  parish.  These  were  conducted  in  a  very  exclusive 
way,  and  were  wholly  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy,  the  country  squires 
being  allowed  to  exercise  a  subordinate  authority.  The  parson  was 
supreme.  Any  attempt  made  to  encroach  on  his  sacred  domain  was  a 
huge  offense,  and  the  offender  became  a  spotted  sheep.  With  the  best 
intentions,  I  readily  admit,  this  sectarian  system  M'as  maintained.  There 
may  be  benevolence  with  bigotry,  just  as  there  are  in  many  Churches  be- 
nevolent niggards,  men  freely  giving  to  their  own  and  withholding  with 
a  tight  hand  from  all  others.     Poor  human  nature ! 

The  British  school  system,  chiefly  supported  by  the  Society  of  Friends, 


GENERAL   REMARKS. 


353 


bid  fair  at  one  time  to  become  general;  and  had  this  come  to  pass  the 
broadest  and  best  system  that  has  yet  been  introduced  would  have  con- 
ferred incalculable  benefits  on  the  nation.  But  it  was  too  good.  It  be- 
lono-ed  to  no  party,  except  to  men  who  were  tall  enough  to  look  over  the 
lied^o-es  of  small  inclosures  and  see  an  open  and  ample  region  beyond, 
waitino-  for  sympathy  and  skill  to  ])roduce  a  plenteous  harvest.  Bigotry 
blocked  the  way.  The  Church  of  England,  assisted,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  by 
a  branch  of  Non-conformists,  did  their  utmost  to  retard  the  progress,  to 
break  down  the  machinery  of  the  British  system.  And  they  succeeded,  prob- 
ably, beyond  their  intentions.  Men  committed  to  a  scheme  have  often  iound 
themselves  drifting  away  from  safe  moorings  into  noisy  and  dangerous 
rapids.  When  anxious  to  change  their  course  they  have  been  told  by  crafty 
leaders,  "You  must  be  loyal  to  your  party."  Party,  indeed!  How  much 
has  been  sacrificed  to  party,  while  truth  has  stood  sohtary  and  obscure  ? 

Sunday-schools  prepared  the  way  for  popular  education.  They  created 
the  thirst  for  knowledge  in  the  poor  and  needy.  Under  their  presence 
and  touch  the  wastes  yielded  fruit  and  flowers.  In  national  education  the 
denominational  difficulty  stops  the  way.  We  are  told  that  the  people 
must  be  religiously  instructed,  and  that  the  board-schools  give  secular  ed- 
ucation only.  I  contend  that  the  unsectarian  schools  can  and  do  give 
moral  and  religious  instruction,  and  are  not  the  godless  institutions  that 
the  narrow  and  cramped  partisans  represent  them  to  be.  A  national  sys- 
tem of  education  can  know  nothing  of  a  dominant  and  privileged  sect. 
Let  such  a  sect  do  what  it  pleases  with  its  funds;  let  the  schools  be  in 
every  sense  "voluntary,"  and  not  under  a  false  name  appropriate  public 
money  and  then  boast  of  what  has  been  done  by  the  friends  of  religion 
I  have  heard  of  a  Mr.  Smith,  who  was  deeply  interested  in  the  erection  ot 
a  bridge  over  a  river,  and  he  was  anxious  to  be  as  distinguished  as  pos- 
sible ;  but  at  the  same  time  he  was  materially  assisted  by  public  money, 
and  the  following  inscription  was  suggested : 

"Mr.  Smith,  of  his  great  bounty,  ^ 

Built  this  bridge  out  of  the  rates  of  the  county.' 

That  was  a  voluntary  and  magnificent  effort  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Smith ! 
No  one  can  have  any  objection  to  a  Church  having  a  school  under  its  con- 
trol; the  only  objection  is  to  its  putting  its  hands  into  the  pockets  of  other 
people  without  their  consent.  .it 

Where  there  is  free  education  there  ought  to  be  popular  control,  is 
not  this  common  sense?  And  education  ought  to  be  made  compulsory  m 
every  district  by  an  act  of  the  imperial  legislature.  One  word  more.  We 
want  no  favors;  we  demand  common  rights.  In  England  the  law  must 
be  equally  just  to  churchmen  and  dissenters.  Indeed,  the  distinction 
must  not  be  known.  We  must  bequeath  to  our  children  the  great  heritage 
of  free  churches,  free  education,  and  a  free  press. 

The  Rev.  A.  M.  Green,  D.D.,  of  the  African  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  I  have  been  deeply  interested  in  the  course  of  the  argu- 
ment presented  to-day  both  in  the  special  papers  and  from  the  lips  of  the 
o-entlemen  who  have  addressed  this  assembly,  because  the  topics  ot  the 
day  seem  to  me  to  address  themselves  with  peculiar  force  to  the  class  ot 
persons  I  represent. 

In  the  first  place,  the  religious  training  and  culture  of  the  young  is  a 
subject  of  supremest  interest  to  persons  situated  as  we  are  m  this  counti-y. 
If  Christian  example  is  superior  to  precept,  we  have  a  terrible  warfare  m 
convincing  our  youth  of  the  primary  importance  of  religious  training  ana 


35-i  EDUCATION. 

culture  where  examples  so  hostile  to  religious  culture  and  training  are 
every-where  broadcast  around  them.  We  cannot  but  feel  that  we  are  in- 
trenching on  dangerous  ground  when  we  insist  that  they  shall  take  their 
instruction  and  highest  models  from  characters  who  in  many  respects  pre- 
sent the  very  opposite  from  that  which  our  blessed  religion  teaches,  and 
which  our  Bible  leads  us  to  believe  is  the  most  important  for  religious 
training  and  culture. 

Mr.  President,  I  see  in  this  question  the  possibility  of  light  coming  to 
us  which  heretofore  we  have  not  had.  But  it  must  come  through  proper 
channels  in  order  to  be  benelicial.  For  instance,  I  heard  in  the  course  of 
the  paper  this  morning  presented  to  us  this  idea  on  religious  training 
and  culture  of  the  young.  In  the  order  in  which  it  was  presented  it 
seemed  to  me  to  be  a  little  contrary  to  what  it  should  have  been.  The 
paper  presented  this  idea :  first,  the  Church ;  then,  the  parent ;  and  then 
the  State.  It  went  on  in  a  secondary  way  to  treat  of  the  Sunday-school 
as  having  a  kind  of  incidental  connection  with  this  subject. 

To  get  at  this  right  it  seems  to  me  we  must  begin  at  the  proper  point. 
"We  must  begin  witli  the  parent  instead  of  the  school  or  State.  The  parent 
is  the  essential  thing.  Parents  who  are  governing  and  guiding  and  lead- 
ing the  cliildren  of  to-day  are  in  many  instances  bereft  of  the  power  of 
training  and  culture;  and  it  seems  to  me  most  important,  in  order  to 
bring  our  children  to  the  standard  they  should  occupy  in  the  religious 
world,  that  the  parent  should  receive  a  large  share  of  our  attention. 

There  is  another  question  of  considerable  interest  to  me :  Whether  in 
this  period  of  punctiliousness  it  is  wise  to  use  the  Bible  in  the  school ;  as 
to  whether  the  State  has  any  concern  in  this  question  of  religious  training 
or  culture.  To  me  it  does  not  seem  that  it  has  much.  It  does  seem 
to  me,  however,  that  it  comes  next  to  the  parent  and  Sunday-school. 
There  we  go  to  improve  on  the  impressions  made  by  the  parent  at  an  ear- 
lier period,  and  we  go  on  until  the  child  becomes  a  fit  candidate  for  the 
Church.  Order,  in  this  respect,  seems  to  me  to  be  of  peculiar  importance. 
The  ancients,  we  are  told,  were  accustomed  to  picture  human  life  by  the 
letter  Y — all  beginning  at  a  particular  point,  all  traveling  in  one  line  to 
the  divergence  of  responsibility,  and  there  the  roads  branching  to  the  right 
and  left.  Those  who  took  the  right  went  in  an  honorable,  distinguished 
course,  leading  to  purity  and  happiness  in  life,  and  the  other  to  the  op- 
posite. If  we  would  have  our  children  trained  in  religious  culture  and 
started  in  elementary  education — and  elementary  education  is  the  order 
that  my  class  comes  under —    (Here  the  time  exjjired.) 

The  Rev.   Hugh  Pkice    Hughes,  M.A.,    of    tlie  Wesleyan 

Methodist  Church,  continued  the  discussion,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  I  wish  to  say  that  the  whole  tendency  of  evangelical 
teaching  in  England  is  in  the  direction  of  the  common  school  system 
which  prevails  in  the  United  States.  Mr.  Forster  introduced  his  bill 
twenty-one  years  ago ;  but  under  the  influence  of  Mr.  Chamberlain,  who 
did  not  understand  the  convictions  of  the  evangelical  Churches,  the  most 
active  and  influential  section  of  the  Liberal  Party  committed  itself  to  free, 
compulsory,  and  secular  education.  We  are  in  favor  of  free  and  com- 
pulsory education,  but  we  vehemently  oppose  secular  education.  It  is 
one  of  my  deepest  convictions  that  it  is  suicidal  to  exclude  the  Bible 
from  the  common  schools  of  England  or  the  United  States.  That  secular 
plank  in  the  Liberal  jirogramme  defeated  the  efforts  of  the  best  friends  of 
education,  and  gave  the  victory  to  the  sectarian  party.  But  those  who 
held  opinions  on  educational  questions  have  now  accepted  the  compro- 
mise which  I  had  the  honor  of  suggesting  to  them  a  few  years  ago,  and 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  355 

we  are  now  prepared  witn  practical  unanimity  to  retain  the  Bible  in  the 
common  schools ;  that  is,  wherever  the  parents  wish  to  have  it.  And  we 
demand  on  the  part  of  teachers  not  only  that  the  Bible  shall  be  read, 
but  that  it  shall  be  explained  uncontroversially,  historically,  and  ethic- 
ally. We  demand  that  the  teacher,  as  the  representative  of  the  moral  as 
well  as  the  intellectual  education  of  the  children  committed  to  his  charge, 
shall  give  an  unsectarian  exijositiou  of  the  Bible.  That  is  what  is  done 
in  every  part  of  the  United  Kingdom.  A  striking  illustration  of  this  is 
to  be  found  in  Loudon.  In  that  great  community,  where  we  have  six 
millions  of  persons,  the  School  Board  teaches  the  Bible  systematically  in 
the  schools  without  teaching  sectarian  doctrines.  The  parents  desire  that 
their  children  shall  be  taught  the  Bible.  If  there  is  an  atheist  or  agnostic 
who  does  not  wish  his  child  to  hear  the  Bible  read  and  explained,  let  him 
withdraw  his  child  under  the  conscience  clause.  But  a  handful  of  men 
have  no  right  to  muzzle  the  mouth  of  the  elementary  teacher  with  re- 
spect to  the  only  real  basis  of  conduct. 

There  is  a  conspiracy  on  the  part  of  those  who  believe  too  little  and 
those  who  believe  too  much — of  those  who  are  skeptical  and  those  who 
are  mediaeval — to  close  our  Bibles,  or  to  close  ovu-  mouths  in  relation  to  our 
Bible.  But  I  hojic  that  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  the  Bible,  which  is 
the  foundation  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  shall  be  taught  historicallj' 
and  ethically  in  our  public  schools.  As  I  said  the  other  day,  we  British 
Methodists  have  abandoned  our  old  position,  and  we  have  declared  by  an 
overwhelming  majority,  which  it  is  useless  for  any  body  to  deny,  that  the 
primary  object  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church  is  to  have  a  common 
school  within  reach  of  every  child  in  England ;  and  that  the  sooner  the 
sectarian  schools  are  superseded,  and  all  children  permitted  to  meet  to- 
gether on  the  common  ground  of  our  common  Christianity,  the  better  it 
will  be  for  England  and  the  world. 

Mr.  W.  B.  Luke,  of  the  Bible  Christian  Church,  sf>oke  as 
follows  on  the  su1)ject  of  discussion  : 

Mr.  President :  It  is  a  very  humiliating  thing  for  an  Englishman  who 
has  taken  an  interest  in  the  colleges  or  educational  institutions  of  England 
to  visit  America.  We  are  far  behind  in  our  common  schools,  higher  col- 
leges, and  especially  our  universities,  which  are  with  us  established  in  a 
few  cities,  while  here  they  are  scattered  throughout  the  land,  and  are 
available  for  the  education  of  the  poorest  of  the  community.  In  England 
it  has  been  said  that  Mr.  Forster  introduced  a  bill  twenty-one  years  ago 
on  this  question  of  education,  and  we  have  not  yet  a  practical  system  of 
education.  It  is  difficult  to  convey  to  the  minds  of  those  present  not 
Englishmen  exactly,  how  this  stands.  But  I  would  like  them  to  consider 
how  they  would  like  it  in  a  community  of  sixty  thousand  persons,  like  that 
in  which  I  reside,  to  have  the  whole  educational  district  in  the  hands  of 
the  extreme  High  Church  Party.  The  public  pays  for  it.  The  tax-pay- 
ers pay  their  taxes,  and  the  imperial  government  supervises  the  education 
in  a  certain  way ;  but  the  parents  of  the  children  and  the  inhabitants  of 
the  district  have  not  a  particle  of  immediate  control.  And  what  advant- 
age it  gives  to  the  Catholics!  In  one  district  there  is  a  school  crowded 
more  th.an  any  in  the  district.  It  is  packed  with  the  children  of  Prot- 
estant parents,  and  the  Catholics,  aided  by  the  government,  offer  induce- 
ments to  the  children  of  Protestant  parents  to  go  to  their  schools,  bribing 
them  with  blankets  and  clothes  in  winter  and  free  teas  in  summer,  and 
in  that  way  raising  up  a  Catholic  population  in  the  country. 

How  can  we  secure  a  real  system  of  national  education — a  matter  just 


356  EDUCATION. 

mentioned,  and  upon  which  I  should  venture  very  humbly  to  differ  from 
Mr.  Hugh  Price  Hughes.  I  fail  to  see,  if  you  have  the  Bible  explained, 
how  you  are  to  act  in  respect  to  school  teachers  who  may  be  Catholics, 
Unitarians,  or  atheists.  I  know  a  brilliant  teacher  who  is  employed  at 
present  in  a  school  where  the  Bible  is  read,  and  so  far  as  the  parents  are 
concerned  they  have  no  objection  to  offer.  But  if  that  teacher  were 
allowed  to  explain  the  Scriptures  they  would  have  to  keep  an  eye  on  him. 
He  would  be  apt  to  teach  heterodox  ideas  to  the  scholars.  You  must 
have  unsectarian  teachers,  and  Bible  reading  pure  and  simple.  Let  your 
rule  be  that  every  child  shall  be  taught  the  great  principles  of  our  relig- 
ion ;  let  religion  be  taught  by  those  who  are  specially  competent  to  look 
after  that  subject.  May  I  say  this  in  regard  to  our  education  ?  We  blush 
when  we  come  to  America,  because  practically  our  children  leave  school 
at  the  age  of  twelve  or  thirteen  years.  (With  the  newly  introduced  sys- 
tem of  education  it  may  be  different.)  They  get  instructed  in  the  ele- 
mentary branches — taught  to  read  and  wiite — but  they  get  nothing  beyond 
that  before  they  are  plunged  into  the  streets. 

Mr.  H.  H.  Shaw,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  made 
the  followine^  remarks : 

Mr.  President  :  I  would  be  glad  indeed  if,  through  the  influence  of 
this  body,  shaping  as  it  will  somewhat  the  character  of  public  education 
in  the  future,  both  in  this  country  and  Great  Britain,  we  could  have  elim- 
inated the  false  sentiment  to  the  effect  that  education  must  naturally 
lead  through  all  schools  either  to  the  learned  jjrofession  or  up  to  the  ex- 
alted place  of  President  of  the  United  States,  or  to  a  premiership.  If 
some  of  the  examples  which  come  from  our  schools  to  business  men,  seek- 
ing places  after  they  have  failed  to  honor  themselves  in  a  profession,  are  a 
fair  exponent  of  this  sentiment,  then  I  conclude  that  such  education  is  a 
sorry  ornament.  If  there  is  any  person  I  pity  it  is  the  boy  from  the  city 
who  has  been  forced  through  the  public  schools  one  grade  after  another 
and  then  through  the  college;  who  has  the  lore  of  books,  but  without  a 
single  idea  how  to  use  it;  he  is  helpless  indeed.  That  is  not  the  worst  of 
it.  He  is  required  to  remain  so,  because  of  the  seeming  notion  he  has  that 
because  he  has  a  college  education  the  world  owes  him  a  respectable  liv- 
ing, and  he  ought  to  have  it.  If  there  is  any  thing  I  admire  among  men 
it  is  the  man  who  has  an  educated  and  accomplished  brain  accompanied 
by  a  trained  and  skillful  hand,  both  linked  together  by  a  strong  chain  of 
good  common  sense ;  and  I  declare  to  you  I  do  not  believe  that  these  can 
be  had  by  any  one  line  of  special  training.  If  you  will  show  me  the  men 
who  can  direct  and  do  the  work  of  any  community,  I  will  show  you  the 
men  who  will  shortly  own  and  control  the  great  interests  of  that  com- 
munity. Therefore,  I  hope  that  the  influence  we  shall  exert  upon  the 
education  of  the  future  will  tend  to  eliminate  this  false  notion  we  too 
often  instill  into  the  mind  of  the  boy,  that  he  must  help  crowd  the  pro- 
fessions. 

I  believe  that  all  the  professions,  including  the  ministry — and  I  do  not 
know  but  that  I  may  go  to  the  extent  of  saying  the  episcojiacy — have  been 
ornamented  by  men  who  have  been  touched  with  the  common  affairs  of 
life,  who  have  fought  and  earned  their  way  to  the  positions  they  occupy. 
And  so  far  as  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States  is  concerned,  this  office 
has  been  honored  by  several  men  who  were  graduated  from  the  university 
of  life  and  did  great  honor  to  the  institution  from  which  they  came.  Let 
us,  therefore,  teach  that  practical  education  which  fits  for  usefulness  and 
honor  in  all  the  walks  of  life. 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  357 

The  Eev.  James  Travis,  of  the  rrhnitive  Methodist  Church, 
continued  the  discussion,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President:  This  question  of  national  and  frea  education  is  very 
likely  to  improve  for  us  in  England  if  it  does  not  imj^-ove  for  our  friends 
in  America.  The  question,  we  think,  is  largely  settled^  The  very  exist- 
ence of  Methodism,  the  very  existence  of  uou-conformiYy,  in  many  of  the 
country  parishes  of  our  country  depends  upon  the  abolition  of  the  present 
system  of  sectarian  cdnr-ation.  The  system  of  free  education  in  England 
will  do  more  to  destroy  sacerdotalism  than  the  disestablishment  of  the 
Anglican  Church.  I  rose  to  say  how  much  our  denomination  admires  the 
stand  taken  by  our  Wesleyan  friends.  They  have  practically  I'rpclaimed 
that  sooner  than  have  the  present  system  of  sectarian  education  -Continue 
in  England  they  would  give  up  their  schools.  That  is  the  grandest  dec- 
laration that  was  ever  made  in  the  whole  history  of  the  educational  con- 
troversy in  our  country.  The  position  taken  by  Price  Hughes  (we  call 
him  Price  Hughes ;  his  name  is  a  household  word  among  usj  in  reference 
to  this  question  of  possible  teaching  in  the  day-school  is  a  correct  one. 
We  must  be  governed  by  majorities;  and  if  majorities  in  neighborhoods 
want  Bible-teaching,  they  ought  to  have  it.  On  the  other  hand,  if  a  ma- 
jority of  the  people  are  against  the  Bible  in  the  schools,  let  the  Bible  l^e 
excluded.  Let  the  majority  rule.  But  I  am  certain  of  one  fact :  if  this 
question  is  left  for  solution  to  the  working  classes  in  England,  overwhelm- 
ing majorities  will  ask  that  the  Bible  be  read  in  our  schools.  Let  the 
Methodists  of  England  ask  with  one  voice  for  a  system  of  national  free 
education,  and  there  are  not  many  governments  that  dare  to  refuse  to  grant 
the  request. 

The  Kev.  L.  K.  Fiske,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  Chairman :  I  rise  because  I  discover  that  our  terminology  has  not 
the  same  meaning  on  both  sides  of  the  water ;  and  as  these  discussions 
will  be  reported  all  over  our  country,  I  desire  to  have  some  explicit  state- 
ment as  to  the  meaning  of  the  terms  we  employ  here.  In  this  country, 
aside  from  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  we  universally  believe  in  the 
common  schools.  We  use,  however,  sectarian  schools  sometimes,  or 
church  schools,  as  applied,  not  to  parochial  schools,  not  as  the  term  is 
used  in  connection  with  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  but  as  applied  to 
schools  of  higher  laarning,  as  universities.  All  our  Protestants  believe  in 
higher  church  schools.  We  have  our  schools  and  we  have  our  universi- 
ties; and  if  it  should  be  understood,  as  the  result  of  the  discussions  that 
are  being  held  upon  this  floor,  that  the  Protestants  of  this  country  are  op- 
posed to  church  schools  for  higher  education,  then,  I  think,  it  would  be 
a  great  misfortune.  Tlie  schools  in  this  country,  imtil  within  a  very  re- 
cent period,  have  been  almost  entirely  under  the  control  of  the  Churches. 
We  have  by  the  hundreds  seminaries  and  colleges  in  our  Methodist 
Church,  and  we  are  beginning  now  to  have  our  theological  schools.  Now, 
on  the  lower  plane  of  our  common  schools  we  find  no  trouble  in  regard  to 
that  which  is  theological.  In  the  study  of  grammar,  in  the  study  of  the 
English  language,  in  its  sentences,  rhetoric,  arithmetic,  and  algebra,  there 
is  no  troul)le ;  but  when  we  come  to  the  higher  planes  of  scholarship, 
higher  planes  of  education  in  science  and  philosophy,  we  do  find  that 
there  is  danger  of  agnosticism  l)eing  taught  in  our  State  schools,  and  it  is 
just  here  that  we  cling  specially  to  what  we  call  denominational  schools. 

Now,  the  State  has  no  theology;  and  if  a  professor  in  a  college  should 
teach  agnosticism  in  the  extreme  meaning  of  that  term,  or  evolution  in  the 


358  EDUCATION. 

extreme  meaning  of  that  term,  I  do  not  know  how  the  State  could  forbid 
him.  If  a  teacher,  in  our  school  should  denounce  the  Trinity,  I  do  not 
know  how  the  Stat?  could  suppress  the  teacher,  because  the  State  does 
not  hold  to  the  Timity — because  it  has  no  theology.  If  a  teacher  should 
deny  God  in  history,  I  do  not  know  how  the  State  could  suppress  this 
teacher,  because  it  has  no  theology.  If  a  teacher  should  start  with  a  de- 
nial of  God  as  the  first  cause,  taking  science  as  a  corollation  of  facts,  or 
coronation  of  law — taking  nature  as  it  exists — and  demanding  that  the 
students  should  begin  there,  I  do  not  know  how  the  State  could  correct 
that  evil.  .  So  that  we  say  that  the  denominational  schools  are  broader 
than  the  State  schools,  that  they  are  higher.  They  begin  with  God; 
they  uphold  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  and  this  the  State  schools 
cannot  teach.  The  denominational  schools  are  broader  on  these  questions 
than  the  State  schools  can  ever  be.  We  believe  in  the  denominational 
schools  for  higher  learning  and  in  the  public  schools  for  children. 

A  Voice:  I  wish  to  ask,  as  one  from  the  old  country  seeking  informa- 
tion, whether  or  not  these  denominational  schools  and  these  universities 
are  paid  for  by  the  State — that  is  to  say,  are  they  paid  for  by  the  State  or 
by  the  Church  to  which  they  belong? 

Rev.  Dr.  Fiske  :  Always  by  tlie  Church. 

A  Voice  :  And  is  the  Bible  permitted  to  be  taught  in  the  common 
schools  ? 

Rev.  Dr.  Fiske  :  Very  largely  the  Bible  is  read  in  the  common  schools. 
But  the  Bible,  by  the  decision  of  the  courts,  in  some  cases  has  been  ex- 
cluded from  the  public  schools. 

The  Kev.  D.  J.  Waller,  D.D.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  conckided  the  discussion  in  the  following  words : 

Mr.  President :  If  any  body  will  take  the  trouble  to  refer  to  the  reports 
made  to  the  Royal  Commission  on  education  in  the  States  of  America, 
he  will  find  that  in  the  majority  of  the  common  schools  there  is  no  relig- 
ious instruction.  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  Dr.  Fiske  for  his  valuable 
address.  I  may  observe,  in  reference  to  the  remarks  of  another  speaker, 
that  America  is  a  very  large  country,  and  if  he  will  spend  three  months 
here  visiting  the  schools  he  will  find  out  that  there  is  no  national  sys- 
tem of  education,  but  that  each  State  has  its  own  special  system ;  he  will 
also  discover  that  the  system  varies  not  only  in  the  several  States,  but 
also  in  the  districts  and  counties  of  each  State.  In  Massachusetts  and 
some  of  the  other  States  there  is  a  very  high  state  of  education ;  but  I  do 
not  admit  the  supposed  inferiority  of  the  English  school  system.  The 
ancient  Roman  lifted  up  his  little  child  and  invoked  the  blessing  of 
the  gods  upon  it.  The  English  people  are  not  less  barbarous  than  the 
Romans,  and  they  desire  religious  education  for  their  children.  If  re- 
ligion were  excluded  the  parents  would  not  allow  their  children  to  go  to 
your  schools.     That  is  the  condition  in  our  country. 

But  we  are  told  that  the  pupil-teacher  system  is  to  be  abolished.  That 
is  a  declaration  for  skilled  assistants  by  abolishing  apprenticeships.  The 
fact  is,  that  the  need  of  trained  teachers  is  generally  acknowledged.  The 
middle  and  higher  class  schools  have  been  compelled  to  take  men  without 
any  special  ability  for  teachers — a  defect  we  are  seeking  to  remedy.  Men 
from  universities  without  any  training  have  gone  into  these  schools  and 
there  has  been  a  slaughter  of  the  innocents  while  they  have  learned  the 
art  of  teaching.  The  pupil-teacher  system  to  be  abolished  forsooth !  The 
picked  boys  and  girls  of  our  schools  have  three  or  four  years  of  instruc- 
tion, and  afterward  two  years  of  college  training,  before  they  are  certified 
to  teach  in  our  government  schools.     To  talk  of  the  abolition  of  this  sys- 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  359  . 

tern  is  an  absurdity.  The  most  important  factor  in  any  school  is  the 
teacher.  I  believe  more  in  the  life  that  is  lived  in  the  school  than  the 
amount  of  instruction  that  is  given  in  it.  Martin  Luther  said  if  he  had 
not  been  a  preacher  he  would  have  desired  to  be  a  teacher.  But  take  off 
the  influence  of  the  churches  from  the  schools  and  I  should  like  to  know 
how  we  are  going  to  get  the  trained  Christian  men  and  women  for  your 
schools.  We  must  have  the  means  of  securing  a  succession  of  Christian 
men  and  women  trained  to  give  religious  instruction. 

After  announcements  by  the  Secretary,  the  hymn  "  God  be 
with  you  "  was  sung,  and  the  benediction  was  pronounced  by 
the  Rev.  John  Bond,  of  tlie  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 


360  EDUCATION. 


THIRD  SESSION. 

The  Conference  opened  at  7:30  P.  M.,  the  Kev.  Bishop  E. 
G.  Andrews,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
in  the  chair.  Hymn  756  was  sung,  prajer  was  offered  by  the 
Rev.  Eakl  Ckanston,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  the  thirty-fourth  Psalm  was  read  by  the  Rev.  C.  W. 
Carter,  D.D,,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 

The  programme  of  the  evening  was  taken  up,  and  the  Rev.  N. 
BuRWASH,  S.T.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  Canada,  read  the 
following  appointed  essay  on  "  The  Broadest  Facilities  for 
Higher  Education — The  Duty  of  the  Clnirch  : " 

Mr.  President :  This  is  the  theme  assigned  for  our  present  consideration. 
It  requires  us,  first,  to  define  higher  education  in  the  light  of  our  mod- 
ern institutions  and  best  recent  methods;  secondly,  to  present  the  rela- 
tions and  obligations  of  the  Church  to  these  methods. 

Our  modern  authorities  distinguish  education  as  elementary  or  primary, 
intermediate  or  secondary,  and  higher  or  university.  The  first  is  com- 
monly assigned  on  its  secular  side  to  the  State,  on  its  moral  side  to  the 
Church,  the  parent  standing  in  a  common  relation  to  both.  The  second, 
though  to-day  not  less  important,  is  less  clearly  defined.  In  its  very  nat- 
ure it  is  intermediate,  that  is,  leads  to  and  prepares  for  higher  studies, 
and  in  its  methods  may  imitate  either  the  primary  school  which  it  follows 
or  the  college  for  which  it  prepares.  The  higher  education,  on  the  other 
hand,  has  a  distinct  aim  of  its  own,  by  which  its  methods  are  shaped. 
This  aim  is  the  preparation  of  our  more  gifted  young  men  to  be  the  lead- 
ers of  the  world's  future.  The  modern  methods  by  which  we  seek  to  at- 
tain this  end  may  be  somewhat  roughly  distinguished  as  collegiate  and 
university. 

Collegiate  education,  like  primary,  keeps  in  view  the  wants  of  the  man 
as  a  man.  But  instead  of  limiting  itself  to  the  bare  necessities  of  his  life, 
it  aims  at  satisfying  the  full  extent  of  his  spiritual  being.  Its  object  is 
the  perfect  man.  Its  results,  when  successful,  may  be  summed  up  in 
three  words — breadth,  depth,  culture.  It  has  not  reached  the  true  plane 
of  higher  spiritual  life  if  it  has  failed  in  any  one  of  these.  In  the  first 
place,  instead  of  resting  satisfied  with  that  truth  which  every  man  must 
know,  it  seeks,  at  least,  a  general  view  of  the  whole  field  of  truth.  In 
the  second  place,  it  aims  at  understanding  this  truth  in  its  deeper  relations 
of  cause  and  effect,  and  through  those  deeper  relations  at  reducing  it  to 
unity.  In  the  third  place,  it  aims  at  the  perfecting  of  its  thought,  by 
substituting  accuracy  and  clearness  of  concejition  for  the  first  crude  ideas 
of  things.  It  develops  the  finer  shades  of  distinction,  and  cultivates  a 
more  just  and  a  richer  and  fuller  appreciation  of  beauty,  of  moral  distinc- 
tion, and  of  religious  sentiment.     This  higher  education  we  are  accus- 


ESSAY    OF    REV.    N.    BURWASH.  361 

lomed  to  seek  as  the  result  of  some  years  of  contact  of  the  young  mind 
with  the  best  thoughts  of  the  best  minds  of  all  the  ages,  under  the  guid- 
ance of  men  who  are  themselves  selected  as  pre-eminent  in  this  higher 
spiritual  life. 

I  have  called  this  form  of  higher  education  collegiate,  because  the 
Tvorld's  experience  thus  far  is  that  it  is  best  cultivated  in  the  college. 
The  college  implies  three  things.  First,  masters  who  are  themselves 
typical  examjiles  of  the  higher  education,  and  who  are  expert  teachers. 
Second,  a  curriculum  broad  enough  to  lead  the  mind  up  to  the  universal 
outlook,  severe  enough  to  lead  to  that  deeper  apprehension  which  grasps 
the  underlying  unity  of  truth,  and  prolonged  through  sufficient  time  to 
lead  to  the  finish  and  accuracy  of  both  thought  and  expression,  which  is 
the  third  element  desired.  Third,  discipline ;  that  is,  the  submission  of  a 
choice  band  of  young  minds  to  the  practice  of  exercise  upon  this  curriculum 
in  daily  personal  association  with  these  masters,  and  the  abnegation  of  every 
thing  that  may  interfere  with  this  work.  This  form  of  higher  education  is 
doubtless  best  attained  in  a  comjiact  college  with  a  moderate  number  of 
students,  each  one  coming  into  most  intimate  personal  contact  with  his 
masters,  as  well  as  with  his  fellow-students.  It  may  also,  in  some  of  its 
elements,  be  improved  by  a  number  of  colleges  in  a  common  university,  as 
in  the  great  English  universities.  The  ideal  result  of  this  form  of  liigher 
education  is  the  cultured  man,  and  perhaps  the  English  universities  have 
produced  the  greatest  number  of  such  men  of  any  system  of  higher  edu- 
cation that  the  world  has  known. 

But  in  tliis  type  of  higher  education  a  large  share  of  the  essential  ele- 
ments belong,  of  right,  to  the  work  and  sphere  of  the  Christian  Church. 
Its  first  main  characteristic,  as  we  have  seen,  is  the  comprehensive  breadth 
which  takes  in  the  whole  field  of  truth.  But  that  breadth  is  unattainable 
if  the  two  great  departments  of  morals  and  religion  are  ignored.  I  am  not 
referring  now  to  the  development  of  moral  or  religious  character,  but  solely 
to  breadth  of  intellectual  manhood.  Such  breadth  is  impossible  to  the 
man  who  has  been  taught  to  see  only  one  half,  and  that  the  least  important 
half,  of  that  which  lies  in  the  universe  about  him. 

The  second  characteristic  of  this  higher  education  is  the  attainment  of 
deeper  unity  of  intellectual  life.  But  this  deeper  unity  centers  in  God  as  the 
first  cause.  It  is  the  theistic  conception  of  the  universe.  Its  true  finality 
is  God  in  his  world.  It  is  not  necessary  in  a  Christian  assembly  to  discuss 
the  superiority  of  this  theistic  conception  to  its  great  rivals,  the  pantheis- 
tic and  the  materialistic.  Nor  need  we  reckon  here  with  the  agnosticism 
which  stifles  the  demand  of  our  intelligence  for  the  profounder  unity  of 
thought  in  a  final  cause.  We  believe  theism  to  be  the  truth,  and  if  the 
truth  it  is  one  of  the  central  elements  of  higher  education. 

The  third  characteristic  of  higher  education  is  perfection  of  thought 
and  expression.  But  this  perfection  is  attained  only  by  patient  exercise, 
and  patient  exercise  implies  high  moral  character,  and  high  moral  charac- 
.ter  has  its  enduring  strength  in  religion. 

It  is  thus  scarcely  conceivable  that  these  fundamental  ends  in  higher 
20 


362  EDUCATION. 

education  can  be  attained  except  under  the  influence  of  the  Christian 
Church  and  the  guidance  of  Christian  men.  In  the  few  instances  on 
this  continent  where  it  is  seemingly  otherwise  there  is  an  underlying 
spirit  of  our  common  Christianity,  represented  by  the  personal  influences 
of  Christian  professors  and  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  which 
helps  to  maintain  the  needed  power  of  a  molding  si^iritual  life.  I  need 
only  mention  such  names  as  Arnold  at  Rugby,  Whewell  at  Cambridge, 
Olin  at  Middletown,  Hanna  at  Didsbury,  to  show  how  eminently  the  ideal 
college  finds  its  true  home  in  the  Church,  and  under  the  presidency  of 
profoundly  religious  men.  Such  a  college  makes  men  for  all  the  fields  of 
higher  work.  Its  idea  is  breadth,  depth,  finish  of  mental  power.  The 
man  for  whom  it  has  done  its  work  successfully  is  ready  for  all  life,  in  the 
sense  of  being  a  better  and  a  stronger  man. 

The  other  popular  form  of  higher  education  of  our  time  is  the  university. 
The  central  idea  of  the  university  is  all  knowledge.  The  university,  using 
the  term  generically,  is  supposed  to  teach  all  that  is  known.  It  leads  the 
man  out  to  the  present  limits  of  human  knowledge,  and  it  points  out  to 
him  the  methods  by  which  conquests  are  to  be  made  from  the  infinite  un- 
known beyond.  Hence  the  watch-word  of  the  modern  university  is 
original  work.  But  in  the  very  nature  of  the  case  no  man  can  know  all 
that  is  to  be  known  about  all  things.  Life  is  too  short,  and  the  field  of 
human  knowledge  too  vast,  for  that.  Hence  the  primary  necessity  of 
true  university  work  is  specialization.  With  more  or  less  general  prepara- 
tion in  breadth,  depth,  and  finish  of  thought  and  trained  mental  power, 
the  man  consecrates  the  balance  of  life  to  the  cultivation  of  some  one  lim- 
ited field  of  study.  It  is  rarely  that  this  can  be  done  without  some  sacri- 
fice of  his  own  highest  spiritual  manhood.  He  becomes  an  expert,  a  spe- 
cialist, and  so  one-sided.  It  would  be  a  great  loss  to  any  nation  to  have 
its  universities  supplant  or  even  degrade  its  colleges.  The  university  em- 
braces, according  to  this  idea,  the  schools  of  all  sciences,  and  of  all 
branches  of  professional  knowledge.  Accordingly,  the  first  universities 
embraced  the  four  faculities,  law,  arts,  medicine,  and  theology.  In 
fact,  the  university,  as  distinguished  from  the  college,  grew  out  of  the 
specialized  schools  of  medicine,  law,  and  theology,  with  which  an  arts 
curriculum  was  incorporated  as  a  necessary  preparation.  In  Paris  phi- 
losophy, or  what  we  would  to-day  regard  as  a  philosophical  theology, 
took  its  place  as  a  special  study  by  the  side  of  law  and  medicine.  In 
Germany,  which  is  peculiarly  the  home  of  the  modern  university,  this  an- 
cient designation  of  the  philosophical  faculty  has  held  its  own.  and  includes 
all  the  vast  expansion  of  the  modern  sciences. 

But  to  return  to  a  practical  view  of  the  university  work  of  to-day,  it 
still  retains,  as  at  the  beginning,  its  schools  of  law,  medicine,  theology, 
and  philosophy.  To  these  it  adds  the  modern  faculty  of  engineering. 
But  the  faculty  of  philosophy  has  been  extended  to  a  large  number  of 
specialized  groups,  each  one  of  which  becomes  the  basis  for  a  university- 
course  of  study.  The  literature  of  each  great  people,  ancient  or  modern, 
becomes  a  field  of  special  university  study.     The  vast  field  of  history 


ESSAY    OF   REV.    N.    BIJKWASH.  363 

opens  up  a  number  of  departments.  The  political  sciences  are  in  like 
manner  divided  into  several  curricula.  Philosophy  itself  is  divided  into 
two  or  more  departments.  The  great  branches  of  physical  science  and 
of  natural  history  are  treated  in  the  same  way.  Out  of  this  vast  range 
of  work  each  modern  university  selects  such  fields  as  the  predilections  of 
its  founders  or  the  special  aims  of  its  directors  may  indicate.  In  the  gen- 
eral estimate  of  our  Western  world,  the  greatest  university  is  that  one 
whose  resources  will  enable  it  to  provide  effectively  for  the  largest  num- 
ber of  these  specialized  curricula. 

There  has  also  been  a  tendency  to  depreciate  the  college  as  compared 
with  the  university.  In  England  the  college  still  retains  its  original  po- 
sition and  methods  with  but  slight  modification  from  modern  influences 
and  the  growth  of  the  university  spirit.  In  Geraiany  the  gymnasium  rep- 
resents a  somewhat  limited  college  system,  or  a  combination  of  secondary 
with  collegiate  education,  while  there  the  university  has  reached  its  high- 
est perfection.  The  disparagement  of  the  college  has  led  to  very  wide 
confusion  in  our  tentative  methods  on  this  continent.  The  ambitions  of 
the  university  have  every-where  invaded  our  colleges.  They  forget  that 
their  highest  glory  lies,  not  in  the  production  of  universal  scholarship,  but 
in  the  perfecting  of  strong,  well-balanced,  and  well-furnished  men.  To 
such  men  the  acquisition  of  any  necessary  learning  in  special  lines  is  an 
easy  after-task,  or,  to  borrow  a  modern  term,  a  post-graduate  work ;  but 
out  of  a  temporary  confusion  already  our  colleges  are  beginning  to  re- 
cover themselves.  A  few  of  the  stronger  or  richer  colleges  will  doubtless 
become  the  true  universities  of  our  Western  world,  and  the  others  will 
soon  learn  to  appreciate  the  fact  that  the  true  work  of  a  college  is  not  less 
noble  or  less  worthy  of  our  most  ambitious  efforts  than  that  of  a  university. 
We  have  on  this  continent  inherited  the  traditions  and  methods  of  the 
English  colleges.  It  would  be  a  great  pity  that  we  should  ever  lose  or 
permit  to  deteriorate  all  that  is  best  in  them.  On  the  other  hand,  we  are 
importing  the  German  university  with  its  peculiar  methods  and  ideals, 
but  I  believe  the  practical  common-sense  of  this  new  world  will  soon  de- 
fine the  proper  place  of  the  new  institution,  and  so  correlate  it  to  the  col- 
lege that  each  shall  most  effectively  do  its  proper  work. 

Meantime,  the  influx  of  the  university  spirit  has  had  a  very  decided  in- 
fluence upon  the  college  curriculum.  That  curriculum,  in  the  very  nature 
of  the  case,  must  be  carefully  selected  and  limited.  All  branches  of 
learning,  however  useful  or  necessary  in  themselves,  are  not  equally  suited 
to  the  work  of  a  college.  It  may  be  laid  down  as  a  general  principle  that 
the  college  should  use  in  its  educational  processes  only  the  most  perfect 
products  of  the  human  mind ;  that  which  is  truly  classic  in  literature,  and 
most  certain  and  fundamental  in  science  and  philosophy.  In  the  univer- 
sity the  one  question  raised  is  that  of  utility.  What  does  the  man  wish 
to  learn  for  the  after-uses  of  practical  life  ?  He  makes  his  own  selection 
according  to  the  needs  of  his  profession  or  calling.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  supreme  question  in  the  college  curriculum  is  what  line  of  studies 
will  give  the  most  perfect  intellectual  manhood  ?     In  the  very  nature  of 


364  EDUCATION. 

the  case,  this  question  is  to  be  answered  not  so  much  by  the  predilections 
of  the  student  as  by  the  experience  and  judgment  of  the  teacher.  But 
this  experience  has  taught  us,  in  connection  with  university  influences, 
that  a  single  curriculum  is  not  best  adapted  to  all  the  requirements,  even 
of  college  work ;  that  choice  may  profitably  be  made  between  the  best 
ancient  and  the  best  modern  literatures ;  and  that  to  some  minds  philo- 
sophical, to  others  scientific,  studies  are  best  adapted.  Hence  we  believe 
that  carefully  selected  courses  of  alternate  study  in  our  colleges  have  se- 
cured a  permanent  place  in  the  higher  education  of  the  future. 

The  field  of  modern  higher  education  is  thus  broadly  distinguished  as 
the  collegiate,  with  its  carefully  selected  courses  of  study  aiming  at  the 
highest  perfection  of  intellectual  manhood,  and  the  university,  with  its 
ever-widening  provision  of  all  learning  for  the  multijilying  necessities  of 
the  industrial,  professional,  political  and  literary,  and  other  higher  work 
of  our  modern  civilization.  What  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  as  to  this 
higher  education? 

Some  recent  writers  have  demanded  for  the  university  perfect  freedom 
from  all  bias,  as  they  are  pleased  to  call  it,  on  the  part  of  either  Church 
or  State.  They  conceive  of  each  particular  branch  of  science  or  learning 
as  entirely  independent  and  self-contained,  to  be  pursued  along  its  own 
lines,  by  its  own  methods,  and  for  its  own  sake.  The  highest,  most  per- 
fect pursuit  of  learning  must  stand  out  by  itself.  Its  philosojjhy,  biology, 
and  cosmogony  must  yield  to  no  theological  bias,  and  its  political  economy, 
jurisprudence,  and  social  science  to  no  political  necessity.  Of  course 
there  is  a  large  measure  of  truth  in  this  claim.  It  would  be  a  misfortune 
if  the  Church  undertook  to  teach  universal  science  with  that  science  bound 
hand  and  foot  in  the  chains  of  dogmatic  preconceptions.  An  absolutely  in- 
fallible Church  can  logically  make  such  a  claim ;  Protestant  Christianity 
cannot.  She  must  permit  each  great  truth  to  speak  for  itself,  and  to  un- 
fold itself  freely  to  the  inquiring  mind  of  man.  She  must  jiermit  the 
inductive  method  every-where  to  prevail.  She  must,  as  to  facts,  be  con- 
tent to  know  what  is,  not  what,  according  to  her  imagination,  ought  to 
be.  Must  the  Church,  therefore,  step  aside  from  all  relation  to  the  uni- 
versity and  for  the  truth's  sake  and  for  the  world's  sake  leave  the  work 
of  higher  education  to  a  purely  scientific  interest?  We  think  not.  On 
the  other  hand,  we  believe  that  both  the  university  and  the  Church  may 
greatly  profit  by  the  joart  which  the  Church  may  take  in  university  work. 
We  take  this  position  because  we  believe  in  the  perfect  unity  and  har- 
mony of  all  truth.  No  one  truth  can  contradict  any  other  truth.  If  they 
seem  to  conflict,  it  must  arise  from  imjierfect  apprehension  of  one  or  of 
both.  And  in  the  imperfections  of  even  our  most  perfect  scientific  inves- 
tigations it  is  helpful  and  healthful  to  have  our  results  tested  continually 
by  the  side  of  lights  which  come  from  closely  related  truth.  The  scien- 
tist himself  acknowledges  this,  and  by  physical  processes  tests  his  chemical 
results,  or  by  chemical  processes  his  physical  theories.  And  is  it  not  pos- 
sible that  our  ultimate  jihilosophy  or  science  of  all  matter  may  in  like 
manner  be  helped  by  testing  her  conclusions  by  the  light  of  the  philoso- 


ESSAY    OF    KEV.    N.    BURWASH.  365 

phy  which  deals  with  the  spiritual,  or  that  the  science  of  our  political  and 
secular  life  may  gain  some  higher  light  from  the  religious  and  moral? 

This  narrowness,  which  shuts  each  special  science  up  within  itself,  is 
one  of  the  dangers  of  our  modern  university  spirit.  It  must  be  admitted 
that  this  narrow  spirit  attaches  to  theological  science  quite  as  much  as  to 
any  other.  The  Church  in  undertaking  the  work  of  building  a  great  uni- 
versity has  special  need  to  beware  of  a  spirit  which  would  so  fetter  her 
as  to  make  her  university  work  impossible.  But  while  a  low,  narrow 
form  of  Christianity  may  be  seriously  unfit  for  this  work,  a  narrow  scien- 
tific specialism  is  equally  unfit  for  it.  In  much  of  the  so-called  skep- 
tical science  of  to-day  the  narrow,  dogmatic  spirit  is  quite  as  virulent  and 
as  violent  as  in  the  most  bigoted  religious  fanatic.  But  while  admitting 
all  this,  where  can  we  find  the  most  glorious  types  of  the  catholic,  true- 
loving  spirit  in  its  highest  freedom  and  in  its  purest  simplicity  if  not  in 
the  Christian  Church?  It  is  the  Master  himself  who  has  said,  "If  ye 
abide  in  my  word,  then  are  ye  truly  my  disciples ;  and  ye  shall  know  the 
truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free."  The  noblest  scientific  honesty 
is  after  all  but  Christlike.  If,  then,  the  building  up  of  great  universities 
to  supply  the  world's  need  of  truth  requires  organization  and  the  united 
strength  of  large  resources,  I  know  of  no  modern  organization  more  likely 
than  the  Christian  Chui-ch  to  undertake  that  work  in  the  spirit  of  the 
highest  intellectual  liberty.  The  true  spirit  of  Christianity  can  do  noth- 
ing against  the  truth,  but  for  the  truth. 

While  thus  the  university  in  the  high  calling  of  the  pursuit  and  the  dis- 
semination of  all  truth  may  well  look  for  its  most  liberal  and  right-minded 
patrons  in  the  Christian  Church,  on  the  other  hand  the  Church  has  a 
most  direct  and  vital  interest  in  the  work  of  the  university.  While  I  know 
full  well  that  the  high  mission  of  Christianity  centers  around  a  few  su- 
preme facts  in  the  great  universe  of  truth,  yet  she  can  afford  to  despise  no 
truth.  The  humblest  truth  may  in  some  way,  even  if  it  be  only  by 
analogy  and  illustration,  contribute  to  her  work.  And  of  the  vast  fields 
of  truth  embraced  in  the  work  of  the  university,  many  are  of  the  most 
direct  interest  to  her  work.  The  problems  of  political,  social,  and 
historic  science  affect  the  work  of  the  Church  quite  as  much  as  that  of 
the  State.  All  philosophy  is  religious,  that  is,  related  to  religion  in  its 
very  essence,  and  must  be  either  its  right-hand  helper  or  its  uncompro- 
mising antagonist.  The  deeper  spirit  of  all  true  literature  is  religious, 
and  its  profoundest  philosophy  can  only  be  attained  through  the  light  of 
a  religious  faith  and  sympathy,  and  inasmuch  as  Christianity  has  a  di- 
rectly practical  interest  in  all  forms  of  the  world's  religious  faith,  so  has 
she  the  same  interest  in  all  literature.  Even  the  physical  sciences  in  the 
world  of  the  infinitely  great  and  the  infinitely  little  are  as  congenial  to 
the  devout  mind  to-day  as  when  David  heard  the  "heavens  telling  the 
glory  of  God,"  or  Socrates  reasoned  from  the  skilled  work  to  the  wise 
workman.  The  interest  of  Christianity  in  all  truth  is  thus  direct,  pro- 
found, imiversal,  and  for  the  great  uses  of  her  life  the  Church  has  the 
most  indefeasible  right  to  found  her  universities.     And  if  a  right,  then 


366  EDUCATION. 

a  duty — a  duty  to  herself  and  a  duty  to  the  world ;  a  duty  to  herself,  if 
she  would  perfect  her  own  apprehension  of  all  truth,  and  free  herself  from 
the  mists  of  prejudice  and  error  which  in  all  the  ages  have  trammeled 
her  work  and  weakened  her  power;  a  duty  to  the  world,  because  the 
most  perfect  triumph  of  Christianity,  the  true  millennial  glory,  the  golden 
age  of  prophetic  vision,  will  be  an  age  of  the  highest  universal  intelligence. 
"Wisdom  and  knowledge  shall  be  the  stability  of  the  times,  and  the 
strength  of  salvation." 

But  if  university  work  thus  falls  within  the  scope  of  the  Church,  much 
more  that  of  the  college.  In  fact,  from  the  very  beginning  the  Church 
has  made  the  college  so  thoroughly  her  own  that  her  right  there  is  hardly 
seriously  disputed.  The  secular  tendency  is  rather  to  limit  the  Church  to 
the  college  and  the  theological  seminary,  and  to  disparage  the  college  as 
less  modern  in  its  spirit  and  less  generous  than  the  university.  More  con- 
servative it  must  be.  The  college  is  not  the  place  for  tentative  theories 
and  experiments  feeling  after  truth.  "Beaten  oil  for  the  sanctuary  "  must 
be  the  rule  of  college  life.  Its  work,  as  we  have  seen,  is  to  build  up 
young  minds  with  the  richest,  purest  food  of  ascertained  truth.  It  lays 
broad  and  wide  the  foundations  of  spiritual  life.  Here,  certainly,  the 
Church  has  her  duty.  If  she  ceases  from  this  work  there  is  no  other  to 
take  it  up.  Some  indeed  say  that  all  necessary  culture  will  come  with 
the  acquisition  of  the  knowledge  required  for  the  uses  of  life;  that  the 
world  to-day  is  too  busy  to  waste  four  years  of  life  on  mere  intellectual 
gymnastics;  that  all  we  need  is  the  university;  and  that  in  learning  there 
what  they  need  to  use  men  will  gain  all  needed  discipline.  We  could 
not  make  a  more  fatal  mistake.  Luther  and  Wesley  were  midway  in  the 
thirties  when  they  began  their  life-work,  and  few  men  have  accomplished 
more  or  better  work  in  life  than  they.  We  may  call  this  work  prepara- 
tory to  the  university  if  we  choose.  It  certainly  would  be  well  that  all 
men  of  special  learning  should  be  at  the  same  time  men  of  broad  culture. 
But  this  is  by  no  means  absolutely  necessary.  Each  type  of  institution 
has  its  own  aim.  And  it  is  surely  a  grander  thing  to  make  great  men 
than  to  make  great  scholars. 

The  college  is  the  higher  work,  and  when  we  say  that  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  Church  to  furnish  the  broadest  facilities  for  higher  education  we 
mean  that  it  is  her  first  duty  to  strengthen  and  protect  her  colleges.  It 
is  not  necessary  that  they  should  be  large.  About  one  hundred  students 
pursuing  the  same  curriculum  will  give  the  maximum  of  efficiency  and 
economy  for  purely  college  work.  If  there  are  collateral  courses,  these 
numbers  may  be  multiplied  accordingly,  though  not  always  with  advan- 
tage to  the  discii)line  of  college  life.  But  whether  you  build  large  insti- 
tutions with  collateral  courses,  or  smaller  compact  colleges,  widely  dis- 
tributed over  th^  country,  the  wise  policy,  nay,  the  imperative  duty,  of  the 
Church  to-day  is  to  place  this  higher  training  within  the  reach  of  all  her 
more  gifted  young  minds.  So  shall  she  have  for  the  work  of  the  next 
century  a  mighty  army  of  godly  and  intelligent  men  and  women,  who, 
with  all  the  forces  of  the  highest  intellectual,  moral,  and  spiritual  culture 


ADDRESS    OF    KEY.    W.    F,    SLATEK.  367 

will  push  forward  the  conquests  of  our  holy  religion.  I  have  said  moral 
and  spiritual  culture,  for  if  these  colleges  are  any  thing,  they  should  be 
the  homes,  the  nurseries,  of  the  highest  Christian  life,  the  inner  sanctuary 
of  religion,  as  well  as  of  high  intellectual  life. 

But  along  with  this  universal  attention  to  college  work  the  Church 
needs  to  claim  her  share  of  the  higher  learning.  Indeed,  for  her  college 
work  itself  this  is  an  absolute  necessity.  As  teachers  in  her  colleges  and 
divinity  schools,  if  for  no  other  purpose,  she  needs  men  of  the  higher 
learning,  and  emphatically  men  of  the  higher  Christian  learning.  In  her 
provision  for  these  she  cannot  afford  to  be  behind  the  secular  interest. 
She  may,  perhaps,  at  times  combine  to  advantage  with  the  existing  in- 
stitutions. It  may  be  a  wise  thought  for  the  Church  to  plant  a  great 
Christian  university  in  the  center  of  the  great  scientific  institutions  of  this 
■city,  or  for  English  or  Irish  Methodism  to  establish  their  schools  of  higher 
learning  at  the  seat  of  the  old  national  universities.  Each  Church  must 
judge  for  itself  of  the  wisdom  and  economy  of  such  alliances.  But  what- 
ever be  the  detailed  method  which  local  circumstances  may  indicate,  the 
Church  as  well  as  the  nation  must  have  her  great  university  centers.  The 
Methodists  of  the  next  century  will  find  six  or  seven  such,  at  least,  on 
this  continent,  while  her  colleges,  stronger  and  more  perfect,  we  hope, 
than  to-day,  will  be  numbered  by  the  hundreds. 

The  world  is  just  waking  up  to  the  importance  of  the  higher  education 
of  women.  Here  especially  the  helping  hand  of  the  Church  is  needed. 
What  the  solution  of  the  problem  is  to  be  is  still  undecided.  Co-educa- 
tion is  widely  popular  in  democratic  circles.  The  university  annex  has 
already  achieved  a  conspicuous  success  in  England.  And  such  institu- 
tions as  Vassar,  Wellesley,  and  our  own  noble  Woman's  College  at  Baltimore 
are  showing  what  can  be  done  with  a  high  curriculum  and  first-class 
equipment,  especially  adapted  to  the  needs  of  woman's  higher  life.  Rome 
is  peculiarly  wise  in  looking  after  her  women,  and  Methodism  should  cer- 
tainly not  be  less  so. 

The  Rev.  W.  F.  Slater,  M.A.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  gave  the  following  appointed  address  on  "  University 
Education : " 

Mr.  President :  Tliat  the  Church  ought  to  allow  "  the  broadest  facilities 
for  higher  education,"  and  that  it  ought  to  encourage  and  provide  them 
so  far  as  circumstances  allow,  no  doubt  seems  to  exist.  Any  depreciation 
by  the  Church  of  the  higher  education  of  the  people  will  be  at  the  cost 
of  her  own  interests  and  reputation.  The  Church  appears  in  a  false  posi- 
tion when  she  is  the  adversary  of  advancing  knowledge ;  the  old  sarcasm 
is  repeated,  that  "  ignorance  is  the  mother  of  devotion."  So  far  as  the 
misunderstanding  has  existed  it  has  tended  to  secularize  education  and 
other  elements  of  civilization;  it  has  withdrawn  them  from  the  leaven  of 
higher  sentiments  which  a  more  gracious  contact  with  the  Church  would 
have  supplied.     In  some  lands  already  the  influence  of  the  Church  is 


368  EDUCATION. 

seriously  contracted,  because  it  no  longer  rules  the  higher  spheres  of 
thought  and  activity. 

In  its  early  stages  of  advancement  the  Church  does  not  largely  depend 
upon  learning  for  success ;  the  momentum  of  the  primum  mobile,  the  im- 
pulse of  a  fresh  inspiration,  is  sufficient  to  carry  it  forward ;  but  as  inev- 
itable reflection  sets  in  it  is  required  that  the  relation  of  the  new  ideas  to> 
the  abiding  foundations  of  thought  should  be  ascertained  and  exhibited. 
At  this  juncture  of  affairs  some  alarm  will  naturally  arise.  New  sensa- 
tions are  a  part  of  experience  which  are  not  always  encountered  without 
pain.  But  reflection  lies  as  truly  in  the  constitution  and  course  of  nature 
as  sensation  or  intuition.  Through  the  phenomena  which  present  them- 
selves to  man  in  his  rapid  flight  through  time  he  discerns  the  noumenay. 
which  he  soon  perceives  to  be  of  greater  value  to  him  than  the  objects  of 
sense.  To  discourage  or  hinder  man  in  his  acquisition  of  this  higher 
wealth  he  feels  to  be  the  highest  offense  against  his  dignity  and  well-be- 
ing ;  governments  that  have  made  this  policy  theirs  have  lost  their  crowns ; 
the  Churches  that  have  hoped  to  gain  the  world  by  hiding  the  keys  of 
knowledge  are  the  contempt  of  mankind. 

Yet  among  ourselves  there  are  some  who  dread  the  higher  education, 
because  it  has  often  been  associated  with  a  prevalent  worldliness  of  spirit. 
Here,  then,  is  a  plain  call  for  the  Church's  interference.  She  holds  in 
her  hand  the  salt  which  may  sweeten  these  corrupted  waters  with  ele- 
ments of  life  and  blessing.     It  is  her  high  calling  to 

"  Unite  the  pair  so  long  disjourned, 
Knowledge  and  vital  piety." 

It  has  been  suspected,  and  not  without  some  reason,  that  advanced  edu- 
cation will  introduce  our  youth  to  systems  of  philosophy  which  lead  to 
doubt  and  atheism — or  at  least  tend  to  impair  the  simple  faith  which 
made  our  fathers  strong.  "We  may  remark  that  it  is  the  peculiar  mission 
of  a  university  to  pursue  lines  of  investigation  and  speculation  to  their 
farthest  results ;  but  any  system  of  philosophy  carried  to  its  largest  possi- 
ble consequences  brings  us  to  contradiction  and  error.  Philosophical 
systems  may  be  manipulated  so  as  to  favor  either  atheism  or  superstition. 
Were  John  Henry  Newman  and  Francis  W.  Newman  both  trained  at 
Oxford  ?  Yet  the  one  finished  in  the  acceptance  of  infallibility,  and  the 
other  in  the  negation  of  all  theologies.  The  fact  is,  that  the  centripetal 
and  the  centrifugal  forces  of  intellectual  life  are  at  their  maximum  in 
a  living  university ;  and  all  who  come  in  contact  with  them  will  have  tO' 
deal  with  them.  In  the  older  universities  the  traditional,  historical,  re- 
actionary tendency  has  been  sacredly  cherished.  It  mastered  Newman, 
Manning,  and  Pusey.  It  has  transformed  the  sons  of  some  English  Meth- 
odists into  model  Anglicans.  Perhaps  its  operation  has  not  been  unfelt 
in  America.  This,  indeed,  so  far  has  been  our  chief  difficulty  with  the 
universities  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  But  now,  perhaps,  the 
opposite  tendency  is  becoming  for  our  age  the  chief  danger. 

The  great  problem  for  the  teaching  Church  to-day  is :  How  are  the  older 


ADDRESS    OF    EEV.    W.    F.    SLATER.  369 

systems  of  theological  teaching  to  be  related  to  the  new  knowledge?  One 
of  the  great  streams  forming  this  modern  deluge  which  obliterates  the 
ancient  land-marks  is  scientific.  Astronomy  has  revealed  the  vastness  of 
the  universe — reducing  the  proportions  of  man's  world,  and  casting  into 
a  new  perspective  the  old  doctrines  of  creation,  providence,  and  redemp- 
tion. Geology  discloses  abysses  of  time  of  which  human  history  scarcely 
measures  the  smallest  fraction.  Biology  finds  a  common  physical  life  in 
man  and  in  monads.  Archteology  is  collecting  the  vestiges  of  forgotten 
people,  and  is  mapping  out  the  great  Sahara  of  the  prehistoric  period. 
Philology  traces  the  growth  of  the  many- voiced  languages  of  men  to  pho- 
netic and  imitative  cries  of  the  primitive  savage.  Surely,  the  Christian 
youth  will  need  the  calm  and  patient  instruction  of  the  best  minds  to 
pilot  him  down  the  rapids  of  intellectual  progress  and  to  bring  him  to 
the  haven  of  quiet  faith.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  the  theory  of  evolution  in 
some  form  is  now  propounded  as  the  most  probable,  and  is,  therefore, 
used  as  the  most  convenient  working  hypothesis  of  physiological  relations 
in  every  school  of  natural  science  in  the  world?  For  good  or  for  evil  this 
IS  the  accepted  scheme  of  things.  No  one  can  foretell  yet  its  effect  on 
former  doctrines  of  creation,  of  the  fall,  of  the  ultimate  theories  of  relig- 
ion. Our  dread  is  lest  deference  to  the  law  of  continuity  should  indis- 
pose men  to  expect  any  miracle  of  grace,  lest  the  practical  infinity  of  the 
material  should  utterly  eclipse  the  supernatural. 

This  cataclysm  of  fresh  thought  has  reached,  at  length,  theological 
positions  which  we  once  thought  to  stand  high  and  dry.  The  higher 
criticism  now  raises  questions  about  the  integrity  of  the  Pentateuch,  the 
authorship  of  psalms  and  gospels,  the  origin  and  application  of  prophe- 
cies, the  possibility  of  miracles,  the  specific  difference  between  the  inspi- 
ration of  Scripture  and  that  of  sacred  poets  of  other  systems.  Comparative 
religion  exhibits  features  of  non-Christian  systems  in  order  to  show  that 
they  too  have  their  place  in  the  religious  education  of  the  race.  Send 
your  young  men  to  the  universities  and  they  will  soon  come  face  to  face 
with  these  imposing  facts  and  theories.  With  a  tremulous  but  pardonable 
anxiety  for  the  old  faith,  which  had  in  it  the  secret  of  a  holy  life  and 
happy  death,  we  ask,  "  Can  our  sons  and  daughters  retain  their  reverence 
for  the  older  system?  " 

Such  are  the  conditions  of  the  higher  education  which  now  demand  the 
attention  of  the  believing  Church.  The  peril  is  great,  but  it  must  be  faced. 
This  is  not  the  time  for  timorous  council  or  artificial  bravery  or  ignorant 
defiance.  The  followers  of  that  free  thinker,  that  open-minded  inquirer, 
John  Wesley,  cannot  meet  modern  science  with  a  non  possumus.  We 
want  to  know  what  the  questions  really  are,  what  they  imply,  how 
we  must  act  in  regard  to  them.  For  this  we  need  generations  of  well- 
equipped  scholars,  with  learning  and  leisure  to  explore  these  new  realms, 
able  to  collect  their  various  and  voluminous  wealth,  and  ready  to  distrib- 
ute the  spoils  of  all  time  to  the  inquiring  multitude.  But  such  scholars 
can  only  be  grown  in  university  life — where  the  loftiest  standard  of  at- 
tainment becomes  a  familiar  item  of  intellectual  life,  where  the  inter-com- 


370  EDUCATION. 

munion  of  the  best  minds  beats  out  from  the  chaff  of  hearsay  aud  the 
straw  of  self-taught  sciolism  the  ripest  grain  of  truth. 

There  is  another  objection  which  we  must  not  overlook.  It  is  said: 
"  The  universities  cultivate  a  special  type  of  opinions,  manners,  and  taste; 
they  produce  a  distinct  caste,  assuming  Brahminical  superiority ;  unfitting 
them  for  fellowship  with  plainer  men."  We  reply:  It  would  be  strange  if 
the  higher  education  were  without  effect.  A  Christian  university  ought  to 
train  men  to  retinemeut  of  thought  and  word,  of  manners  and  conduct ; 
but  it  may  be  expected  also  to  develop  the  sympathies  of  the  regenerate 
heart.  Class  ideas  have  been  the  temptation  of  the  older  universities. 
Monopolies  are  obsolete  in  Christian  civilization.  The  old  devices  of 
protection,  of  knowledge,  have  been  found  out;  even  the  reciprocity 
of  privileged  classes  is  less  practicable.  The  old  monasteries  shut 
their  doors  against  the  multitude,  and  reveled  in  their  feast  of  good  things — 
eating  and  drinking,  collecting  manuscripts  and  illuminating  missals,  but 
never  translating  into  the  language  of  the  common  people  the  curious  lore 
which  entertained  their  useless  lives.  Even  now  it  is  plain  that  the  free 
Churches  must  bestir  themselves  if  nobler  systems  are  to  be  provided, 
where  any  child  of  the  people  who  has  character  and  ability  may  obtain 
the  best  culture  of  the  age.  The  older  institutions  freely  confess  tempora 
mutaiitur;  but  they  will  not  add,  nos  mutamur  ah  illis. 

In  Britain  the  whole  subject  has  a  history  of  its  own.  The  Methodists 
of  England,  being  Non-conformists,  were  for  three  quarters  of  a  century 
after  Wesley's  death  excluded  from  the  Universities  of  Oxford  aud  Cam- 
bridge. In  the  century  after  Wesley's  death  not  more  than  three  or  four 
of  his  preachers  graduated  in  his  own  university.  The  same  may  be  said 
of  Cambridge.  What  is  the  attendant  fact?  Methodism  has  made  but 
little  impression  on  the  higher  circles  of  English  life.  We  have  no  repre- 
sentatives of  our  Church  among  the  British  aristocracy.  There  is  not  a 
single  Methodist  in  the  House  of  Lords ;  not  one  on  the  bench  of  judges. 
A  small  but  not  insignificant  band  of  representatives  in  the  House  of 
Commons  has  made  itself  felt  in  our  legislature.  Others  have  gained 
distinction  in  the  legal  and  other  professions ;  but,  speaking  generally,  the 
magistrates,  the  professional  classes,  belong  to  the  Established  Churches ; 
and  this  is  connected  with  the  fact  that  not  more  than  five  per  cent,  of 
those  trained  at  Oxford  aud  Cambridge  and  Durham  are  Non -conformists, 
and  only  about  two  per  cent,  are  Methodists.  Besides,  the  great  schools 
which  prepare  for  the  universities  are  Anglican  foundations — such  as  Eton, 
Harrow,  Winchester,  Marlborough,  and  many  others.  They  are  manned 
by  Anglican  clergymen.  In  these  establishments  the  repugnance  to  dis- 
sent is  traditional,  profound,  unrelenting,  ineradicable.  If  evangelical 
non-conformity  must  survive  and  progress  in  Britain,  it  must  have  an  ad- 
equate sujiply  of  the  higher  education.  Kiugswood,  Sheffield,  Taintor, 
the  Leys— the  latter  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Moulton— with  other  schools 
more  recently  established  have  done  good  service,  and  have  shown  us  what 
harvests  might  have  been  gathered  if  we  had  been  more  zealous  in  this 
field.     We  ought  also  to  mention  that  our  Church  has  made  good  use  of 


ADDEESS    OF    KEV.    W.    F.    WARKEN.  371 

the  London  University — an  examining  body  which  admits  students  with- 
out regard  to  class  or  creed,  but  distributes  no  degrees  in  divinity.  This 
authority  to  dispense  divinity  degrees  is  reserved  to  the  universities  which 
still  refuse  them  to  Non-conformists.  For  our  divinity  degrees  we  are  in- 
debted to  the  universities  of  the  Western  world,  and  a  few  have  come  from 
Scotland.  John  Dury  Geden,  though  a  member  of  the  company  for  the 
revision  of  the  Old  Testament,  found  no  recognition  from  Oxford  or 
Cambridge,  but  received  his  diploma  from  the  University  of  St.  Andrew's. 
Dr.  Moulton,  confessedly  one  of  the  most  learned  men  of  his  time  in  New 
Testament  exegesis,  received  his  divinity  degree  in  Edinburgh ;  and  James 
Agar  Beet,  who  has  attained  the  first  rank  among  New  Testament  in- 
terpreters, received  his  title  from  the  University  of  Glasgow.  This  state 
of  things  is  the  more  unfortunate  because  the  degrees  of  our  national 
universities  still  retain  a  value — at  least  among  ourselves — which  has  not 
been  acquired  by  degrees  obtained  elsewhere. 

May  I  say,  in  conclusion,  that  we  who  have  come  from  the  Eastern  world 
have,  since  we  came  to  this  continent,  been  much  impressed  with  the 
universal  aspiration  for  intellectual  training  which  has  affected  its  people? 
Our  admiration  grows  as  we  see  how  widely  this  aspiration  is  shared  by 
the  colored  population.  In  the  older  world  there  is  something  like  a 
prejudice  against  knowledge  itself.  It  has  so  long  been  the  privilege  of 
a  class  that  it  has  become  its  badge,  and  has  come  in  for  a  share  of  popu- 
lar dislike.  Your  freedom  from  this  prejudice,  and  the  widely  defined  am- 
bition for  intellectual  advancement,  promises  to  raise  your  people  at  no 
distant  date  above  that  of  the  masses  in  older  countries.  The  day  may 
come  when  your  scholars  may  have  to  come  to  our  land  with  a  new 
evangel  of  science ;  or  pilgrims  from  the  languishing  East  may  come  to 
you  and  say:  "Give  us  of  your  oil,  for  our  lamps  are  going  out."  We 
rejoice,  also,  that  this  strenuous  public  feeling,  wnth  its  immeasurable  forces 
and  results,  comes  so  largely  luider  the  patronage  and  direction  of  the 
evangelical  Church.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  the  Churches  fol- 
lowing traditional  systems,  depend  for  their  success  mostly  upon  education 
and  training.  The  evangelical  Churches  rely  principally  on  the  victorious 
force  of  truth  to  convince  and  convert  adult  men.  That  attractive  and 
fruitful  method  which  only  the  Free  Churches  can  successfully  employ 
need  not  displace  tlie  other.  Let  us  continue  to  call  sinners  to  repentance, 
but  let  us  also  suffer  little  children  to  come  to  Christ,  and  teach  young 
men  how  they  may  overcome  the  world. 

Of  work  yet  to  be  done  by  evangelical  scholars  in  the  higher  and  better 
criticism  of  patristic  literature,  church  history,  and  the  harmonizing  of 
scientific  thought  with  true  faith,  time  would  fail  us  to  speak. 

Tlie  Kev.  W.  F.  Warren,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  gave  the  second  appointed  address  on 
"  University  Education,"  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  In  fifteen  flying  minutes  I  must  needs  deliver  my  message 
to  more  than  fifteen  millions  of  men.     Pardon  me,  then,  if  in  the  interest 


372  EDUCATION. 

of  swift  speech  I  sacrifice  all  rounded  rhetorical  periods,  and  confine  my- 
self to  sentences  compacted  and  condensed  under  a  higher  than  hydraulic 
pressure.  The  special  theme  to  which  the  discussions  of  the  evening 
have  led  up,  and  to  which  I  invite  your  attention,  is :  The  Adaptation  of 
Ecumenical  Methodism  to  World- Leadership  in  the  Field  of  University  Edu- 
cation. 

Here  are  four  immense  terms,  all  of  which  I  wish  you  to  take  in  their 
largest  acceptation.  First,  "Methodism.'"  By  Methodism  I  mean  that 
maturest  form  of  historic  Christianity  wherein  the  great  Head  of  the 
Church,  largely  through  the  direct  and  indirect  instrumentality  of  Wes- 
ley, Whitefield,  and  their  followers,  has  successfully  unified  in  one  living 
and  world-renovating  synthesis  all  that  was  vital  in  mediaeval  Catholi- 
cism and  all  that  was  just  in  sixteenth  century  Protestantism.  Second, 
"Ecumenical  Methodism."  By  this  term  I  mean  the  geographic  and 
personal  totality  of  this  maturest  form  of  Christianity,  whether  organically 
or  only  sympathetically  represented  in  this  Ecumenical  Conference. 
Third,  "The  Field  of  University  Education."  This  field,  as  already 
outlined  by  Chancellor  Burwash,  is  as  vast  as  human  possibilities  in 
growth,  individual  and  social.  Finallj*,  "World-Leadership."  To  this 
term,  too,  I  desire  to  give  the  widest  legitimate  significance,  applying  it 
in  all  literalness  to  the  whole  world  of  mankind.  My  full  thought, 
therefore,  is  that,  by  the  grace  of  God,  the  Christianity  oflicially  and  sym- 
pathetically represented  in  this  body  has  characteristics  pre-eminently  fit- 
ting it  to  lead  all  nations  in  the  highest  ranges  and  fields  of  education, 
and  that,  possessing  the  providential  adaptation  thereto,  it  has  also  the 
providential  call. 

"An  ambitious  suggestion,"  remarks  some  Brother  Littlefaith.  "If  we 
have  in  truth  any  such  calling,  why  have  we  not  shown  it?  Why  are  we 
not  already  exercising  this  grand  leadership?  "  I  reply  that  in  the  past 
many  things  explain,  if  they  do  not  justify,  our  failure  at  this  point.  We 
have  not  even  tried  to  gain  this  form  of  spiritual  j)ower.  But  few  among 
us  have  seen  our  possibilities  in  this  direction,  fewer  still  the  duty  provi- 
dentially laid  upon  us.  We  never  can  succeed  in  this  or  any  other  duty 
until  we  try,  and  we  never  can  try  until  Ave  see  some  possibility  of  suc- 
cess. Perhaps  it  will  help  us  in  gaining  the  needful  insight  if  we  con- 
sider this  question :  Who,  if  not  we,  does  possess  the  adaptation  and  the 
call  to  this  high  leadership? 

Perhaps  you  point  me  to  Germany,  the  seat  of  so  many  renowned  uni- 
versities, all  of  them  supported  by  civil  governments,  and  answer,  "  The 
State."  Some  persons  deliberately  take  this  position,  asserting  that  in 
our  day  the  State  alone  possesses  the  qualities  required  for  world  leader- 
ship in  the  field  of  university  education.  Against  this  view,  however,  the 
profounder  educationists  bring  many  and  weighty  considerations.  Some 
of  these  are  historical,  some  sociological,  some  ethical,  some  political,  some 
religious.  The  limits  of  this  address  forbid  my  touching  upon  more 
than  the  last,  and  even  at  these  no  more  than  a  passing  glance  can  be 
given. 


ADDRESS    OF    KEV.    W.    F.    WAEEEN.  373 

A  complete  world-influencing  university  must  assume  some  definite 
attitude  toward  religion.  Existing  in  the  Christian  world,  it  cannot 
ignore  Christ.  Its  business  is  to  teach  history  and  to  interpret  reality, 
and  in  neither  task  can  it  evade  the  responsibility  of  positive  and  une- 
quivocal teachings.  It  must  have  some  creed  respecting  man,  his  origin, 
his  law  of  life,  his  destiny.  It  must  teach  something  respecting  the 
State,  its  moral  health,  and  the  conditions  of  its  perfection.  It  must 
have  a  knowledge  of  Christian  civilization,  and  must  propagate  some 
theory  respecting  it.  It  cannot  do  these  things  without  covering  every 
profoundest  problem  of  Christian  theology  and  Christian  ethics  and 
Christian  philosophy.  Such  being  the  case,  the  State  that  undertakes  the 
guidance  and  control  of  university  education  even  within  its  own  limits 
must  adopt  one  of  four  jjossible  courses,  any  one  of  which  is  incompatible 
with  a  genuine  world-leadership. 

1.  It  may  adopt  one  of  the  historic  forms  of  Christianity,  constituting 
it  the  sole  and  exclusive  religion  of  the  State,  and  then  so  officer  and  reg- 
ulate its  universities  that  nothing  shall  be  taught  therein  but  the  estab- 
lished religion  and  the  things  consistent  therewith.  The  history  of  such 
States  and  of  such  universities  sufficiently  show  that  this  can  never  lead  to 
ideal  educational  results. 

2.  The  State  may  adopt  two  or  more  confessions  as  entitled  to  equal 
legal  recognition,  and  may  endow  or  support  faculties  to  teach  these  but 
no  others.  Thus,  in  Germany  the  same  State  often  equally  supports  a 
papal  and  a  Protestant  theological  faculty,  sometimes  in  the  same  univer- 
sity. Here  we  have  the  spectacle  of  a  State  unjustly  taxing  Romanists  to 
support  the  teaching  of  Protestantism,  and  unjustly  taxing  Protestants  to 
support  the  teaching  of  Romanism. 

3.  The  State  may  adopt  the  expedient  of  abolishing  in  all  its  universities 
the  theological  faculty.  This  has  been  done  in  Italy  and  some  other 
countries.  This  gives  us,  however,  not  a  university  in  any  high  and  com- 
prehensive sense,  but  a  headless  torso,  a  fragmentary  institution,  voiceless 
and  forceless  touching  the  highest  truths  and  interests  known  to  man. 
The  universities  organized  by  several  of  the  States  in  our  American 
Union,  admirable  as  they  are  in  some  things,  suffer  one  and  all  from  this 
same  incurable  defect. 

4.  The  State  may  squarely  plant  itself  upon  atheistic  ground,  organizing 
and  administering  its  universities  on  the  principle  of  opposition  to  all 
religion.  This  surely  is  not  the  leadership  needed  to  bring  the  world  to 
perfection. 

From  the  State,  then,  we  must  turn  away,  if  we  seek  the  true  world- 
leadership  in  the  realm  of  the  higher  education.  In  2:)roportion  as  in  its 
universities  any  State  aims  simply  to  train  men  for  various  departments  of 
its  civil  service,  it  is  giving  to  its  universities  a  merely  technological 
character.  On  the  other  hand,  the  moment  it  taxes  its  subjects  for  the 
])urpose  of  teaching  any  thing  profounder,  particularly  any  religion  or 
religions  of  its  own  establishing,  it  is  transcending  its  just  powers  and 
authority  as  a  State. 


374 


EDUCATION. 


At  this  point  appears  a  new  claimant — the  Roman  Catholic  hierarchy. 
This  insistently  asserts  that  to  it  alone  belongs  the  rightful  authority  to 
teach.  It  offers  to  lead  the  world  into  all  truth  and  into  all  ideals  of 
human  culture,  even  the  highest.  For  one  I  have  no  disposition  to  deny 
that  this  great  Church  has  certain  features  peculiarly  adapting  her  to 
lead  men  in  her  own  ways  and  toward  her  own  ideals.  But  I  cannot  for- 
get that  the  Christian  world  has  tried  her  leadership — tried  it  many  a  long 
century— and  that  the  result  has  been  far  from  satisfactory.  Wherever 
she  has  been  given  full  scope,  men  have  found  a  priestly  domination  of 
the  State,  popular  illiteracy,  social  degradation.  For  this  reason  the 
foremost  nations  of  the  modern  world  have  repudiated  not  only  her 
methods,  but  even  her  very  ideals. 

To  whom,  then,  shall  we  turn  ?  To  what  other  body,  or  group  of 
bodies,  can  the  world  look  for  the  needed  service  ?  Not  to  the  State 
Churches  of  Protestant  Europe,  nor  to  any  one  of  them.  Ko  one  of  them 
is  unhampered  by  State  limitations.  As  a  group  they  have  no  organs  of 
common  action.  They  are  even  antagonistic  in  important  principles  and 
teachings.  They  may  severally  do  something  for  national  ideals  and 
national  achievements,  but  precisely  that  which  best  qualifies  them  for 
effective  service  in  the  develojjment  of  a  distinct  nationality  usually  dis- 
qualifies them  for  leadership  in  that  higher  and  broader  realm  of  general 
culture  wherein  there  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  barbarian  nor  Scythian, 
bond  nor  free.  In  this  realm  we  need  a  leadership  unaffected  by  national 
antijjathies,  unsuspected  of  international  intrigue,  independent  of  political 
boundaries. 

Turning,  then,  from  the  State  and  from  all  State  establishments,  papal 
or  Protestant,  we  must  look  to  the  great  free  Churches  of  Christendom  to 
teach  the  world  those  ideals  of  lofty  character  which  it  is  the  task  of  the 
higher  education  to  realize.  These  bodies  are  free  to  study  the  problem 
of  developing  mkn  irrespective  of  their  present  or  prospective  political 
allegiance,  and  irrespective  of  the  infallible  decrees  of  fallible  councils  in 
ancient  ages.  Moreover,  in  the  forefront  of  these  free  Churches  stand 
the  communions  here  officially  or  otherwise  represented.  These  constitute 
ecumenical  Methodism.  Not  all  of  them  bear  the  Methodistic  name,  but 
all  of  them  love  and  fraternally  honor  it  wherever  borne.  And  looking  at 
ecumenical  Methodism  in  this  comprehensive  acceptation,  I  do  not  see 
how  any  one  can  hesitate  to  say  that  to  it  God  has  graciously  given  a  pre- 
eminent adaptation  to  lead  the  world  in  the  field  of  university  education. 
This  adaptation  is  seen  in  a  multitude  of  particulars,  no  one  of  which  can 
at  this  time  be  adequately  treated,  and  but  a  few  of  which  can  even  be 
named.     I  will  barely  enumerate: 

First,  Methodist  anthropology.  The  Methodist  doctrine  of  human 
nature,  and  of  its  earthly  possibilities  under  grace,  is  sharply  distinguished 
from  that  of  every  other  Christian  communion.  While  other  Churches 
deny,  we  affirm,  that  a  soul  corrupted  and  paralyzed  in  sin  may  yet  in 
this  life  be  made  perfectly  pure,  and  may  further  unfold  its  powers  in 
purity.     While  Romanism,  Lutheranism,  and  Calvinism  agree  in  denying 


ADDRESS    OF   REV.    W,    F.    WARREN,  375 

the  possibility  of  a  personally  guiltless  infancy  even  under  the  covenant 
of  grace,  Methodism  rejoicingly  affirms  both  the  possibility  and  the  actu- 
ality. We  even  hold  that  under  the  provisions  of  Christ's  mediation  the 
guiltless  development  of  every  nevf-born  soul  is  brought  within  the  range 
of  human  and  divine  possibility.  The  immense  theological  significance 
of  these  views  has  long  been  recognized,  but  their  equally  immense 
pedagogical  significance  has  remained  as  yet  almost  totally  unconsidered. 

A  second  characteristic  qualifying  ecumenical  Methodism  for  educa- 
tional leadership  is  seen  in  its  exceptionally  cosmopolitan  spirit  and  aim. 
From  its  very  origin  Methodism  has  "wanted  the  earth  " — wanted  it  for 
Christ  and  Christian  culture.  Its  founder  had  nothing  of  the  provincial 
in  his  make-up.  He  was  as  confident  of  his  imperial  commission  in  the 
kingdom  of  God  as  he  was  of  his  citizenship  in  the  British  kingdom. 
Over  against  the  narrow  jurisdictions  of  mitered  and  unmitered  presbyters 
of  his  country  he  declared,  "The  world  is  my  parish. "  His  followers 
have  been  true  to  his  motto  and  true  to  his  spirit.  In  evangelization 
ecumenical  Methodism  has  achieved  world-leadership;  it  remains  to  do 
the  same  in  the  field  of  education. 

A  third  thing  adapting  ecumenical  Methodism  to  the  proposed  world- 
leadership  is  its  intelligent  grasp  of  vital  sociological  principles.  Meth- 
odism, far  better  than  any  political  State,  understands  the  unity,  per- 
manence, and  power  of  the  living  Church  of  Jesus  Christ.  On  the  other 
hand,  far  better  than  Romanism  does  she  know  the  rights  and  duties  of 
the  State.  Far  profounder  than  that  of  Lutheranism  is  her  conception  of 
the  relation  of  Christ  to  infancy  and  to  the  family.  Far  truer  than  that 
of  Calvinism  is  her  interpretation  of  freedom  and  of  law.  In  her  own 
bosom  from  the  beginning  has  she  marvelously  harmonized  the  sacred 
claims  of  the  individual  with  the  efficiency  of  the  mass.  "Whithersoever 
she  has  come  she  has  abolished  slavery  and  antagonized  caste.  She  has 
emancipated  woman  without  indignity  to  man.  More  than  any  other 
Christian  communion  is  she  giving  to  her  sons  and  daughters  equal  ad- 
vantages in  the  field  of  university  education.  The  first  woman's  college 
ever  incorporated  was  of  her  founding.  Having  shown  such  comprehen- 
sion of  the  needs  of  human  society,  and  such  capacity  to  deal  with  them, 
ecumenical  Methodism  may  well  be  trusted  to  wield  the  forces  that  shape 
the  social  future — the  forces  of  university  education. 

A  fourth  adaptation  for  this  providential  call  is  seen  in  the  numbers, 
the  pecuniary  resources,  and  the  geographical  distribution  of  ecumenical 
Methodism.  On  each  of  these  heads  it  would  be  interesting  to  enlarge, 
but  at  this  time  it  is  impossible. 

I  hasten,  therefore,  to  mention  as  a  fifth  and  final  qualification  for 
world-leadership  our  appreciation  of  the  divine  element  in  all  true  and 
lofty  education.  Here  is  room  for  a  sermon,  but  I  will  give  you  but  a 
single  sentence.  Man's  true  life  being  from  God  and  in  God  and  unto 
God,  all  culture-processes  which  recognize  and  utilize  this  fact  lay  hold 
of  aims  and  motives  and  forces  whose  constant  evolutionary  efficacy  and 
whose  successive  outcomes  transcend  all  finite  calculation. 


376  EDUCATION. 

Mr.  President,  fathers,  and  brethren,  have  I  summoned  you  to  an  im- 
possible work  ?  Nay,  you  dare  not  say  it.  You  know  too  well  that  with 
God  all  things  are  possible.  "What  he  has  wrought  by  us  already  is 
greater  than  would  be  this  crowning  honor.  Were  we  to  be  left  dependent 
on  our  own  resources  we  might  well  make  excuse.  But  we  are  not.  We 
are  workers  together  with  Him  to  whom,  belongs  the  world's  creatorship. 
With  him  world-leadership  in  the  education  of  bis  children  is  perfectly 
easy.  To  us  as  easily  a?  to  any  others  can  he  intrust  it,  provided  our 
faith  and  consecration  are  equal  to  the  call.  May  He  who  has  so  marvel- 
ously  preconformed  us  and  preadapted  us  to  this  commission  grant  also 
the  grace  for  its  early  fulfillment. 

The  Eev.  H.  W.  Horwill,  M.A.,  of    the  Bible  Christian 

Church,  opened  the  discussion  of  the  evening,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President  and  Brethren:  I  should  not  have  ventured,  as  one  of  the 
youngest  members  of  this  assembly,  to  make  any  claim  upon  its  patience 
but  for  the  belief  that  you  may  be  not  unwilling  to  hear  a  few  words  from 
a  son  of  the  university  in  which  Methodism  had  its  origin.  I  need  hardly 
remind  you  of  the  debt  which  Methodism  owes  to  Oxford.  If  the  fire 
came  at  the  meeting-house  in  Aldersgate  Street,  it  was  at  Christ  Church 
that  the  fuel  was  gathered  together.  May  I  call  attention  to  two  signifi- 
cant changes  which  have  marked  the  ten  years  since  the  previous  Ecu- 
menical Conference?  First,  there  has  been  manifest  in  academic  circles 
a  new  consciousness  of  the  national  mission  of  Oxford,  a  new  desire  to 
make  as  wide  as  possible  the  circvnuference  of  which  it  is  the  center.  Of 
this  I  will  quote  only  two  illustrations — the  university  extension  move- 
ment, which,  borrowing  the  system  of  the  itinerancy — whether  from  the 
modern  Methodists  or  from  the  ancient  Sophists  I  will  not  pause  to  dis- 
cuss— sends  up  and  down  the  country  apostles  of  culture  to  present  the 
results  of  finished  scholarship  in  language  understood  of  the  people; 
and  the  humanitarian  movement  of  practical  help  for  the  poor  and  op- 
pressed, which  built  Toynbee  Hall  in  the  East  End  of  London.  This 
democratizing  of  the  universities  is  an  unprecedented  opportunity  for  the 
free  Churches  of  England.  Secondly,  Non-conformity  is  beginning  to 
make  an  impression  on  the  theological  thought  of  the  university  which 
has  been  regarded  for  half  a  century  as  the  stronghold  of  mediasvalism. 
Last  year,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  Oxford,  a  theological  fellow- 
ship at  one  of  its  colleges  was  gained  l>y  a  Non-conformist.  My  friend 
Mr.  Peake,  who  won  this  high  distinction,  is  the  son  of  a  Primitive  Meth- 
odist minister,  and  has  made  no  secret  of  his  attachment  to  his  father's 
Church.  Mansfield  College,  under  Dr.  Fairbairn,  will  yet  deal  fatal  blows 
on  sacerdotalism  in  its  strongest  fortress  by  means  of  its  own  vaunted 
weapon  of  historical  research.  Now,  Methodists  have  generally  fought 
shy  of  Oxford,  and  there  is  something  to  be  said  for  the  fear  that  its  at- 
mosphere is  dangerous.  In  spite  of  the  efforts  of  a  few  evangelical  rec- 
tors the  most  powerful  sections  of  the  Church  whose  influence  there  is 
overwhelming  are  that  which  teaches  that  the  Church  is  the  clergy  and 
that  which  teaches  that  the  Church  is  the  world.  From  the  university 
pulpit  is  heard  such  a  medley  of  discordant  views — the  preacher  of  the 
afternoon  not  seldom  contradicting  on  fundamental  questions  his  brother 
of  the  morning — that  it  is  easy  to  sympathize  with  a  former  verger  of  St. 
Mary's  who  is  reported  to  have  said  to  Bishop  Samuel  Wilberforce,  "My 
Lord,  I  have  heard  every  university  sermon  for  forty  years,  and  thank  God 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  377 

I  am  a  Christian  still."  But  my  own  observation  emboldens  me  to  say 
th:it  most  of  the  children  of  Methodist  homes  who  abandon  Methodism 
while  at  Oxford  abandon  it  on  the  first  day  of  the  lirst  week  of  their  first 
term.  They  make  a  complete  surrender  before  a  shot  has  been  fired 
against  them.  You  cannot  attribute  to  the  influence  of  university  culture 
defections  which  occur  before  Oxford  has  had  time  to  make  any  impres- 
sion save  that  of  the  amazing  disorder  of  its  railway  station. 

I  appeal  to  you  then,  if  you  remember  your  obligations  to  Oxford,  not 
to  leave  to  Congregationalists  and  Unitarians  the  work  of  pulling  down 
the  barriers  of  clerical  intolerance  that  still  obstruct  the  access  of  Metliod- 
ists,  as  well  as  of  other  Non-conformists,  to  degrees  and  posts  of  honor  in 
the  theological  faculty.  Send  to  the  universities  select  preachers — schol- 
arlj^  if  possible,  but  at  any  rate  earnest  and  powerful — men  who,  like  Canon 
Liddon,  are  not  afraid  to  make  an  appeal  to  the  noblest  emotions,  not  men 
who  dabble  most  in  philosophy,  for  during  six  days  of  the  week  under- 
graduates have  in  their  class-rooms  as  much  philosophy  as  they  care  for 
and  probably  more  philosophical  philosophy  than  they  are  likely  to  hear 
from  the  pulpit.  It  is  an  utter  mistake  to  suppose  that  they  ask  for  phil- 
osophical dissertations.  They  will  not  listen  to  Dr.  Dryasdust,  but  they 
will  go  in  crow^ds  to  hear  Mr.  Moody.  Encourage  by  financial  assistance 
where  it  is  needed  young  Methodists  of  the  best  type,  especially  candi- 
dates for  the  ministry,  to  widen  their  symiiathies,  as  well  as  develop  their 
minds,  by  contact  with  the  great  main  currents  of  cultivated  English  life. 
As  long  as  the  doors  of  the  ancient  national  universities  were  closed  in  our 
faces  Non-conformists  had  to  s^t  their  hicrher  education  from  denom- 
inational  seminaries,  or  not  at  all.  Now  that  these  doors  are  open  let  us 
walk  in ;  being  assured  by  the  example  of  our  founder  that  it  is  possible 
to  blend  refined  scholarship  with  simple  faith  and  fervent  zeal,  that  there 
is  a  devotion  which  is  not  the  daughter  of  ignorance. 

The  Rev.  David  Brook,  M.A.,  B.C.L.,  of  the  United  Meth- 
odist Free  Church,  made  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President  :  Methodism  in  England  has  never  yet  taken  its  true 
position  in  regard  to  university  education.  In  that  country  we  have  an- 
cient national  universities,  with  enormous  endowments,  with  priceless 
personal  and  historical  associations,  in  one  of  which  our  founder  was  edu- 
cated and  our  Church  received  its  name.  They  are  the  universities,  not 
of  a  sect,  but  of  the  whole  people,  and  as  Methodists  we  claim,  and  shall 
claim,  a  much  larger  part  in  them  than  is  represented  by  the  two  per  cent, 
which  is  our  present  contribution  to  their  students. 

Since  the  abolition  of  religious  tests  they  have  been  made  accessible  to 
the  sons  of  the  wealthy  Methodists,  and  by  means  of  scholarships  to  those 
of  only  moderate  circumstances.  It  would  be  well  if  our  ministers  would 
cultivate  a  knowledge  of  available  scholarships  as  complete  as  that  which 
clergymen  usually  possess,  and  a  larger  share  of  them  would  certainly  fall 
among  Methodist  young  men.  To-day  some  of  our  richest  and  some  of 
our  cleverest  young  men  are  to  be  found  in  the  universities. 

But  what  becomes  of  them  then?  Some  of  them  we  retain.  They  be- 
come useful  members  and  ministers  of  our  churches.  But  some  of  them 
— far  too  many — we  loose.  Rev.  R.  F.  Horton,  of  Hampstead,  formerly 
Fellow  of  New,  stated  in  a  pamphlet  on  Non-conformity  and  Oxford  Uni- 
versity that  the  abolition  of  religious  tests  at  the  universities  has  been  of 
splendid  service  to  the  Church  of  England,  for  it  has  enabled  that  com- 
munion to  gather  into  its  fold  many  of  the  wealthiest  and  cleverest  of  ihe 
sons  of  Non-conformity.     And  how?    Why? 

Not  because  our  young  men  have  been  convinced  by  arguments  from 


378 


EDUCATION. 


the  other  side— very  rarely  is  this  the  case ;  not  by  the  exercise  of  direst 
pressure,  for  of  this  there  is  happily  very  little ;  but  because  of  the  very 
atmosphere  of  the  place,  because  of  the  appeals  to  the  imaijination,  to  the 
sense  of  beauty,  of  harmony,  of  grandeur,  and,  above  all,'  because  of  the 
social  advantages  which  all  that  is  of  the  Church  of  England  enjoys.  It 
is  futile  to  blame  the  Church  of  England  for  this.  The  influences  which 
that  Church  exerts  with  most  effect  are  those  which  it  exerts  uncon- 
sciously. Besides,  a  large  body  like  the  Church  of  England  is  not  unnat- 
urally impatient  of  the  existence  of  smaller  bodies.  It  sees  no  sufficient 
reason  for  their  existence,  any  more  than  the  large  Wesleyan  Connection 
can  understand  the  reason  for  the  existence  of  the  smaller  Methodist 
bodies. 

Now,  how  are  we  to  meet  difficulties  so  formidable?  We  try  to  meet 
them  by  strengthening  our  Churches  in  university  cities,  by  establishing 
special  guilds  for  Methodist  under-graduates,  and  the  like.  All  this  is 
wise,  is  necessary,  but  is  insufficient.  "By  no  method  but  by  the  heartiest  and 
fullest  co-operation  of  all  Methodists  for  this  object  can  we  secure  it.  Just 
as  the  smaller  Methodist  bodies  united  would  be  well-nigh  as  strong  as 
the  Wesleyans,  and  would  compel  a  fuller  recognition  by  them,  so  all  Meth- 
odists united  would  compel  the  recognition  of  an  imposing  position  for 
the  sons  of  their  faith  in  the  university  of  their  founder.  Social  recogni- 
tion and  position  are  not  to  be  gained  by  being  sought,  but  are  to  be  com- 
manded by  wealth,  by  numbers,  by  power,  by  excellence.  As  Methodists 
we  shall  command  them  when  united ;  divided,  we  never  can. 

Tlie  Rev.  S.  N.  Fellows,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  spoke  as  follows: 

Mr.  President :  I  wish  to  talk  a  little  in  regard  to  the  attitude  of  the 
Methodist  Church  for  State  education  in  this  country.  State  universities 
are  a  fact.  From  Washington  and  Jefferson  until  now  it  has  been  the 
policy  of  the  State  to  have  universities,  and  large  tracts  of  the  public 
domain  have  been  set  apart  to  support  those  institutions.  What  should  be 
the  attitude  of  the  Churches  toward  these  State  institutions  which  are  in 
our  midst,  and  will  remain  in  our  midst  so  long  as  the  government  stands? 

It  seems  to  me  here  is  a  vital  question.  We  may  maintain  an  attitude  of 
indifference  or  hostility  to  some  extent.  What  is  the  result  of  that?  If 
we  withhold  our  sympathy,  our  support,  of  these  State  institutions,  we  can 
claim  no  right  in  the  management  of  its  faculty,  or,  in  fact,  hand  them 
over  to  the  Christian  forces  for  control.  Is  this  wise  in  our  attitude 
toward  these  State  institutions?  By  some  they  are  regarded  as  rivals  of  the 
denominational  colleges.  You  cannot  understand  this?  It  is  for  this  rea- 
son :  both  State  and  denominational  colleges  in  the  United  States  at  the 
present  time,  as  shown  by  statistics,  graduate  only  one  half  of  one  per  cent, 
of  the  young  men  of  our  country.  We  only  graduate  one  out  of  two  hun- 
dred. So  that  there  is  no  chance  for  rivalry ;  there  is  work  for  both  classes. 
Not  only  are  they  not  rivals,  in  my  judgment,  but  they  are  helpful  to  each 
other.  The  State  institution,  as  in  the  newer  States  west,  in  the  Missis- 
sippi valley,  have  larger  faculties,  and  they  compel  the  Churches  to  main- 
tain a  higher  position  in  their  colleges.  The  State  raises  its  universities 
in  the  point  of  moral  character,  and  this  is  a  stimulus  to  the  denominational 
colleges.  While  we  should  maintain  our  denominational  colleges,  we 
ought  to  give  to  the  State  institutions  siifficient  support,  that  we  may  be 
represented  in  their  faculties  and  assist  in  their  control,  and  so  hold  these 
State  institutions  for  Christ.     I  believe  it  is  within  our  power  to  do  this. 

I  wish  to  make  another  statement  in  regard  to  the  schools  in  America. 
I  have  had  some  opportunity  for  inquiry  and  investigation,  and  I  have 


GENEEAL    REMARKS.  379 

learned  this  and  submitted  it  to  the  Western  States  and  those  in  authority. 
The  teachers  in  our  public  schools  are  Christian  men  and  women.  The 
educational  forces,  therefore,  are  chiefly  in  the  hands  of  Christians.  More 
than  that,  I  have  investigated  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  what  per- 
centage of  pupils  come  from  Christian  families  in  the  various  grades  of 
schools.  In  my  State,  Iowa,  twenty-five  per  cent,  came  from  Christian 
families.  In  the  grammar  school  fifty  per  cent,  came  from  Christian  fam- 
ilies. In  the  high-school  one  hundred  per  cent,  came  from  Christian 
families.  This  ratio  will  not  hold  in  all  the  other  States;  but  the  law  is 
that  the  higher  the  grade  of  schools  the  larger  the  attendance  of  members 
of  Christian  families.  So  that  we  have  this  fact — the  educational  forces 
of  the  country  are  in  the  hands  of  Christian  men  and  women,  and  the 
results  flow  into  Christian  families.  And  we  ought  to  maintain  the  sup- 
port of  the  public  schools  from  the  bottom  to  the  top.  As  Christians  we 
should  support  the  denominational  schools,  and  as  citizens  we  should  give 
our  support  to  State  schools. 

H,  W.  Rogers,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
continued  the  discussion  of  the  subject  under  consideration, 
making  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President  and  Brothers  of  the  Conference :  It  was  my  fortune  for  a 
time  to  be  connected  with  the  largest  State  imiversity  in  this  country,  and 
I  may  say,  at  the  same  time,  the  largest  university  in  America ;  and  inas- 
much as  State  institutions  have  been  brought  before  the  Conference,  I 
wish  to  use  that  subject  as  the  introduction  to  the  few  words  I  have  to 
say.  At  the  time  I  was  connected  with  the  institution  to  which  I  refer 
there  were  no  less  than  five  hundred  Methodist  students  in  that  university 
— a  secular  institution  that  had  the  Methodist  institution  within  its  bor- 
ders. Bishop  Simpson,  in  the  Conference  which  was  held  in  the  city  of 
Baltimore,  stated  it  to  be  his  private  conviction  that  there  was  no  more 
important  question  before  the  Methodist  Church  to-day  than  the  educa- 
tional question.  I  believe  profoundly  in  the  truth  of  that  remark.  The 
paramount  duty  of  the  Church  to-day  is  to  strengthen  its  educational  in- 
stitutions. Looking  into  the  faces  of  the  ministers  and  laymen  here  pres- 
ent, I  cannot  forego  the  opportunity  to  say  one  word  which  may  not  be 
laudatory,  but  which  should  be  spoken.  It  should  be  the  object  of  the 
Methodist  Church — the  oldest  and  largest  Church  in  America — to  build 
up  and  strengthen  its  educational  institutions  until  their  libraries,  their 
museums,  their  laboratories,  their  studies,  are  as  broadly  provided  for  as 
in  the  case  of  similar  institutions  anywhere  in  the  country.  But  the  fact 
is,  we  occupy  a  lamentable  position  in  the  world.  There  is  Harvard 
University,  with  its  eleven  millions  of  dollars;  Columbia,  in  New  York, 
with  eleven  millions  of  dollars ;  and  Cornell  and  Princeton,  with  I  do  not 
know  how  many  millions  of  dollars ;  and  yet  the  educational  institution 
of  the  Methodists  which  has  the  largest  endowment  has  no  more  than 
three  millions  of  dollars ;  and  that  institution  is  expected  to  do  as  broad 
and  extensive  work  as  is  done  elsewhere.  That  is  utterly  impossible.  If 
the  Methodist  youth  of  the  country  are  to  be  educated  in  Methodist  insti- 
tutions, then  we  appeal  to  you  to  give  us  the  money  which  will  enable  us 
to  broaden  our  courses  and  do  the  work  that  is  being  done  elsewhere. 
That  is  one  point  that  I  wished  to  make. 

Another  point  is  that  the  time  has  come  in  the  history  of  Methodism 
when  we  should  stop  multiplying  colleges.  The  fact  which  strikes  for- 
eigners with  the  most  surprise  is  that  when  they  come  to  this  country 
they  find  four  hundred  collegiate  institutions  between  the  Atlantic  and 


380  EDUCATION. 

the  Pacific.  Germauy,  with  its  fifty  millions  of  people,  has  but  twenty- 
four;  France,  witli  its  forty  millions  of  people,  has  but  fifteen.  "Why,  my 
friends,  in  the  State  from  which  I  come,  which  has  less  than  four  millions 
of  people,  we  have  twenty-five  of  the  so-called  .colleges.  For  our  four 
millions  of  people  we  have  more  colleges  than  has  Germany  for  its  fifty 
millions  of  people.  We  cannot  continue  multiplying  colleges  and  do  the 
work  which  it  is  expected  we  should  do.  If  we  do  we  defeat  our  own 
object,  because  we  have  only  so  much  money  which  we  can  use  for  educa- 
tional purposes. 

The  Eev.  J.  S.  Simon,  of  the  Wesleyan  Metliodist  Church, 
spoke  as  follows  on  the  subject  under  discussion  : 

Mr.  President:  On  the  chair  in  which  you  sit  the  lines  are  carved: 

"  Unite  the  pair  so  long  disjoined, 
Knowledge  and  vital  piety." 

Those  lines  are  taken  from  a  hymn  which  was  written  for  Kingswood 
School.  For  a  century  and  a  half  that  school  has  evidenced  the  interest 
which  the  Wesleyan  Methodists  have  taken  in  the  subject  of  the  higher 
education  of  their  boys.  Having  been  the  secretary  of  the  governing  body 
of  that  school  for  seven  years,  I  may  be  permitted  to  speak  on  the  subject 
that  is  before  us.  It  has  been  suggested  that  we  ought  to  know  that 
there  are  many  scholarships  which  are  ojjen  to  us  at  the  English  universi- 
ties. Kingswood  has  been  aware  of  that  fact  for  a  long  time.  We  have 
sent  in  many  of  our  boys  for  these  scholarships,  and  they  have  carried 
them  oil  in  large  numbers.  Our  Kingswood  boys  rank  high  at  the  uni- 
versities. They  have  secured  the  senior  wrangler's  place  in  the  Cambridge 
mathematical  trijjos  on  two  occasions  in  recent  years,  and  they  have  often 
gained  high  places  in  the  same  tripos.  The  master  of  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge,  when  speaking  at  the  Leys  School — a  school  which  is  another 
evidence  of  our  zeal  in  the  cause  of  education — said  that  Kingswood  is  well- 
known  at  the  university.  He  might  well  say  so.  Among  the  fellows  of 
Trinity  Kingswood  boys  are  conspicuous  at  the  present  time.  We  have 
no  difficulty  in  obtaining  admission  to  our  English  universities.  We  are, 
however,  confronted  with  a  serious  problem.  Is  it  possible  for  us  to  re- 
tain our  hold  upon  the  men  who  go  up  to  the  universities  ?  Can  we  pre- 
serve their  connection  with  the  Methodist  Church  ?  I  am  of  the  opinion 
that  Methodism,  when  properly  understood,  is  pre-eminently  suited  to  an 
intellectual  and  cviltured  man.  Its  creed  is  liberal.  When  visiting  Cam- 
bridge some  months  ago  I  was  asked  to  read  a  paper  before  the  Wesley 
Society,  which  is  composed  of  graduates  and  under-graduates  of  the  uni- 
versity. I  selected  as  my  subject,  "The  Broad  Churchmanship  of  John 
Wesley."  I  proved,  at  least  to  my  own  satisfaction,  that  John  Wesley 
was  not  a  high  churchman.  Having  showed  that  he  was  not  a  low  church- 
man the  conclusion  was  inevitable.  I  believe  that  John  Wesley  was  a 
broad  churchman  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word.  I  admire  the  breadth  of 
the  Methodist  creed.  We  insist  uiDon  those  essential  truths  of  Christianity 
which  concern  the  salvation  of  men,  and  we  allow  a  large  liberty  of  think- 
ing upon  all  speculative  questions.  I  am  convinced  that  this  is  the  only 
safe  position  for  a  Church  to  assume.  It  is  no  use  to  teach  dogmatically 
views  which  cannot  stand  the  test  of  modern  criticism.  Then,  in  addition, 
Methodism  is  adapted  to  cultured  men,  inasmuch  as  it  finds  them  work 
to  do.  A  friend  of  mine  once  said,  "  I  always  feel  most  orthodox  when  I 
am  hardest  at  work. "  That  is  true.  In  the  presence  of  the  sin,  the  sorrow^ 
the  actual  suffering  of  the  world,  we  have  not  much  time  for  dreaming. 
We  find  that  certain  truths — those  truths  which  center  in  the  cross  of 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  381 

Christ — have  power  to  lift  the  load  from  the  conscience,  to  change  char- 
acter, to  soothe  the  multiplied  sorrows  of  society.  Our  refuge  from  our 
own  doubts  is  in  hard  work  for  the  rescue  and  salvation  of  men.  The 
compactness  and  efficiency  of  the  Methodist  creed  commend  it  to  the 
acceptance  of  cultured  men. 

I  should  like  to  add  a  word  on  the  higher  education  of  women.  Twenty 
years  ago  I  wrote  an  article  in  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Magazbie  on  this 
subject,  predicting  its  course  and  its  results.  Glancing  over  that  article 
the  other  day,  I  found  that  almost  all  its  predictions  have  been  fulfilled. 
I  have  no  time  to  describe  the  change  which  has  come  over  the  English 
mind  in  respect  of  the  higher  education  of  women,  but  I  wish  to  hear 
testimony  to  the  striking  and  complete  character  of  that  change. 

The  Hon.  J.  D.  Taylor,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
made  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President :  Almost  always  when  a  subject  of  this  kind  is  announced 
for  public  discussion  the  friends  of  the  measure  are  extravagant  in  their 
claims.  We  have  heard  a  good  deal  to-night  in  regard  to  the  great  uni- 
versities. While  I  would  not  detract  from  the  value  of  these  great  insti- 
tutions of  learning,  I  think  this  discussion  attaches  too  much  value  to  the 
larger  institutions  and  too  little  value  to  the  schools  of  a  lower  grade.  My 
friend  who  has  just  taken  his  seat  says  that  he  wants  fewer  colleges ;  he 
wants  them  concentrated  as  they  are  in  Germany — only  a  few  colleges  for 
the  millions.  I  do  not  believe  in  this  doctrine.  I  thank  God  to-day  that 
we  have  as  many  colleges  as  we  have.  They  are  all  over  this  broad  land, 
on  every  hill-side,  and  in  every  valley,  and  in  nearly  every  town  and  vil- 
lage. That,  my  friends,  is  why  the  American  people  are  so  rapidly  becom- 
ing an  educated  people. 

I  admired  that  part  of  one  of  the  addresses  which  said  that  one  hundred 
and  fifty  men  were  enough  for  a  college.  I  should  like  to  take  the  gradu- 
ates of  all  our  small  country  colleges  and  stand  them  up  in  a  row  along- 
side of  your  university  graduates.  Look  over  this  audience ;  look  over 
the  pulpits  of  America ;  look  at  the  bar  and  bench,  every-where,  and  you 
will  find  the  graduates  of  these  small  colleges  occupying  the  highest  places. 
Why,  a  rail-splitter  who  never  saw  the  inside  of  a  university  occupied  the 
White  House  and  left  his  impress  upon  the  world — a  boy  who  followed 
the  canal  path,  graduated  at  an  ordinary  college,  and  yet  his  fame  has 
gone  around  the  world.  Tell  me,  if  you  will,  of  the  graduates  of  these 
great  schools,  these  mammoth  universities,  where  hundreds  and  thousands 
of  men  are  gathered  together.  Are  they  the  men  who  are  moving  the 
world,  molding  public  sentiment,  governing  empires  and  republics  ? 

O,  my  friend,  this  will  not  do.  I  am  for  the  small  colleges  built  on 
the  hill-side.  I  am  for  these  colleges  that  come  close  to  the  people.  The 
trouble  with  these  large  universities  is  that  the  graduates  have  so  little 
practical  knowledge.  I  was  told  by  my  friend  sitting  here  that  one  of 
these  graduates  in  his  city  rented  his  house,  and  that  he  came  to  him  and 
told  him  that  the  house  was  leaking — that  it  was  full  of  water.  He  had 
left  the  trap-door  in  the  roof  open,  and  he  did  not  know  enough  to  shut 
it.  He  came  back  in  a  day  or  two  and  said  his  house  was  cold,  and  the 
owner  of  the  house  went  up — •     (Here  the  time  expired.) 

Mr.   Thomas  Snape,    C.C,  of  the  United  Methodist   Free 

Church,  continued  the  discussion,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  The  necessity  for  higher  education  is  universally  con- 
ceded.    The  practical  question  for  us,  especially  in  Great  Britain,  is  how 


382  EDUCATION. 

it  can  be  obtained  without  losing  our  cleverest  young  people.  We  have 
no  denominational  degree-granting  colleges  in  our  country,  as  it  would  be 
impossible  for  us  to  obtain  from  the  government  a  charter  for  such  a  col- 
lege. In  my  opinion  one  of  the  most  undesirable  things  would  be  such  a 
denominational  degree-granting  college.  The  higher  education  in  our 
country  is  valued  according  to  the  source  from  which  the  degree  is  ob- 
tained ;  and  if  we  had  only  sectarian  colleges  the  degree  would  be  re- 
garded as  of  the  smallest  weight.  It  has  been  found  there,  and  I  doubt 
not  it  is  so  here,  that  the  true  solution  of  the  question  is  not  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  new  universities,  but  in  making  the  best  use  of  existing  uni- 
versities. At  Mansfield  students  receive  theological  training  and  attend 
the  art  and  science  courses,  taking  their  decree  on  examination.  The 
London  University  is  the  largest  university  in  the  world.  Victoria,  in 
Lancashire,  is  growing  in  favor.  In  the  Victoria  LTniversity  there  is  rag- 
ing a  controversy  as  to  the  establishment  of  a  theological  chair.  I  hope 
it  will  rest  where  it  is;  that  the  advocates  of  the  theological  chair  will 
be  defeated.  The  reason  for  it  is  this :  All  the  colleges  around  Manchester 
affiliated  with  Victoria  give  theological  instruction,  while  the  students 
go  to  the  university  for  their  instruction  in  the  arts  and  sciences.  The 
Quakers  have  established  such  an  institution ;  the  Baptists  and  the  Meth- 
odist Free  Church  have  done  the  same;  and  Didsbury  College  sends  her 
students  to  another  college  for  training.  A  student  can  say,  "I  obtained 
my  degree  in  theology  from  a  denominational  college,  and  my  degree  for  the 
arts  and  sciences  from  the  university;  but  I  obtained  it  as  other  students 
do — by  the  Severest  examination."  And  thus  the  degree  in  our  country 
becomes  one  of  the  highest  value.  The  man  who  possesses  a  degree  from 
Oxford,  Victoria,  and  especially  from  London,  has  a  passport  of  great 
value,  because  of  the  satisfactory  character  of  the  learning  he  has  acquired. 

The  Kev.  E.  H.  Dewart,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
Canada,  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  I  think  some  of  the  remarks  made  to-night  in  the  ad- 
dresses and  papers  seemed  to  assume  that  unless  education  shall  be 
carried  on  by  organized  effort  of  the  Church  no  sound  religious  train- 
ing can  be  acquired.  I  think  this  is  assuming  too  much.  I  think  some 
of  the  arguments  used,  if  carried  out  to  their  logical  sequence,  would  lead 
to  the  complete  overthrow  of  a  united  school  system,  and  result  in  the 
establishment  of  a  general  system  of  sectarian  schools.  In  a  country 
where  the  overwhelming  portion  of  the  ])opulation  is  Christian  I  do  not 
see  why  Christianity  cannot  be  represented  in  the  educational  institutions. 

Another  serious  thought  which  has  been  pjtrtily  referred  to.  We  owe 
something  to  the  public  institutions  of  the  country,  and  by  withdrawing 
ourselves  from  any  of  these  institutions  two  evils  are  the  consequence : 
we  deprive  ourselves  of  advantages  that  we  might  otherwise  possess,  and 
we  deprive  these  institutions  of  the  Christian  influence  that  we  have  a 
right  to  expect  would  be  exerted  upon  them  by  the  Church  connecting 
itself  with  them.  I  do  not  think  if  there  are  wrong  things  taught 
in  any  of  these  public  institutions  that  we  escape  the  danger  by  merely 
withdrawing  and  keeping  ourselves  apart.  These  ideas  are  propagated 
through  other  channels,  whether  we  teach  them  or  not.  And  I  think  the 
very  fact  that  large  numbers  of  our  Methodist  and  Christian  children  are 
in  these  institutions  should  make  us  feel  an  interest  in  their  character,  and 
if  they  are  not  right,  if  their  teaching  is  not  right,  we  should  rally  the 
Christian  elements  of  the  community  round  them,  and  make  them  right. 
For,  certainly,  if  we  do  not  owe  them  something  patrioticiilly  we  owe 
them  our  Christian  influence.     And  if  we  as  Christians  talk  about  draw- 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  383 

ing  nearer  together,  talk  about  uniting,  receiving  the  Presbyterians  that 
they  may  make  us  believe  and  we  make  them  believe  that  we  are  one — if 
we  have  brotherly  love  and  Christianity  enough  to  unite  in  other  work, 
why  cannot  we  unite  in  educational  work? 

The  Kev.  "William  Gibson,  B.A.,  of  tlie  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  made  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President :  I  remember  that  when  I  was  quite  a  child  a  picture  of 
John  Wesley  impresseti  me  very  much,  from  the  fact  that  underneath  was 
written,  "John  Wesley,  student  of  Christ  Church  and  Fellow  of  Lincoln 
College."  I  wanted  myself  to  be  a  student  of  Christ  Church  and  a  Fellow 
of  Lincoln  College !  But  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  go  to  Oxford.  I 
thank  God  all  those  hinderances  are  things  of  the  past,  and  that  Method- 
ists can  go  to  those  ancient  seats  of  learning. 

The  brother  who  spoke  this  evening  said  that  there  were  only  fifteen 
universities  in  France  as  comi)ared  with  a  larger  number  in  America.  He 
did  not  take  into  account  the  different  character  of  the  universities  in  that 
country.  The  Universities  of  Paris  and  Padua  are  the  oldest  universities 
in  the  world,  and  there  is  a  question  between  the  two  as  to  which  is  the 
older.  And  of  all  the  universities  in  the  world  I  do  not  believe  any  af- 
ford the  opportunities  presented  by  the  University  of  Paris.  I  desire  to 
submit  a  question  which  has  always  been  a  question  of  interest  to  me.  I 
think  we  ought,  as  Methodists,  to  try  to  capture,  those  old  universities.  I 
suppose  the  money  in  those  universities  does  not  belong  to  the  Church  of 
England,  but  to  the  English  nation.  There  are  three  questions  which  I 
wish  to  answer.  Can  a  man,  first  of  all,  go  to  these  seats  of  learning  and 
maintain  his  evangelistic  zeal  ?  I  thank  God  we  have  instances  in  our 
ministry  to  show  that  a  man  may  go  there  and  attain  a  high  place  in  Ox- 
ford and  maintain  his  evangelistic  zeal.  If  the  going  to  Oxford  should 
lead  to  the  loss  of  his  evangelistic  zeal,  I  would  say.  Do  not  let  him  go 
there.  But  such  need  not  be  the  case.  Instead,  however,  of  losing  zeal, 
it  is  often  increased  by  a  residence  in  such  a  university  as  that  of  Oxford. 

Then  another  question  that  daily  confronts  us.  Can  a  man  go  to  the 
old  universities  and  remain  a  true,  a  real  Methodist?  I  thank  God  he  can. 
Although  I  was  not  permitted  to  go  to  Oxford  I  have  been  able  to  send 
my  oldest  son.  He  is  a  faithful  attendant  at  the  Methodist  church  there. 
I  was  informed  that  there  was  no  one  more  attentive  to  the  Methodist 
class-meeting  than  my  son. 

Another  question  which  I  wish  to  ask  is  this :  Can  a  man  go  to  Oxford 
and  maintain  his  simple  faith  ?  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  say  that  he  can. 
You  have  instances  in  the  Methodist  ministry  to  prove  this.  Then  I  say 
to  the  Methodist  world,  Let  us  have  our  proportion  of  Methodists,  sent 
from  all  parts  of  the  world,  who  can  maintain  the  highest  distinctions  in 
learning  and  yet  remain  faithful  to  Methodism  and  true  to  the  Christian 
faith. 

The  Kev.  D.  McKinley,  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church, 

•concluded  the  evening  discussion  in  the  following  words : 

Mr.  President :  I  have  only  a  few  words  to  say  on  the  subject  under  con- 
sideration. A  great  change  has  taken  place  in  the  Oxford  University  in 
recent  years.  This  change  is  seen  in  the  provisions  of  the  university  ex- 
tension scheme,  and  there  may  be  added  the  fact  of  the  election  to  a  fel- 
lowship of  Mr.  Peake,  who  is  a  Primitive  Methodist,  and  who  is  laying 
his  great  gifts  of  learning  and  grace  on  the  altars  of  his  own  Church  as  a 
lay  preacher.     We  have  in  our  theological  institute  at  Manchester  stu- 


384  EDUCATION. 

dents  who  are  taking  advantage  of  their  residence  there  to  attend  Owens 
College.  We  have  done  something  to  favor  our  young  men,  especially 
those  who  are  candidates  for  our  ministry.  We  have  a  young  man  study- 
ing at  Oxford  now,  Mr.  Taylor,  the  son  of  one  of  our  ministers  in  the 
north  of  England,  and  our  Conference  two  years  ago  decided  that  when 
he  has  finished  his  college  curriculum  he  shall  enter  into  our  full  min- 
istry, thus  removing  in  his  case  the  necessity  of  a  probation — those  four 
foreboding  years  which  form  the  portals  to  the  full  accredited  position  of 
a  minister  of  the  Methodist  Church.  If  such  an  inducement  as  this  was 
to  become  common  in  all  branches  of  the  Methodist  Church,  it  is  very 
probable  that  more  of  the  candidates  for  the  ministry  would  be  drawn  to 
take  the  advantages  of  such  universities  as  Oxford. 

The  doxology  was  sung,  and  the  Conference  adjourned  with 
the  benediction  by  the  presiding  officer,  Bishop  E.  G.  Andrews^ 
D.D.,  LL.D. 


BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS-  385 


EIGHTH  DA  Y,   Thursdaij,    October  15,  1891. 


TOPIC : 
ROMANISM. 


FIRST   SESSION, 


THE  Conference  opened  at  10  A.  M.,  the  Rev.  James  Don- 
nelly, of  the  Irish  Methodist  Church,  presiding.  Prayer 
was  offered  by  the  Rev.  R.  Crawford  Johnson,  of  the  Irish 
Methodist  Church,  and  the  Scripture  was  read  by  Mr.  S. 
McCoMAs,  J.P.,  of  the  same  Church. 

The  Journal  of  the  sessions  of  the  seventh  day  was  read, 
amended,  and  approved.  The  report  of  the  Business  Com- 
mittee was  presented  by  the  Secretary,  recommending  the  en- 
largement of  the  powers  of  the  Committee  on  an  Ecumenical 
Missionary  Council  so  as  to  include  not  only  the  equitable 
division  of  the  field,  but  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  transla- 
tion and  circulation  of  Christian  literature,  and  all  other  mat- 
ters relating  to  the  joint  co-operation  of  Methodist  missions  in 
practical  mission  work.     This  recommendation  was  adopted. 

Notice  of  a  proposed  alteration  of  Rule  YIII  of  the  "  Rules 
and  Regulations  for  the  Government  of  the  Conference  "  was 
offered  by  J.  J.  Maclaren  and  W.  H.  Lambly  ;  also  a  me- 
morial on  "  A  Concert  of  Prayer,"  signed  by  the  Rev.  Walter 
R.  Lambuth  and  the  Rev.  E.  L.  Sodthgate.  These  papers 
were  referred  to  the  Business  Committee. 

The  consideration  of  the  report  of  the  Business  Committee 
on  Methodist  Federation,  offered  to  the  Conference  on  the  pre- 
ceding day,  was  resumed,  as  follows: 

The  Secretary:  Mr.  President:  Referring  to  the  report  from  the 
Business  Committee  concerning  Methodist  federation,  that  committee  has 
directed  me  to  request  that  Dr.  Stephenson,  as  on  yesterday,  should  be 
permitted  to  represent  the  committee  on  the  floor  of  the  Conference. 


386  BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS. 

Rev.  T.  B.  Stephenson,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Wesleyaa  Methodist 
Church:  Mr.  President:  I  am  very  much  in  hope  that  the  Conference 
need  not  be  detained  at  any  length  upon  this  matter.  In  the  discharge 
of  this  duty  assigned  to  me  I  shall  say  but  a  very  few  words.  If  neces- 
sary, I  believe  that,  as  representing  the  committee,  I  shall  have  the  right 
to  reply,  when  I  can  supplement  any  remarks  which  I  may  now  make. 
The  feeling  of  the  Conference,  I  think,  will  be  that,  after  all  that  has 
occurred,  we  ought  to  do  something.  I  should  feel  that  if  this  Confer- 
ence separated  without  taking  some  step  in  the  direction  which  many  of 
us  desire — some  safe  and  wise  step — it  would  stultify  itself.  What  step 
can  we  take  ?  We  certainly  may  express  our  thankfulness  for  the  grow- 
ing spirit  of  kindly  feeling  and  the  stronger  desire  for  co-operation  among 
the  evangelical  Churches  of  Christendom,  and  especially  the  Methodist 
Churches.  Is  there  any  man  in  the  Conference  who  has  any  objection  to 
that?     I  take  it  not. 

Then  may  we  not  go  a  step  further,  and  declare  there  are  matters  in 
which  we  can  almost  immediately  make  arrangements  for  co-operation 
which  will  be  greatly  to  the  interest  of  Methodism  at  large  and  to  the  in- 
terest of  that  wider  kingdom  of  God  of  which  Methodism  forms  only  a 
part?  That  is  in  the  second  of  these  resolutions.  When  we  come  to 
that  point  we  are  confronted  with  certain  geographical  and  national  dif- 
ficulties. We  do  not  all  live  under  the  same  law ;  we  live  in  continents 
separated  by  wide  seas,  which  makes  personal  communication  very  diffi- 
cult and  costly.  It  seems  to  me  if  there  is  to  be  any  co-operation  of  which 
I  have  hinted  it  must  be  done  by  provinces  instead  of  the  divisions  in  ref- 
erence to  ecumenical  powers.  The  resolution  proposes  that  there  shall  be 
four  great  provinces  of  our  Methodism  throughout  the  world.  The 
United  Kingdom  we  put  first,  because  we  have  been  ahead  of  every  one 
else  in  time.  Then  Australia.  It  will  commend  itself  to  every  body  why 
Australia  should  be  a  separate  province.  Then  Canada,  which  is  under  a 
different  flag  from  that  which  floats  over  the  United  States,  so  that  there 
must  be  a  reason  for  the  provinces  indicated  in  the  second  resolution. 

Then,  if  we  believe  we  can  co-operate  in  reference  to  certain  matters 
especially  of  public  interest,  and  it  should  be  wise  to  co-operate  in  these 
matters  through  and  in  the  provinces  indicated,  how  can  we  give  prac- 
tical effect  to  that  desire?  We  are  limited  in  this  Conference  by  our 
Constitution.  We  have  no  right  to  dictate  to  the  Conferences  which 
form  this  body  as  to  what  their  internal  arrangement  shall  be.  We 
can  only  make  a  suggestion,  and  after  taking  that  suggestion  into  con- 
sideration the  Conferences  may  act  as  to  them  may  seem  best.  That 
is  done  by  the  third  resolution,  which,  I  think,  guards  the  autonomy 
of  the  Churches  and  does  not  interfere  with  them.  But  after  we  shall 
have  passed  our  resolutions  they  ought  not  to  be  allowed  to  fall  to  the 
ground,  but  brought  definitely  before  the  mind  of  the  various  bodies  that 
are  to  deal  with  them. 

These  points  we  have  endeavored  to  express  in  the  resolutions  before 
the  Conference.     We  think  we  ought  to  do  something.     We  think  the 


BUSINESS    PKOCEEDINGS.  387 

maia  thing  is  co-operation.  We  do  not  wish  to  express  any  judgment  as 
to  what  that  may  be  in  the  future;  but  we  do  believe  that  so  much  is 
practicable,  desirable,  and  beneficial.  That,  I  think,  is  the  substance  of 
these  resolutions. 

The  Business  Committee  desire  to  make  two  corrections  of  the  resolu- 
tions as  printed  and  put  into  your  hands.  In  the  first  clause  the  word 
"co-operation"  stands.  In  the  original  draft  "union  "  stood  there.  The 
committee  is  strongly  of  the  opinion  that  it  would  be  desirable  to  restore 
the  word  "  union."  I  think  it  is  desirable  that  that  step  should  be  taken 
— that  the  word  "union"  should  be  substituted  as  in  the  original  text,  so 
that  the  clause  will  read : 

"  The  Conference  recognizes,  with  gratitude  to  God,  the  growing  de- 
sire for  closer  union  among  the  evangelical  Churches  of  Christendom. " 

Does  not  every  body  thank  God  for  the  ' '  growing  desire  "  for  closer 
union  of  the  evangelical  Churches  in  Christendom  ?     Then  it  goes  on : 

"And  especially  hails  with  devout  thankfulness  the  extension  of  that 
desire  among  the  various  Methodist  Churches." 

Then  in  the  second  clause  the  Committee  proposes  to  leave  out  what  is 
parenthetical : 

"Though  the  time  may  not  be  come  for  the  organic  union  of  the  Meth- 
odist bodies." 

For  this  reason :  some  persons  believe  that  it  is  an  expression  of  our 
opinion  that  union  among  all  the  Methodist  bodies  is  practicable  soon. 
Some  object  on  that  ground  and  some  on  the  opposite  ground ;  but  I  am 
here  to  say  that  if  the  only  objection  was  that  we  did  express  belief  that 
union  was  possible,  or  a  hope  that  it  would  be  possible,  I  should  not  ex- 
punge that  from  the  resolution.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  objected  that 
this  puts  off  too  far  any  more  close  communion  than  that  indicated  in  these 
resolutions ;  and  as  those  on  both  sides  take  exception  to  the  clause,  it  is 
suggested  that  we  omit  that  clause,  nnd  I  am  instructed  by  the  commit- 
tee to  move  that  it  be  omitted.     The  language  referred  to  is  as  follows : 

"  The  Conference  cannot  doubt  that  concerted  action  among  the  differ- 
ent Methodist  bodies  upon  many  questions  would  be  greatly  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  kingdom  of  God." 

Suggesting  these  alterations,  and  without  detaining  the  Conference 
further,  I  hope  that  these  resolutions  with  the  alterations  suggested  may  be 
passed  without  any  serious  or  lengthy  discussions.  As  Mr.  Snape,  I  believe, 
will  accept  the  amendments,  I  move  their  adoption  in  the  amended  form. 

The  Chairmajst  :  Is"  your  motion  that  the  resolutions  be  voted  on  as  a 
whole  or  separately? 

Rev.  Dr.  Stephenson  :  I  move  that  the  vote  be  taken  separately  on  each 
resolution. 

The  Chairman  :  The  question  is  on  the  adoption  of  the  first  resolution. 

Mr.  Thomas  Snape,  of  the  United  Methodist  Free  Church :  On  yester- 
day I  moved  the  adoption  of  these  resolutions.  If  I  accept  the  amend- 
ments suggested  by  Dp.  Stephenson,  I  suppose  they  will  remain  under  the 
name  of  the  original  mover. 


388  BUSINESS    PKOCEEDINGS. 

The  Secretary  :  The  report  on  these  resolutions  has  been  made  to  the 
Conference,  and  the  adoption  or  rejection  of  any  amendment  to  that  re- 
port is  in  the  hands  of  the  Conference.  Therefore,  the  mover  of  the  res- 
olutions cannot  accept  the  amendments. 

Rev.  Dr.  Stephenson  :  It  would  be  my  duty  to  move  that  the  alter- 
ations indicated  be  agreed  to. 

Dr.  J.  J.  Maclaren,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  Canada:  Mr.  President: 
I  should  like  to  say  a  word  on  the  first  resolution  of  the  report.  Being  a 
Methodist  I  will  give  a  little  experience  instead  of  dealing  with  the  matter 
theoretically.  I  think  that  when  any  brother  is  aware  that  experiments  have 
been  made  of  the  plan  suggested  in  the  first  resolution  he  will  be  more  ready 
to  agree  to  the  second  and  third  resolutions.  There  has  been  a  trial  of  the 
plan  suggested  by  this  first  resolution,  which  goes  far  beyond  the  two  suc- 
ceeding ones,  and  I  will  state  a  circumstance  that  will  illustrate  the  matter 
better  than  any  theory.  In  Canada  we  have  had  a  trial  of  this  plan  with 
wonderful  success — 

Rev.  Dr.  Stephenson  :  The  sense  of  the  Conference  has  not  been  taken 
on  the  question  of  accepting  or  rejecting  the  alterations  suggested  by  me. 
My  motion  is  that  they  be  accepted  by  the  Conference. 

The  question  being  put,  the  motion  was  agreed  to. 

Dr.  Maclaren  :  I  wish  to  speak  to  the  resolution  as  amended.  I  have 
just  one  word  to  say,  and  that  is  that  this  union  among  the  evangelical 
Churches  can  be  carried  out  as  it  is  being  carried  out  in  Canada.  Between 
these  two  Churches,  the  Methodist  and  Presbyterian,  in  Canada  it  is 
being  carried  out  with  great  success.  They  believe  that  in  those  parts 
of  the  country  where  settlement  is  sparse  and  the  membership  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  large  there  should  not  be  any  rivalry;  that 
there  is  not  enough  to  support  two  churches.  In  the  formation  of  this 
union  committees  were  appointed,  composed  of  members  of  the  one 
Church  and  the  other ;  and  when  a  question  arises  these  two  committees 
confer,  and  the  difficulties  are  avoided  of  too  many  churches  in  one 
place.  That  is  the  practical  working  of  it,  and  I  hope  that  this  resolu- 
tion will  be  adojDted.  It  will  work  with  equal  advantage  in  other  parts 
of  the  country,  though  you  are  not  so  far  advanced  in  other  places 
as  we  are  in  Canada. 

Mr.  Warring  Kennedy,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  Canada:  Mr.  Pres- 
ident :  Am  I  correct  in  assuming  that  this  rejjort  is  fairly  before  the  Con- 
ference as  a  whole?  I  am  from  that  country  that  some  people  consider 
outside  of  the  world.  Within  the  last  two  years  when  I  was  in  Paris  my 
guide  stated  to  me  that  he  had  been  in  every  country  in  the  world  and 
part  of  Canada.     I  am  from  Canada — the  city  of  Toronto. 

I  am  very  pleased  on  this  subject  to  follow  my  friend  Dr.  Maclaren, 
Our  experience  in  Canada  regarding  the  Presbyterian  Church — their  union 
with  the  Methodist  Church — has  been  exceedingly  salutary  and  exceedingly 
profitable  for  them  in  their  onward  work,  and  we  as  Methodists  are  unit- 
ing and  advancing  as  one  solid  phalanx.  We  were  disintegrated ;  but  now 
we  have  a  new  organization — the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  the  Bible 


BUSINESS    PKOCEEDINGS.  389 

Christian  Church,  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church,  and  the  Wesleyau 
Methodist  Church  having  united  under  a  new  name,  the  ' '  Methodist 
Church,  Canada." 

Co-operation  is  all  right  so  far  as  it  goes;  but  I  want  this  Conference  to 
go  further  and  say  that  we  are  not  only  ready  for  co-operation,  but  for 
organic  union.  I  think  I  can  show  you,  Mr.  President  and  gentlemen  of 
this  Conference,  if  you  will  take  the  Methodist  bodies  of  the  United  States — - 

The  Chairman  :  The  resolution  is  not  with  regard  to  organic  union. 

Mr.  Kennedy  :  If  I  wish  to  argue  in  favor  of  organic  union,  am  I  in  order? 

Rev.  James  Travis,  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church :  The  question 
before  the  Conference  is  whether  we  recognize  with  gratitude  to  Almighty 
God  the  growing  tendency  of  the  union. 

Mr.  Kennedy:  That  is  before  the  Conference,  and  I  am  prepared  to 
recognize  it.  But  I  will  go  further  and  say  that  union  is  not  only  de- 
sirable to  be  recognized,  but  organic  union.  Time  has  come  for  action. 
I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  we  shall  have  a  union  of  the  small 
Methodist  Churches  of  the  States,  next  a  union  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  the  Congregationalist  and  Primitive 
Methodist  Church.  Non-essentials  have  kept  them  apart.  If  we  had  a 
union  of  all  these  bodies  the  Methodist  Church  would  go  forward  in  a 
solid  phalanx  in  accomplishing  the  work  of  Clirist.  Whatever  desire 
there  may  be  for  union — union  of  sentiment,  of  purpose — unless  we  have 
uniformity  of  action  we  shall  not  accomplish  much.  Not  only  must  we 
have  this  union  of  purpose,  but  to  accomplish  this  grand  object  we  have 
in  view  there  must  be  organic  union.  "What  has  separated  the  smaller 
bodies  in  the  United  States?  Trifles,  non-essentials,  and  they  should  be 
united.  So  that  I  say  the  time  has  come  not  only  for  concerted  action  in 
regard  to  the  desirability  of  union,  but  organic  union.  Give  us  organic 
union  and  we  shall  go  forward  bright  as  the  moon  and  terrible  as  the  sun, 
and  with  upright  banners.     Now,  in  Canada — 

Eev.  Mr.  Curnock:  Mr.  President:  Are  we  to  discuss  this  morning  or- 
ganic union  versus  co-operation?     Let  us  know  where  we  are. 

Mr.  Kennedy  :  There  is  nothing  to  prevent  any  man  of  this  Conference 
discussing  organic  union. 

Dr.  A.  B.  Leonard,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church :  Mr.  President : 
We  are  willing  that  our  friends  from  abroad  should  have  a  fair  chance, 
but  we  want  a  little  hearing  from  the  American  side.  I  should  like  to 
inquire  whether  this  paper  is  now  on  its  final  adoption.  If  it  is,  I  have  a 
matter  to  which  1  wish  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Conference.  This  Con- 
ference appointed  a  committee  on  the  federation  of  missionary  work.  That 
committee  is  doing  its  work. 

The  Chairman  :  We  have  the  first  resolution  before  us. 

Rev.  Dr.  Leonard  :  I  inquired  whether  the  whole  rejjort  is  1)efore  us. 

The  Chairman  :  No.  We  take  up  the  first  resolution  and  dispose  of 
that  first. 

Mr.  Farmer-Atkinson  :  Mr.  President  :  I  have  all  my  life,  as  Hugh 
Price  Hughes  knows,  been  in  favor  of  union ;  therefore  I  am  not  a  new 


390  BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS. 

convert.  To  hear  you  speak  to-day  one  would  think  that  nobody  had 
before  spoken  on  the  subject.  I  was  a  layman  in  the  last  Ecumenical 
Conference.  I  have  my  report  with  me.  I  find  that  there  were  thirty- 
four  pages  of  the  book  taken  ujj  with  a  discussion  on  that  subject  ten 
years  ago.  Therefore  your  talk  is  ten  years  behind  what  the  enlightened 
men  in  London  did  ten  years  ago.  There  the  arguments  were  the  same 
that  you  are  making  to-day.  I  think  it  will  not  be  dispiited  that  we  are 
all  of  the  same  opinion.  Now,  I  object  to  these  words  in  this  resolution : 
"  Though  the  time  may  not  be  come." 

We  w^ant  unity.  That  is  the  point  we  are  working  after.  But  you 
have  killed  union  by  putting  in  an  expression  about  time.  G-od  will  de- 
cide the  matter  as  to  time.  Take  that  out  of  the  resolution.  That  will 
not  be  settled  by  you,  but  by  Providence.  If  I  had  spoken  on  yesterday 
when  I  wanted  to  I  should  have  immediately  proposed  that  the  present 
was  the  time.  Now,  I  wash  to  say  a  word  in  regard  to  what  was  said  here 
yesterday  during  my  absence.  I  am  glad  I  was  not  here,  because  I  would 
have  been  ruled  out  of  order  for  making  a  political  speech  in  answer  to 
a  political  speech.  If  we  have  any  rancor,  if  there  be  any  who  are  hot 
against  union,  let  them  wait  outside  until  they  get  cool.  We  do  not 
want  politics  here.  Politics  shall  not  be  in  the  union  so  far  as  I  am 
concerned.  I  get  plenty  of  politics  on  week-days.  A  pastor  said  he  had 
plenty  of  time  on  Sunday  to  put  up  his  feet  and  think  about  nothing  at  all. 
You  should  not  bring  politics  into  the  pulpit.  I  will  not  take  them  there. 
I  will  take  my  ])olitics  from  politicians. 

Rev.  Dr.  Waller  :  Mr.  Chairman :  I  regard  the  present  moment  in  the 
history  of  this  Conference  as  one  of  very  great  gravity,  and  that  we  ought 
to  consider  the  matter  before  us  in  all  calmness  and  solemnity.  I  should 
deprecate  a  single  word  that  would  interfere  with  a  truly  Christian  spirit; 
because  I  hold  that  a  Christian  spirit  is  necessary  toward  true  unity.  I  want 
to  say  a  word  which  I  hope  will  promote  the  unity  of  spirit,  the  bond  of 
peace,  and  that  charity  which  is  the  bond  of  all  perfectness.  I  understand 
that  none  of  us  are  bound  by  the  essay  that  has  been  read,  or  by  the  re- 
marks that  have  been  made.  The  readers  and  speakers  are  responsible 
for  their  own  utterances ;  but  when  we  proceed  as  a  Conference  to  adopt 
a  series  of  resolutions,  then  we  are  altogether  on  other  ground.  There  is 
a  gravity  about  our  action  which  does  not  attach  itself  for  one  moment  to 
the  individual  utterances  of  members  of  this  Conference.  I  do  not  forget, 
sir,  that  we  were  brought  together  under  rule  ten,  which  appears  on  page 
thirty-two  of  the  programme,  namely,  that  no  resolution  is  to  be  adopted 
which  affects  the  internal  arrangements  of  the  several  Methodist  Churches. 
We  are  not  discussing  organic  union,  although  many  of  the  speeches  in 
support  of  the  resolutions  have  been  speeches  in  favor  of  organic  union. 
I  say  we  are  not  discussing  organic  union,  otherwise  we  would  be  not 
rherely  interfering  with  the  internal  arrangements  of  the  several  Churches, 
but  we  would  be  dealing  with  the  very  constitutional  principles  of  the 
Churches.  Dr.  Stephenson,  the  President  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Conference,  has  reminded  us  that  there  are  financial  diflSculties  ;  that 


BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS.  391 

there  are  questions  of  principle,  and  many  things  which  we  shall  have  to 
consider  before  we  are  within  sight  of  organic  union. 

In  respect  to  these  resolutions  I  think  it  would  be  better  that  we  should 
adopt  no  resolution  whatever.  If  any  resolution  be  adopted,  I  take  it  that 
that  resolution  should  be  in  harmony  with  the  programme  which  has  re- 
ceived the  approval  of  the  Methodist  Churches.  I  was  a  member  of  the 
Preparatory  Committee  appointed  by  the  Methodist  Churches  in  the  old 
country  on  this  subject,  and  I  was  never  absent  from  any  one  of  the  com- 
mittee meetings  when  I  could  attend.  I  am  prepared  to  state  that  noth- 
ing received  more  consideration  or  was  more  carefully  discussed  than  the 
subjects  which  should  be  included  in  the  programme.  The  subject  as  it 
stands  is  Christian  unity,  not  Methodist  union;  it  is  Christian  co-ojjera- 
tian,  not  Methodist  co-operation.  I  wish  I  could  have  had  an  opportunity 
in  the  Business  Committee  of  discussing  the  meaning  of  the  words  and 
the  bearing  of  those  alterations.  "We  are  not  in  a  position  to  discuss 
words  in  a  meeting  like  this,  but  I  think  that  the  alterations  that  have 
been  made  by  the  Business  Committee  are  all  in  the  right  direction.  We 
must,  however,  be  careful  of  the  words  we  put  into  a  resolution.  Instead 
of  saying,  "  A  growing  desire  for  union,"  I  should  say,  "A  growing  de- 
sire for  Christian  unity."  The  term  unity  will  carry  every  Methodist  in 
the  world.  I  am  glad  that  you  have  left  out  that  other  interpolation, 
"  Though  the  time  may  not  be  come  for  the  organic  union  of  the  different 
Methodist  bodies."  I  venture  an  opinion  that  this  sentence  foi-med  no 
part  of  the  original  resolution  as  drawn.  Having  some  experience  in 
drafting  resolutions  I  should  say  that  we  are  justified  in  going  further  and 
saying  ' '  that  the  Conference  is  convinced  that  concerted  action  on  many 
questions  would  be  greatly  to  the  advantage,"  instead  of  saying  that  "  the 
Conference  cannot  doubt,"  etc. 

I  come  now,  sir,  to  an  injustice  that  is  done  to  Ireland.  Why  should 
we  have  Great  Britain  and  leave  out  Ireland  ?  Let  it  be  "  United  King- 
dom," and  the  resolution  will  be  harmonious. 

I  want  to  say  one  word  more.  No  one  is  here  officially.  The  Presi- 
dent of  the  Wesleyan  Conference  is  acting  not  in  his  official  capacity,  but 
as  Dr.  Bowman  Stephenson.  As  the  Secretary  of  the  Conference  for  many 
years,  I  may  claim  to  have  had  abundant  opportunities  of  knowing  some- 
thing about  the  history  of  my  own  Church,  and  I  know  what  came  of  an 
injudicious  attempt  to  bring  about  Methodist  union.  Large  bodies  move 
slowly,  and  if  you  unduly  press  for  union  you  will  frustrate  the  object  you 
have  in  view. 

Rev.  Ralph  Abercrombie,  of  the  United  Methodist  Free  Church :  There 
is  a  good  deal  more  of  Methodist  union  than  might  appear  on  the  surface 
this  morning.  The  discussion  which  has  taken  place  reminds  me  of  the 
lines  of  an  old  hymn:   "  I  walk  on  hostile  ground." 

Rev.  Dr.  Dewart  :  I  think  that  ought  to  be  taken  back. 

Several  Voices  :  O,  no !  O,  no ! 

Rev.  Mr.  Abercrombie  :  I  look  back  to  Friday  afternoon  with  pleasure 
— to  the  historical  scene  when  the  President  of  the  Wesleyan  Conference 


392  KOMANISM. 

gave  expression  to  his  sentiments  with  regard  to  Christian  unity  and  de- 
sire for  still  closer  co-operation ;  and  although  Dr.  Waller  has  been  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Wesleyan  Conference  for  many  years,  yet  we  accept  the 
expression  of  a  President  of  the  Conference,  although  he  may  not  be  in 
office  for  more  than  a  year,  as  more  authoritative  than  we  do  that  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Conference,  especially  when  we  remember  that  so  soon  as 
the  secretary  reaches  the  presidential  chair,  according  to  his  own  state- 
ment, that  will  be  the  beginning  of  his  decline.  Mr.  President  and  Chris- 
tian brothers,  while  I  rejoice  in  hearing  that  expression  on  Friday  after- 
noon in  reference  to  the — 

A  Voice  :  I  move  that  we  close  the  debate  and  vote. 

Rev.  Mr.  Abercrombie:  A  gentleman  expresses  himself  here  under 
difficulty.  I  have  been  looking  for  a  similar  expression  on  the  part  of  the 
bishops  and  members  of  the  Western  Section,  so  that  we  might  know  the 
spiritual  force  behind  the  resolutions  we  are  going  to  carry  this  morning. 
Resolutions  are  sometimes  of  no  more  value  than  the  paper  on  which  they 
are  written,  and  sometimes  they  are  of  some  force,  because  of  the  spirit- 
ual and  intellectual  force  behind  them.  If  I  can  go  home  with  the  im- 
pression that  the  Eastern  and  Western  Sections  think  that  there  is  a 
growing  desire  for  Methodist  union,  I  shall  have  the  confidence  that  there 
will  be  organic  union  of  Methodism  throughout  the  world. 

Rev.  Dr.  Leonard  :  Mr.  Chairman :  I  rise  to  a  question  of  order.  I 
wish  to  call  to  your  attention  Article  YI  of  the  rules  2)rinted  in  this  pro- 
gramme for  the  government  of  this  body.  Rule  VI  reads  as  follows: 
"  The  first  hour  of  each  forenoon  session,  after  devotional  exercises  and 
reading  of  Journal,  shall  be  set  apart  for  the  presentation  of  resolutions 
or  other  papers  not  included  in  the  regular  programme."  I  raise  the 
question  whether  or  not  it  is  now  in  order  to  take  uji  the  regular  order  of 
the  day? 

The  Secretary  :  But  the  closing  paragraph  of  Rule  II  provides  that 
"  the  rejiorts  of  the  Business  Committee  shall  at  all  times  be  privileged, 
and  shall  take  precedence  of  any  other  matter  which  may  be  before  the 
Conference."  I  now  move  that  the  Conference  proceed  to  the  considera- 
tion of  the  regular  business. 

The  Chairman:  The  secretary  has  moved  that  the  Conference  now 
proceed  to  the  consideration  of  the  regular  business.  The  question  is  on 
aa^reeing  to  that  motion. 

The  question  being  taken  by  ayes  and  noes,  resulted  as  fol- 
lows :  Ayes,  158 ;  noes,  146. 

The  Conference  then  proceeded  to  the  consideration  of  the 
regular  order.  The  Rev.  Matthias  T.  Myees,  President  of 
the  United  Methodist  Free  Church,  read  the  following  ap- 
pointed essay  on  "The  Present  Position  of  Romanism:" 

Mr.  President :  It  is  the  boast  of  the  Church  of  Rome  that  she  never 
changes,  and  is  infallible  in  all  her  deliverances  and  doings.     Though 


ESSA.Y    OF    RP:V.    MATTHIAS    T.    MYERS.  393 

there  are  periods  ia  her  history  when  she  has  not  hesitated  to  deviate  from 
the  trodden  path  of  former  generations,  in  two  important  aspects  she  has 
shown  astonisliing  tenacity. 

First.  The  Church  of  Rome  has  maintained  a  uniform  opposition  to  the 
free  circuhition  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  This  is  one  of  her  chief  points  of 
difference  from  Protestant  Christianity,  and  is  at  once  her  dread  and 
danger.  The  faith  of  Protestantism  is  that  the  free  circulation  of  the 
Bible,  and  the  right  and  duty  of  all  Christians  to  read  the  word  of  God, 
is  the  best  means  of  cherishing  and  exalting  the  faith  and  piety  of  those 
who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  reason  why  the  Church  of  Rome 
pr(^hibits  her  own  people  from  reading  the  sacred  Scriptures  has  been 
clearly  stated  by  the  late  Cardinal  Wiseman :  "  The  prohibition  of  the 
reading  of  the  Scriptures,"  said  he,  "  is  the  stronghold  of  the  Church's 
unity.  Let  the  faithful  but  read  the  Scriptures,  and  the  government  of 
the  Church  would  tumble  to  pieces;  insubordination  would  enter,  and 
self-sufficiency  and  pride  will  take  the  place  of  humility  and  docility."  * 

Second.  The  second  is  her  settled  purpose,  and  her  unscrupulous 
methods  of  propagating  and  promoting  her  own  interests.  "  One  heart 
beating  within  the  Vatican  circulates  one  zeal  through  all  that  monstrous 
body,  which  returns  again  to  feed  the  fountain  of  its  pernicious  life. 
Romanism  knows  no  country,  but  mingles  with  all  people;  speaks  all  lan- 
guages, but  one  creed ;  shouts  for  democracy  in  America,  and  excommu- 
nicates the  rebels  of  Spain ;  demands  freedom  for  Ireland,  and  arrests  the 
religious  liberty  of  France ;  tolerates  no  other  religion  when  it  has  the 
power,  and  whimpers  of  persecution  in  Protestant  lands  if  the  Bible  is 
read  in  the  schools.  It  speaks  from  the  City  of  Seven  Hills,  and  through- 
out the  world  cardinal  and  prelate,  priest  and  penitent,  own,  by  mystic 
sign  and  ready  genuflection,  devout  submission.  Its  eyes  are  upon  every 
man ;  its  voice  is  heard  in  royal  cabinets  and  in  republican  legislatures ; 
its  hands  tamper  with  the  absolute  scepter,  and  pollute  the  ballot-box;  its 
learning  gives  tutors  to  the  children  of  the  great,  and  opens  free  schools 
for  the  children  of  the  many ;  its  charities  mingle  the  poison  of  idolatry 
with  the  bread  for  the  hungry  and  medicine  for  the  sick.  Every-where 
it  is  one,  though  in  so  many  different  forms.  No  wonder  that  she  seems 
so  strong,  and  is  apparently  so  successful,  when  her  propaganda  from 
center  to  circumference  are  so  united  and  energetic."  f 

To  the  historian  and  to  the  enlightened  Protestant  it  has  often  been  a 
wonder  that  the  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century  should  have  ac- 
complished so  much,  and  yet  have  stopped  just  when  it  did;  that  the 
papacy  should  have  lost  so  much  and  no  more,  and  that  it  should  have 
regained  so  much  of  what  it  had  lost.  Men  are  beginning  to  consider 
whether  the  battle  of  the  Protestant  Reformation,  which  was  a  fearful 
struggle,  is  to  be  re-fought !  Are  those  terrible  scenes  of  which  we  have 
read  to  be  re-enacted?  These  are  questions  which  suggest  themselves  by 
the  very  principles  and  pretensions  of  all  the  parties  concerned.     Many 

♦  Essay  oil  tlie  reading  of  the  Bible.  +  Bethune. 

28 


394  KOMANISM. 

who  are  among  the  most  eager  partisans  of  the  strife  seem  to  be  obvious 
of  the  fearful  consequences  involved.  One  would  have  thought  that  the 
dark  deeds  of  lo.lS-oS  would  have  proved  to  be  a  lesson  never  to  be  for- 
gotten in  the  history  of  the  world.  For  generations  after  the  Protestant 
Reformation  the  prestige  of  Eomanism  was  paralyzed ;  she  appeared  to 
be  dragging  out  a  lingering  existence  which  would  probably  have  speed- 
ily resulted  in  extinction  had  the  Reformers  continued  to  depend  upon 
those  spiritual  forces  and  weapons  with  which  they  won  their  earliest  and 
greatest  victories.  Sixty  years  ago,  beyond  a  number  of  Irish  laborers 
who  had  settled  in  some  of  the  provincial  towns  of  England,  and  a  few 
old  families  who  had  tlieir  chapels  and  chaplains,  whose  religion,  as 
Froude  says,  hung  about  them  like  a  ghost  of  the  past,  and  was  preserved 
as  an  heirloom  which  tradition  rather  than  conviction  made  sacred  to 
them — with  these  exceptions  there  were  few  in  Great  Britain  who  believed 
in,  or  cared  for,  Romanism.  A  convert  from  Protestantism  to  popery 
would  have  been  as  great  a  monster  as  a  convert  to  Buddhism  or  Odin 
worship.  "  Believe  in  tlie  pope!  "  said  Dr.  Arnold;  "  I  would  as  soon  be- 
lieve in  Jupiter." 

Two  very  different  causes  among  others  which  might  be  named  have 
contributed  to  the  altered  circumstances  of  our  condition :  the  French 
Revolution,  the  rise  and  success  of  Methodism  and  other  great  Protestant 
institutions.  When  the  French  Revolution  burst  upon  the  world,  shaking 
the  thrones  of  Europe,  and  when  Methodism  and  Sunday-schools  and  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  and  the  Tract  Society  and  missionary 
society  after  missionary  society  rose  and  sent  a  wave  of  spiritual  light  and 
life  through  the  land,  Rome  felt  she  must  awake  and  bestir  herself  or  be 
swept  away,  not  only  from  the  British  Isles,  but,  probably,  also  from  the 
stronger  holds  of  her  gigantic  power.  Very  soon  after  peace  was  restored 
to  Europe  the  Jesuits  were  called  into  action ;  the  English  College  in  Rome 
was  restored  and  reopened,  and  a  number  of  English  youths  trained  for 
a  work  in  Great  Britain  such  as  had  not  been  attempted  since  the  days  of 
Mary.  That  work  was  at  once  commenced  in  Great  Britain  in  great  ear- 
nestness by  the  late  Cardinal  Wiseman.  But  that  which  gave  life  and 
strength  to  Romanism  was  a  movement  which  broke  out  in  Oxford  in 
1833,  called  the  Tractarian  movement.  At  the  head  of  this  movement 
was  the  late  Dr.  Pusey,  from  whom  at  first  it  took  its  name.  The  leaven 
has  been  working,  until  in  1891  not  less  than  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  clergy 
are  found  deejily  committed  and  seriously  compromised.  Oxford  and 
Cambridge  supply  our  principal  learned  professions,  and  it  is  simply  start- 
ling to  find  how  many  of  our  learned  men  are  tainted  and  how  many  of 
their  families  have  entered  the  Church  of  Rome.  Though  there  is  no 
agreement,  either  expressed  or  understood,  between  the  two  parties,  and 
though  one  party  often  speaks  of  the  other  wdth  contempt,  yet  the  training 
of  the  Established  Church  promotes  an  advanced  state  of  sacerdotalism, 
favors  the  pernicious  teaching  of  Romish  doctrine,  and  prepares  the  way 
for  an  easy  transition  from  the  one  to  the  other,  until  now  we  are  quite  ac- 
customed to  the  cry  of  the  Tablet  week  after  week,  that  the  Rev,  Mr. , 


ESSAY    OF    KEV.    MATTHIAS    T.    MYERS.  395 

Lord ,  and  Lady have  entered  the  fold.  Romanism  has,  in  conse- 
quence, of  late  years  lifted  her  head,  and  put  on  pretentious  airs  such  as  we 
have  not  been  accustomed  to  since  the  days  of  Elizabeth.  To-day  the 
Church  of  Rome  boasts  that  some  hundreds  of  the  nobility  and  some  million 
and  a  half  of  the  people  of  England  and  Scotland  are  members  of  her 
communion.  The  TaUet  refers  with  pride  to  the  daily  increasing  introduc- 
tion  of  artistic  ornamentation  in  religious  worship,  and  further  remarks: 
"We  are  not  disedified,  but  touched,  when  we  see  Churches  so  wide 
apart  in  every  sense  as  St.  Albans,  Holborn,  and  St.  Giles,  Edinburgh, 
imitating  or  steadily  trying  to  reproduce  our  good  things;  when  the 
Wesleyau  Chapel  at  Clevedon  might  be  mistaken  for  a  highly  ornate  Cath- 
oUc  shrine ;  and  when  Scottish  Puritans  long  after  stained-glass,  and  lift 
up  their  hearts  to  the  rolling  music  of  the  organ." 

To  have  the  clearest  light  possible  upon  the  subject,  and  for  reasons 
which  will  soon  be  seen,  we  will  divide  the  people  into  four  classes : 

1.  The  upper  class,  which  though  including  but  a  somewhat  limited 
number,  yet  from  their  immense  wealth,  learning,  and  high  social  posi- 
tion are  of  great  imijortance  in  the  consideration  of  this  subject. 

2.  The  second  class,  which  will  embrace  what  has  been  usually  termed 
the  middle  class — the  manufacturers  and  tradesmen  of  the  community. 

3.  The  third  class,  which  will  include  the  respectable  and  skilled  artisans 
in  all  branches  of  trade  and  commerce. 

4.  The  fourth  class,  which  will  contain  the  residuum,  or,  as  they  term 
it,  the  proletariate  of  the  population. 

Of  the  first  class,  without  question  Romanism  has  during  the  last  forty 
years  received  a  large  contingent.  It  is  the  boast  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
press  that  a  bridge  has  been  built  between  Britain  and  Rome,  and  over 
this  bridge  priest,  peer,  and  peasant  are  marching  with  quick  step  and  in 
increasing  numbers.  They  are  not  afraid  or  ashamed  to  tell  the  names  of 
titled  lords  and  distinguished  ladies  who  have  passed  from  one  side  of  the 
bridge  to  the  other.  The  example  and  influence  of  such  men  as  Drs.  Man- 
ning and  Newman  and  the  Marquis  of  Ripon  have  been  great ;  but  it  is 
hoped  these  have  had  their  day. 

Of  the  fourth  class,  Rome  says  that  she  is  receiving  them  by  thou- 
sands. It  may  be  so,  considering  the  number  of  Irish  and  foreigners 
who  are  continually  landing  upon  our  shores,  and  the  kind  of  teaching  and 
home-life  they  have  had  in  their  early  days  in  their  own  countries. 

But  what  about  the  second  class?  Rome  acknowledges  that  there  is  a 
class  which  she  describes  as  the  dense  middle  class,  and  of  which  she 
speaks,  in  the  most  contem2">tuous  language,  as  absorbed  in  the  pursuit  of 
wealth,  reeking  with  comfort,  and  assured  of  their  own  salvation  in  both 
worlds.  Upon  this  class  the  emissaries  of  Rome  confess  that  they  have 
made  no  impression  whatever.  No  wonder,  say  they.  The  enemy  of 
Catholicism  is  mammon,  and  the  middle  chiss  is  simply  mammon  with  the 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  in  its  self-righteous  heart,  and  a  transla- 
tion of  the  Bible  in  its  hand  for  the  heathen. 

The  third  class,  which  to-day  is  largely  the  strength  of  the  nation,  be- 


39(3  KOMAKISM. 

ing  its  producers  and  bread-winners,  Rome  has  never  touched,  if  even  she 
knows  of  its  existence.  To  find  a  respectable  skilled  artisan  in  a  confes- 
sional would  be  as  great  a  wonder  as  a  real  Romish  miracle  in  the  last 
decade  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Upon  this  class,  which  in  numbers 
and  influence  is  growing  day  by  day,  whose  strength  is  quite  enough  to 
color  the  fortunes  and  settle  the  destiny  of  the  nation  at  any  time,  they 
can  exert  no  influence  and  scarcely  dare  even  approach  them,  for  the  smell 
of  incense,  the  light  of  candles  during  the  day,  the  worship  of  images, 
and  the  fantastic  colors  of  priest's  robes  would  but  excite  their  contempt 
and  call  forth  their  derision.  With  the  exception  of  Methodism  and  a  few 
of  the  Non-conformist  Churches,  no  branch  of  the  great  Church  of  Christ 
has  even  attempted  to  reach  this  important  class  of  the  community.  The 
very  genius  of  Methodism,  however,  is  specially  adapted  to  them.  A  full 
atonement  and  a  free  salvation  for  all,  followed  by  a  consistent  life,  and  a 
better,  happier  home,  they  can  understand  and  appreciate.  But  until 
this  day  they  are  still  largely  outside  the  pale  of  the  Christian  Cliurch. 
This  section  of  England's  population  is  not  skeptical ;  they  are  not  vicious, 
nor  are  they  improvident.  Priestism  and  priestly  pretensions  they  detest, 
although — alas !  that  it  has  to  be  admitted  by  the  Free  Churches — they 
have  been  wofully  neglected. 

Scores,  perhaps  hundreds  of  thousands,  of  them  have  been  trained  in 
our  Sunday-schools,  but  when  they  reached  the  period  of  life  most  critical 
of  all  periods  the  minister  passed  them  by  in  the  streets  lest  he  should 
dirty  his  fingers  or  soil  his  clothes,  and  was  more  frequently  to  be  seen  in 
the  rich  man's  carriage  than  in  their  humble  homes.  If  they  expressed 
an  opinion  in  language  not  conventional  they  were  rebuked  as  insolent  or 
looked  upon  as  skeptical.  Their  trades-unions,  organized  for  their  own 
protection  and  essential  to  their  very  existence,  frightened  one  half  of  the 
ministers  out  of  the  little  sense  they  had,  and  the  other  half  into  silence 
lest  they  should  offend  the  second  and  first  classes,  who  were  the  employ- 
ers of  labor  and  capitalists  of  the  country.  This  is  the  class  largely  un- 
touched to-day  either  by  Rome  or  by  any  of  the  Churches,  although  candid 
and  responsive  to  genuine  sympathy  and  reasonable  appeal.  Here  is  a 
field  already  white  unto  the  harvest,  and  this  is  a  class  upon  which  the 
destiny  of  the  nation  depends. 

The  present  occupant  of  the  chair  of  St.  Peter  is  a  man  every  way 
worthy  of  the  position.  Well-stricken  in  years  (he  is  eighty-one),  he  has 
a  vast  experience,  which  he  endeavors  to  utilize  to  the  one  object  for 
which  he  lives.  Leo  XIII.  is,  so  far  as  we  know,  beyond  reproach  in  his 
conduct  and  above  suspicion  as  to  his  morals.  Well-cultured  and  well- 
disciplined,  he  is  well  acquainted  with  the  conditions  and  wants  of  the 
lower  as  well  as  the  upper  classes  of  society  by  a  personal  intercourse  with 
them  during  a  long  and  laborious  pastorate ;  he  rules  in  tlie  Vatican  as  no 
other  pope  has  ruled  since  the  days  of  Innocent  III.  While  many  who 
have  occupied  the  so-called  chair  of  St.  Peter  have  worn  the  honors,  en- 
joyed the  luxuries,  and  reveled  in  the  ease  and  power  of  the  popedom  so 
long  as  they  had  what  they  wanted  and  were  not  disturbed  by  foreign 


ESSAY    OF    REV.    MATTHIAS    T.    MYERS.  397 

questions,  the  present  pope  has  been  fully  alive  to  every  question  which 
affects  the  Church  of  which  he  is  tl^e  head  in  every  land.  Qualities  such 
as  he  possesses  will  always  command  our  respect  and  admiration.  Every 
consideration  demands  that  w-e  should  give  him  credit  for  sincerity  of 
motive,  whatever  we  may  think  of  his  probably  unconscious  blasphemy  in 
assuming  to  himself  the  offices  and  attributes  of  the  Deity.  Though  de- 
prived of  all  power  as  a  temporal  sovereign,  and  reduced  to  the  condition 
of  a  bishop,  even  in  that  capacity  he  wields  a  power  such  as  no  other 
mortal  man  possesses.  But,  if  we  are  not  mistaken,  there  is  no  need  to 
fear  any  attempt  on  the  part  of  Romanism  to  usurp  the  temporal  power 
either  in  Great  Biitain  or  America.  What  the  intentions  of  Rome  are  we 
are  in  no  doubt,  for  she  openly  avows  her  purpose  to  bring  us  under  her 
sway.  But  the  tendency  of  legislation  among  all  English-speaking  na- 
tions is  against  the  domination  in  the  State  of  any  religious  sect.  The 
power  of  Romanism  was  broken  in  the  soul  of  Luther  in  the  monk's  cell 
at  Erfurt  the  moment  he  realized  the  idea  of  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  And 
children  properly  trained  in  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ 
Jesus  the  Lord  seldom  enter  a  convent  or  are  found  in  a  confessional. 

Force,  ecclesiastically  administered,  has  been  largely  the  means  by 
which  Rome  and  all  sacerdotalists  have  carried  on  their  work;  but 
heaven's  method  of  educating  mankind  is  a  diffusion  of  the  knowledge  of 
the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  Penal  laws  were  thought  to  be  necessary  for 
self-protection  in  the  days  of  Elizabeth  in  the  sight  of  the  ashes  of  Smith- 
field  ;  but  now  we  can  afford  to  repeal  all  such  enactments  and  remove  all 
disabilities  affecting  all  classes.  Take  down  the  shutters  and  let  the  light 
in,  and  darkness  must  disa])pear.  The  time-created  forms  of  human  so- 
ciety may  and  will  be  shaken,  but  the  eternal  principles  on  which  society 
is  based  and  by  which  society  is  regulated  must  remain.*  Christianity 
assists  and  intensifies  social  struggles  by  pouring  new  light  upon  human 
rights  and  duties.  The  oppressed  learn  what  belongs  to  them,  and  the 
oppressors  are  forced  to  yield  to  right  in  the  conflict.  After  centuries  of 
experience  and  trial  we  are  only  just  learning  that  the  true  gauge  of  the 
w^ell-being,  or  otherwdse,  of  the  commonwealth  is  the  condition  of  the 
people.  The  apex  of  the  pyramid  is  much  narrower  than  the  base,  but  if 
the  base  rests  upon  sand  the  ajoex  must  come  down.f  General  Booth  in 
twenty  years  has  more  real  followers  and  adherents  in  Great  Britain  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race  than  Roman  Catholicism  after  hundreds  of  years  and 
with  all  her  boasted  wealth  and  social  prestige.  It  would  appear  that  the 
cause  represented  by  Leo  XIIL  depends  very  largely  upon  pilgrimages, 
rotten  wood,  old  clothes,  and  relics  of  times  which  had  better  be  forgot- 
ten. And  in  the  fierce  light  and  conflict  which  has  already  begun  any 
cause  that  has  to  depend  upon  such  means  for  support  is  already  doomed, 
and  its  apparent  revival  at  this  time,  like  the  dying  embers  of  the  watch- 
night,  is  only  a  preadmonition  of  its  approaching  end.  For  once  his 
holiness  has  spoken  out  with    an    intelligence   and  precision  that  must 

*I>r.  Ker,  +Dr.  Pierson. 


398  ROMANISM. 

command  the  respect  and  attention  of  all  Englishmen,  and  makes  us  feel 
that  he  can  place  himself  in  touch  with  the  general  condition  of  mankind. 
His  encyclical  touches  questions  that  lie  at  the  basis  of  our  social  fabric, 
and  will  have  to  be  faced  and  dealt  with  by  both  Church  and  State. 

But  the  subject  of  education  is  that  most  likely  to  form  the  battle- 
ground between  the  two  great  contending  parties  into  which  we  are  nat- 
urally dividing  ourselves,  both  in  England  and  America.  When  Cardinal 
Manning  was  preaching  at  the  opening  of  the  Oratory  in  the  west  of 
London,  on  the  25th  of  April,  1884,  exulting  over  the  progress  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  he  said:  "  Am  I  going  too  far  when  I  state  that,  with 
the  exception  here  and  there  of  a  small  group  or  band,  organized  to  keep 
alive  the  strife,  and  here  and  there  a  few  scattered  individuals,  the  peo- 
ple of  England  do  not  now  declare  themselves  Protestants;  and  if  asked 
what  Protestantism  means  they  are  ready  to  confess  they  cannot  tell  ? " 
If  I  were  near  the  cardinal,  and  he  were  not  too  big  for  a  mortal  to  speak 
to  him,  I  should  quietly  ask  him  if  he  really  believed  the  statement,  and 
should  assure  him  that  no  man  was  ever  more  thoroughly  or  more,  fatally 
mistaken.  Protestantism  does  exist.  We  can  define  it,  and  are  ready  to 
stand  by  it ;  and  it  was  never  better  understood,  was  never  more  strong, 
healthy,  and  vigorous,  or  more  hopeful,  than  at  this  moment.  And  this 
Conference  alone  represents  thirty  million  Protestants.  And  even  the 
cardinal  seems  to  have  some  misgiving  about  the  truth  of  his  own  words 
and  the  safety  of  his  own  cause,  for  on  the  24th  of  June,  1891,  in  a  pas- 
toral respecting  the  Free  Education  Bill,  he  said :  "  We  are  in  a  most  crit- 
ical and  dangerous  position.  May  God  guide  us  in  saving  the  Christian 
schools  of  England."  The  Christian  schools  of  England  would  never 
have  been  in  danger  had  there  been  no  such  sacerdotalists  as  Cardinal 
Manning,  and  they  will  be  taken  care  of,  Cardinal  Manning  notwithstand- 
ing. We  are  now  within  measurable  distance — a  single  step  may  place 
us  in  full  and  comjilcte  possession  of  one  man,  one  vote;  this  may  be 
followed  in  the  next  step  by  a  complete  and  perfectly  free  education  bill, 
with  the  principle  of  compulsion,  under  public  control,  with  an  open 
Bible,  and  impartial  competition.  Make  all  the  Churches  equal  in  every 
respect  with  the  State ;  then,  if  in  the  race  Papist  or  Puseyite  can  out- 
stride  us,  we  shall  have  only  ourselves  to  blame,  and  on  the  head  of  Prot- 
estant Christendom  be  the  eternal  disgrace. 

And  to  the  members  of  this  Conference,  all  the  friends  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  through  the  States  and  throughout  the  world,  we 
would  strongly  and  confidently  commend  the  noble  and  magnificent  effort 
now  being  made  to  establish  a  university  in  this  city,  and  hope  the  effort 
will  be  successful  at  once  in  the  full  accomplishment  of  the  desired 
project. 

It  is  universally  admitted  that  a  new  era  of  clearer  light  is  bursting 
upon  us.  Great  changes  are  also  expected  in  the  very  near  .future.  We 
believe  it  all ;  we  pray  for  it  all ;  we  hope  for  it  all.  But  where  is  this 
great  light,  this  grand  illumination  to  come  from?  As  this  great  light  is 
for  the  people— for  their  material,  mental,  social,  and  spiritual  advantage 


ADDRESS    OF   KEV.    L.    R.    FISKE.  399 

— whenever  that  light  comes  it  must  emanate  from  the  divine  word,  and 
from  a  better  and  a  more  practical  knowledge  of  that  word.  That  word 
Rome  hates  to-day,  probably,  with  an  intensity  never  surpassed  even  in  the 
darkest  days  of  mediaeval  history.  Wherever  the  light  of  that  word  shines 
Rome  cannot  live.  The  little  light  Rome  displays  to-day  in  the  social  in- 
terests of  the  people,  as  seen  in  the  policy  of  such  men  as  Cardinal  Man- 
ning, is  borrowed  light — light  which  shines  uiwn  the  darkness  of  Rome,  and 
which  has  its  source  largely  in  the  fierce  competition  she  experiences  vrith 
Methodism  and  other  real  Protestant  Churches  in  those  lands  where  they 
exist  and  where  they  are  doing  their  proper  work.  As  those  Churches  in- 
crease that  light  raises  the  masses,  molds  society  by  spreading  the  truth 
and  saving  the  people.  Rome  moves  in  j^arallel  lines,  and  tries  hard  to 
show  herself  in  favor  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  man  as  man.  What 
her  future  may  be  is  a  question  of  speculation.  Reformation  or  extinction 
is  the  only  alternative  before  the  Church  of  Rome.  The  era  of  which  we 
are  already  beyond  the  dawn  will  have  a  wonderful  and  beneficial  effect 
upon  all  the  Churches  of  the  world.  We  have  all  much  to  learn,  and, 
probably,  as  much  to  unlearn.  Whether  God  will  give  to  Rome  another 
day  of  gracious  visitation  is  a  secret  which  belongs  to  him  alone.  Much 
as  the  Church  of  Christ  has  suffered  at  her  hands,  red  as  she  is  with  the 
blood  of  martyrs,  we  would  charitably  hope  that  in  the  advancing  light, 
which  will  beat  so  fiercely  on  thrones,  rulers,  and  governments,  Rome 
may  see  her  deformity  and  be  led  to  penitence  and  reformation.  If  she 
should  have  that  call,  and  fails  to  respond  to  its  voice,  then,  with  all  that 
is  base  and  false  and  unclean,  she  must  go  down  into  the  abyss  of 
destruction,  which  shall  engulf  all  that  sets  itself  up  against  God  and 
opposes  the  kingdom  of  his  Christ. 

The  Rev.  L.  R  Fiske,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  gave  the  following  invited  address  on  '•  Romanism 
as  a  Political  Power  :  " 

How  ? 

Romanism  is  an  evolution  in  which  spiritual  forces  have  been  largely 
subordinated  to  human  ambitious,  resulting  in  a  politico-religious  or- 
ganization, or  a  religious  body  wielding  political  power  for  ecclesiast- 
ical ends.  It  is  not  unnatural  that  in  the  contest  of  the  Church  with  the 
State,  while  the  latter  was  passing  through  every  form  of  vicissitude,  in 
weakness  and  in  strength,  they  should  both  undergo  some  degree  of 
modification.  On  both  sides  unwise  demands  have  been  made,  and 
inequitable  claims  set  up.  The  problem  of  church  aggressions  must  be 
studied  with  a  distinct  recognition  of  the  fact  that  an  untold  number  of 
temptations  have  arisen  for  the  invasion  of  secular  prerogatives  ;  more 
than  this,  that  the  Church  has  often  been  compelled  to  defend  herself 
against  acts  of  oppression  ever  since  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era. 
It  was  easy  in  mediaeval  times  for  the  Church  to  find  reasons  for  resistance 
to  the  authority  of  the  State ;  reasons,  indeed,  for  assuming  civil  functions 
and  exercising  civil  power,  until  it  became  almost  impossible  for  her  to 


400 


EOMANISM. 


relax  her  hold.     The  carnal  became  so  interwoven  with  the  spiritual  that 
the  fibers  could  not  be  readily  untwisted.     It  was  assumption  of  power 
when  Ambrose  in  390  stripped  Theodosius  of  the  ensigns  of  royalty,  and 
made  him  publicly  confess  his  contrition  for  the  dark  crime  of  wantonly 
massacring  thousands  of  men,  women,  and  children  at  Thessalonica ;  but 
did  not  humanity  and  righteous  government  profit  by  this  bold  act  ?  Even 
Gibbon  says  that  ' '  the  example  of  Theodosius  may  prove  the  beneficial 
influence  of  those  principles  which  could  force  a  monarch,  exalted  above 
the  apprehension  of  human  punishment,  to  respect  the  laws  and  ministers 
of  an  invisible  Judge."     In  morals,  though  not  in  statecraft,  there  was 
sufRcient  ground  for  the  act  of  the  pope  in  reversing  the  edict  of  Philip 
Augustus  of  France,  who  had  wickedly  put  away  his  lawful  wife  for  un- 
holy personal  lust,  forcing  him  to  break  the  disgraceful  alliance  and  re- 
store the  displaced  queen.     So  terribly  corrupt  was  royalty  in  the  days  of 
Hildebrand  that  the  Church,  though  not  without  stain  on  her  life,  could 
not  look  upon  the  shameless  deeds  enacted  without  horror.     And  this 
man  of  mighty  intellect  and  will  put  his  heel  on  the  neck  of  princes,  mak- 
ing the  rule  of  the  pope  sujierior  to  the  rule  of  the  emperor.     Immediate 
benefits  accrued,  but  a  vicious  example  was  set  which  became  an  unholy 
leaven  in  the  life  of  the  ages.     Thus  from  an  early  period  down  to  com- 
paratively modern  times  there  has  been  a  struggle  between  the  Church 
and  the  State  over  the  question  of  political  sovereignty.     It  is  a  charita- 
ble view  to  take — too  charitable  some  may  say — that  the  Romish  Church 
has  been  the  victim  of  political  environments  too  mighty  for  poor  weak 
human  nature  to  withstand.     The  great  forces  of  civil  life  iu  the  midst 
of  which  she  has  been  developed  and  has  taken  on  her  special  character 
have  shaped  her  being  according  to  earthly,  not  heavenly,  morals.     She  has 
drank  in  deeply  the  spirit  of  political  ambitions.     In  the  system  she  has 
developed  the  exercise  of  secular  power  is  vital  to  her  success.     Though 
she  may  have  rendered  service  to  humanit}- — not  an  unmixed  service — es- 
pecially during  the  Dark  Ages,  when  feudalism  by  lawless  force  oppressed 
the  people,  she   certainly  parted,  to  a  great   extent,  with   her   spiritual 
power,  and  in  that  measure  ceased  to  be  the  true   bride  of  Christ.     A 
Church  may  have  temporalities,  but  she  must  not  make  them  an  end. 
God's  glory,  not  her  own  temjioral  emolument,  must  be  the  motive  calling 
forth  her  energies.     But  if  she  claims  the  right  to  dictate  to  governments, 
if  she  employs  her  power  as  though  the  functions  of  the  State  belonged  to 
her,  she  defiles  her  garments  with  the  rust  of  earth,  and  lays  aside  her 
crown.     If  she  claims  immunity  from   State  supervision,  disputing  the 
rights  of  sovereignty  with  the  government  itself,  meddling  with  secular 
legislation,  exercising  ju'dicial  functions,  relying  on  military  power,  thou 
does  she  assume  and  seek  to  usurp  the  prerogatives  of  the  State. 

What? 

The  Church  of  Rome  is  to  be  judged  by  the  record  she  has  made  in  his- 
tory. Viewed  historically,  she  appears  as  the  most  determined,  and  at 
times  the  mightiest,  political  power  on  the  face  of  the  earth.     Palliate  it 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    L.    R.    FISKE.  401 

as  mucli  as  we  may,  hers  has  been  a  career  of  attempted  usurpation  of 
political  prerogatives.  She  has  time  and  again  openly  resisted  the  execu- 
tion of  civil  laws.  She  has  claimed  the  right  to  veto  the  acts  of  the  State, 
thus  assuming  superiority  over  civil  rulers.  She  has  inflicted  on  them 
temporal  punishments.  She  has  imposed  spiritual  ])enalties  for  temporal 
ends,  and  temporal  penalties  for  ecclesiastical  ends.  She  has  held  the 
crown  of  mouarchs  in  her  hands,  bestowing  or  withholding  it  at  her  will. 
Whether  it  be  Hildebrand  deposing  Henry  IV.,  and  then  keejiing  him  for 
three  days  in  the  depth  of  winter  in  the  outer  court  of  the  castle  of  Ca- 
nossa;  or  Boniface  VII.  incarcerating  John  XIV.  in  prison;  or  the  issuing 
of  the  papal  bull  "Unam  Sanctam;  "  or  Pius  V.  loosing  England  from  al- 
legiance to  Queen  Elizabeth ;  or  in  the  Franco-Prussian  War  papacy  insti- 
gating the  attack  on  Prussia  as  a  Protestant  State,  it  is  all  due  to  the  same 
purpose  of  bringing  secular  power  under  the  omnipotence  of  the  pope. 
The  Church  has  placed  the  edicts  of  a  foreign  ecclesiastical  potentate  re- 
lating to  civil  polity  above  and  superior  to  the  laws  of  the  land  in  which 
the  individual  owes  temporal  allegiance.  She  has  affirmed  that  the  end 
justifies  the  means,  hence  emjjloying  temporal  power  to  secure  assumed  re- 
ligious results.  She  has  shown  a  readiness  to  resort  to  carnal  methods  for 
church  aggrandizement.  By  political  influence  she  has  gotten  possession 
of  large  amounts  of  real  estate  in  some  of  the  leading  cities  of  this  country. 
She  has  in  these  United  States  been  persistent  in  her  demand  for  a  p)-o 
rata  share  of  our  State  school  funds  for  the  support  of  her  parochial 
schools.  If  her  orators  sj^eak  by  authority  she  has  avowed  that  she  will 
have  possession  of  this  government  by  the  year  1900.  At  the  polls  and  in 
the  courts  she  has  sought  to  eject  the  Bible  from  the  public  schools,  so 
that  under  the  plea  that  they  were  godless  to  destroj'  them.  Do  not  her 
priests  dictate  at  political  elections  ?  When  she  cannot  be  imperimn  she 
is  determined  to  be  imperium  in  imj/erio,  thus  justifying  the  declaration  of 
Bismarck,  that  her  object  is  the  "  subjection  of  secular  power  to  that  of  the 
Church."  Her  people  may  not  all  have  shared  in  these  ambitions  or  this 
spirit,  but  the  poison  has  rankled  in  her  life,  and  she  has  wrought  in  chan- 
nels in  which  political  forces  were  dominant. 

Why? 

The  efficiency  of  the  Catholic  Church  as  a  political  power  grows  out  of 
two  facts :  First,  Romanism,  by  the  denial  of  the  right  of  private  judgment, 
by  suppression  of  free  thought,  does  not  leave  conscience  in  the  keeping 
of  the  individual,  but  organically  holds  it  in  her  own  grasp.  The  Church 
commands,  un(juestioning  obedience  is  expected.  She  does  not  teach  her 
subjects  to  think  and  investigate  for  themselves,  so  that  there  might  be 
an  enlightened  conscience,  but  to  shut  their  eyes  and  listen  to  her  voice 
of  authority.  Now  political  parties  bid  for  votes  by  appealing  to  the 
judgment  or  interests  of  the  citizen.  The  battles  fought  are  on  the  plane 
of  expediency.  What  ]iolicy  is  best  for  the  country  ?  Votes  change  as 
opinions  change,  and  in  this  there  is  no  coercion.  No  power  is  supposed 
to  be  exercised  by  a  party  over  a  voter  aside  from  the  Influence  brought 


402  ROMANISM. 

to  bear  on  the  judgment.  In  a  free  State  the  voter  is  free.  Parties,  there- 
fore, naturally  undergo  ready  modification.  They  break  in  pieces  when 
the  general  opinion  of  the  people  is  adverse  to  them.  There  is  no  stronger 
bond  holding  them  together  than  convictions  relating  to  the  wisdom  of 
policies  advocated.  The  conscience  is  free.  Romanism,  however,  at- 
tempts to  rule  the  world  by  right  of  dictation  to  the  individual.  This 
sweeps  private  judgment  out  of  the  field  of  government,  and  enslaves  the 
conscience.  And  she  has  been  able  to  enforce  her  mandates  by  her  des- 
potic influence  through  spiritual  penalties  inflicted  for  temporal  ends, 
and  in  countries  where  she  has  had  the  power,  by  her  control  over  the 
press  and  by  the  sujipression  of  free  speech.  So  long  as  the  Catholic  pop- 
ulation accept  with  implicit  faith  instructions  emanating  from  Rome  in 
place  of  personal  oj^inions  intelligently  formed,  the  power  of  the  Church 
is  nearly  absolute.  Says  Mr.  Gladstone:  "No  one  can  become  her 
[Rome's]  convert  without  forfeiting  his  moral  and  mental  freedom,  and 
placing  his  civil  loyalty  and  duty  at  the  mercy  of  another. " 

Second,  this  efficiency  grows  out  of  the  extraordinary  centralization  of 
power  in  the  temporal  head  of  the  Church.  .  Ecclesiastically  the  pope  is 
the  Church.  He  does  not  share  supremacy  with  any  other.  Undivided 
authority  is  despotism ;  divided  responsibility  is  democratic  in  its  tendency. 
Nothing  else  on  the  face  of  the  earth  is  so  arbitrary  as  Romanism.  The 
word  pope  contains  it  all.  Archbishops,  bishops,  priests  are  responsible 
to  him  alone.  He  speaks,  and  his  words,  as  an  invincible  force,  touch  and 
sway  every  fiber  of  this  vast  body.  The  entire  priesthood  is  directly 
bound  to  him,  but  separated  by  celibacy  and  prerogatives  from  the  com- 
mon life  of  the  mass,  yet  reaching  and  controlling  all  the  interests  of  the 
people  though  an  assumed  divine  commission  at  the  confessional.  Along  the 
priestly  channel  a  papal  act  is  executed  speedily,  with  absolute  certainty, 
and,  if  desired,  in  profound  secrecy.  Thus  one  will  is  omnipotent  over 
more  than  two  hundred  millions  of  human  beings,  and  all  these  hearts 
beat  under  the  imjiulse  of  an  ambition  as  relentless  as  fate.  Thus  with 
supreme  ease  and  resistless  might  Rome  is  able  to  handle  political  forces. 

Whither? 

Does  Romanism  politically  change  for  the  better  ?  At  the  center,  no ; 
at  the  circimiference,  yes.  In  1870  the  Vatican  Council  voted  the  dogma 
of  papal  iufalliliility,  which  had  been  held  by  individuals  for  seven  cent- 
uries, and  Pius  IX.  proclaimed  it  to  the  world.  Though  this  dogma  was 
cautiously  worded  to  embrace  "matters  of  faith  and  morals,"  the  term 
morals  may  be  made  to  cover  all  the  relations  of  man  with  man,  and  has 
been  generally  thus  construed,  hence  embracing  the  whole  domain  of  leg- 
islation. This  decree  of  infallibility  fathers  all  the  papal  usurj^jations  oc- 
curring in  the  life-time  of  the  Church.  Thus  historically  the  papacy  is 
one.  The  foundation  on  which  the  superstructure  rests  to-day  has  been 
laid  by  successive  acts  through  all  these  centuries.  The  continuity  is  com- 
plete. In  her  claims  and  longings  for  temporal  power  Romanism  as  em- 
bodied in  the  pope  is  not  less  despotic  than  five  hundred  years  ago.     The 


ADDRESS    OF    KEY.    L.    K.    FISKE.  403 

plottings  to  regain  the  States  around  the  Eternal  City,  thus  to  create  anew 
a  papal  civil  power,  are  at  the  present  time  unremitting.  The  pope  plays 
he  is  a  prisoner  as  a  ground  for  the  need  of  temporal  sovereignty.  But 
the  pulse  of  Romanism  as  a  political  force  has  lost  something  of  its  bound- 
ing energy  in  Europe,  and  the  flesh  is  sloughing  off  from  the  extremities. 

A  papal  bull  does  not  frighten  as  it  once  did.  In  America  certainly 
there  are  resistless  forces  of  disintegration.  The  Church  in  her  traditional 
life  suffers  at  every  point  of  contact  with  our  civilization.  The  energy 
and  drift  of  thought  are  too  much  for  her.  The  battle  is  a  sharp  one, but 
modern  civilization  is  steadily  crippling  its  foe.  Nothing  can  withstand 
the  march  of  rational  thought.  Father  Hecker  did  not  show  himself  a 
philosopher  when  he  told  us  that  Romanism  would  have  possession  of  this 
land  before  1000.  The  struggle  is  a  fierce  one,  and  the  line  of  battle  en- 
circles the  world ;  but  manhood  will  rise  above  priestly  domination.  Men 
will  be  free  in  politics ;  the  time  is  coming  when  they  will  not  permit  any 
Church  to  dictate  their  votes. 

To  maintain  her  influence  every  ecclesiastical  body  must  confine  her 
operations  to  spiritual  affairs.  A  minister  in  the  pulpit  or  a  priest  in  his 
sacerdotal  robes  may  not  plead  his  holy  office  as  a  ground  for  jjolitical  in- 
termeddling. Political  rights  are  manhood  rights,  not  priestly  rights;  and 
the  whole  trend  of  our  civilization  is  to  draw  a  sharp  line  of  demarkatiou 
between  the  secular  and  the  religious.  All  the  civil  rights  of  the  com- 
munity are  individual  rights.  He  who  holds  a  high  position  in  the  Church 
or  State  holds  such  position,  unless  it  be  usurpation,  by  concession  from 
individuals.  Association  does  not  create  rights ;  it  only  possesses  what  is 
delegated.  And  no  body  of  men,  whether  organized  into  a  civil  commu- 
nity or  a  church,  may  rightfully  transcend  delegated  prerogatives.  The 
time  is  drawing  near  when  the  world  will  understand  this  great  truth,  that 
power  does  not  grow  out  of  office,  it  does  not  descend  to  the  people,  but 
it  rises  out  of  the  nature  and  interests  of  individual  human  lives. 

This,  then,  I  say,  that  in  the  lessening  of  the  political  power  of  Rome 
in  Europe  for  the  last  five  hundred  years,  and  the  decided  revulsion  in  the 
United  States  against  priestly  assumptions  of  political  prerogatives,  there 
is  food  for  thought  and  hope  for  the  final  purification  of  the  Church. 
The  great  forces  of  intellectual  progress  are  not  only  arresting  the  po- 
litical aggressions  of  the  papacy,  but  daily  depleting  the  political  life  of 
the  Church  which  has  for  so  many  centuries  claimed  political  power  as  a 
divine  right.  And  although  altered  conditions  have  compelled  the  Rom- 
ish Church  to  change  her  tactics,  not  now  courting  and  ruling  royalty  as 
heretofore,  for  as  a  political  power  it  is  becoming  effete,  but  expending 
her  strength  on  the  common  people  who  will  be  the  sovereigns  of  the 
future,  yet  she  cannot  hold  in  her  hands,  to  mold  at  her  will,  this  mighty 
tide  of  life.  The  spirit  of  independent  manhood  is  taking  possession  of 
all  these  lands,  and  the  jieoi^le  will  scorn  ecclesiastical  dictation.  There 
are  intelligent  Catholics  in  this  country,  like  Cardinal  Gibbons  and  Arch- 
bishop Ireland,  who  plainly  see  that  if  the  Church  is  to  flourish  and  get 
the  most  out  of  the  times  as  they  sweep  onward,  she  must  not  waste  her 


404  EOMANISM. 

energies  in  an  unequal  fight  with  our  enlightened  and  progressive  civili- 
zation, but  that  she  must  clasp  hands  with  it  and  make  it  her  ally.  This 
is  hard  for  lier  to  do,  and  many  will  resist  such  a  movement  to  the  very 
last ;  but  a  party  is  springing  up  that  will  insist  ujjon  the  right  of  untram- 
meled  expression  of  opinion  on  all  questions  which  bear  on  the  life  and 
polity  of  the  Church.  Though  denounced  generally  by  the  Catholic  press, 
the  claim  of  independent  discussion  and  action  cannot  be  suppressed,  and 
it  is  not  a  rash  prophecy  that  the  "  little  one  will  become  a  thousand,  and 
the  small  one  a  great  nation." 

There  is  to-day  among  American  Catholics  some  measure  of  restlessness 
under  the  system  that  puts  foreign  priestly  rule  over  American  congrega- 
tions. The  great  fact  is  beginning  to  be  appreciated  that  this  land  should 
be  American  both  in  politics  and  church  spirit.  Cardinal  Gibbous  em- 
phatically declares  that  the  foreign  Catholics  among  us  should  be  Ameri- 
canized. The  Church  that  is  least  American  will  find  its  way  hedged  up 
by  the  greatest  number  of  obstacles.  The  recent  turning  over  of  some 
parochial  schools  to  tlie  State  in  Minnesota  is  a  most  significant  and  grati- 
fying fact.  The  philosophers  of  the  Church,  on  this  side  of  the  waters  at 
least,  are  beginning  to  look  rationally  on  tlie  problem  of  religious  devel- 
opment and  power.  In  the  subjective  freedom  of  the  individual  life 
they  find  the  energies  that  must  be  relied  upon  to  build  for  the  ages.  A 
pure  Gospel  in  connection  with  the  press,  the  platform,  the  schools,  the 
telegraph,  steam  and  electricity,  science  and  philosojihy  of  the  State,  the 
profound  study  of  political  questions,  the  onmoving  of  civilization  in 
which  enlightened  individualism  shall  become  the  foundation  of  all  secular 
power,  will  uproot  and  destroy  politico-religious  dogmas,  and  bring  in  an 
era  in  which  the  Church  will  meet  her  responsibilities,  not  by  exercising 
political  functions,  but  by  infusing  a  spiritual  life  into  every  domain  of 
human  activity. 

The  Rev.  "William  Nicholas,  D.D.,  of  the  Irish  Methodist 
Church,  gave  the  following  invited  address  on  "Romanism  as 
a  Religious  Power  :  " 

Mr.  President:  My  subject  is  "Romanism  as  a  Religions  Power."  The 
title  of  my  subject  implies,  what  I  willingly  admit,  that  there  is  in  Rome 
both  truth  and  goodness.  It  is  a  religious  power.  But  while  I  admit  it 
is  a  religious  power  I  affirm  that  it  is  a  religious  power  in  which  there 
are  many  and  gross  corruptions. 

There  are  many  and  gross  corruptions  in  the  religious  teaching  of  the 
Church  of  Rome — I  use  the  phrase  religious  teaching  to  cover  the  entire 
ground  of  pious  opinion,  of  doctrines,  and  of  dogmas.  The  religious  teach- 
ing of  the  Church  of  Rome  is  corrupt  concerning  ecclesiastical  miracles. 
The  ecclesiastical  miracles  that  are  recorded  in  ecclesiastical  history  and 
in  the  lives  of  the  saints  are  purile,  absurd,  and  contradictory ;  and  yet 
Cardinal  Newman  urges  the  members  of  that  Church  to  believe  them,  on 
the  very  plausil:)le  ground  that  it  is  not  the  part  of  a  good  son  to  examine 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    WILLIAM    NICHOLAS.  405 

too  critically  the  evidence  of  that  which  redounds  to  the  glory  of  his 
father,  and  so  with  a  good  son  of  the  Church.  We  have  an  example  of 
this  tampering  with  truth  in  the  letter  of  the  present  pope,  written  con- 
cerning the  holy  coat  of  Treves.  In  it  you  see  the  highest  authority  of 
the  Church  of  Rome  is  not  prepared  absolutely  to  say  that  that  holy  coat 
is  a  true  relic,  and  is  yet  prepared  to  foster  and  sustain  belief  in  it  and  in 
the  miracles  wrought  by  contact  with  it.  Then  with  regard  to  the  entire 
cultus  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  She  is  spoken  of  as  the  refuge  of  sinners.  In 
a  church  that  we  visited  coming  through  to  Washington  we  saw  the 
crowned  mother  exalted  high  above  the  Holy  Child.  The  teaching  of  the 
Church  of  Rome  concerning  the  Virgin  Mary  is  an  appeal,  not  to  enlight- 
ened judgment,  but  to  sentiment,  and  the  argument  is  based  on  the 
ground  of  filial  affection,  that  no  one  is  so  likely  to  influence  a  child  as  his 
mother,  and,  therefore,  the  holy  child  Jesus  will  be  influenced  by  his 
mother's  prayers  more  than  by  the  prayers  of  any  one  else.  I  need  only 
refer  to  the  dogmas  of  transubstantiation,  of  the  invocation  of  the  saints, 
of  the  infallibility  of  the  pope,  to  show  you  the  unscriptural  teaching  of 
the  Church  of  Rome.  She  is  a  religious  power  in  which  there  are  many 
and  gross  corruptions. 

I  say,  further,  that  there  are  many  and  gross  corruptions  in  the  moral 
teachings  and  practice  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  She  does  not  teach  the 
true  relation  of  the  virtues  nor  their  proper  perspective.  The  very  initial 
idea  of  Romish  morality  is  incorrect.  I  will  take  the  teaching  of  the 
present  pope  on  the  subject  of  humility.  He  has  written  a  book  on  that 
subject,  a  book  that  is  stated  by  his  admirers  to  be  one  that  will  take 
rank  with  the  Imitation  of  Christ,  by  Thomas  a  Kempis.  He  says  that 
humility  is  the  highest  virtue,  the  crown,  the  flower,  the  glory  of  all  the 
virtues.  But  when  he  explains  the  meaning  of  humility,  what  is  it  ?  Ab- 
solute, unquestioning  submission  to  the  authority  of  the  Church.  Then 
the  Church  of  Rome  teaches  in  its  morality  that  most  convenient  doc- 
trine of  directing  the  intention — the  doctrine  that  is  popularly  known  as 
the  end  sanctifying  the  means.  The  man  who  has  a  good  end  in  view,  no 
matter  what  the  means  he  employs  to  attain  that  end,  is  doing  God  service. 
And  how  the  Church  of  Rome  is  carrying  out  this  doctrine !  It  is  by 
Jesuits  in  many  lands  trying  to  influence  the  public  press.  It  is  extend- 
ing itself  into  many  families  through  governesses  secretly  teaching  doc- 
trines against  the  expressed  will  of  the  parents;  influencing  public  opin- 
ion by  getting  persons  to  believe  in  her  through  those  who  assume  the 
Protestant  name  and  garb ;  extending  herself  into  the  foreign  field,  not 
by  asking  the  peo))le  to  change  their  gods,  but  to  change  the  name  of 
their  gods ;  as,  for  example,  instead  of  calling  it  Buddha,  call  it  Christ, 
be  baptized,  and  be  Christians!  How  has  Rome  carried  out  this  idea  of 
the  end  justifying  the  means?  Instead  of  convincing  the  judgment  of  a 
man,  if  he  will  not  accept  her  a\ithority,  by  stretching  him  upon  the  rack 
or  pouring  molten  lead  down  his  throat. 

The  teaching  and  practice  of  the  Church  of  Rome  is  corrupt  from  a 
moral  point  of  view. 


406  ROMANISM. 

I  say  that  the  Church  of  Rome  is  corrupt,  further,  by  teaching  a  mo- 
rality which  exalts  the  ceremonial  law  above  the  moral  law,  and  by  pro- 
ducing many  persons  who  are  devout  and  very  particular  about  ceremo- 
nial observances,  but  who  disregard  the  moral  law  of  God  and  trample  it 
under  their  feet.  Two  murderers,  coming  red-handed  from  their  crime 
on  Thursday  night,  entered  a  hotel.  They  were  hungry,  and  a  meal  was 
prepared  for  them.  As  they  were  eating  that  meal  tlie  clock  struck  twelve. 
One  of  them  stopped  eating,  and  was  horrified  because  the  other  murderer 
continued  to  eat  meat  when  it  was  Friday. 

Then,  sir,  I  say  in  the  Church  of  Rome  there  are  many  gross  corruptions 
in  the  ritual.  It  appeals  to  the  sesthetical  element  by  its  architecture,  its 
music,  its  imjiosing  ceremonials,  its  clouds  of  incense  and  the  tinkling  of 
the  bell  of  the  acolyte,  and  in  many  instances  artistic  emotion  is  substi- 
tuted for  religious  feeling,  and  its  worship  is  so  ornate  and  formal  that 
spiritual  worship  becomes  an  impossibility.  The  senses  are  inthralled  by 
what  appeals  to  the  eye,  the  ear,  and  the  taste.  May  we  not  learn  from 
an  enemy  ?  If  the  Church  of  Rome  has  gone  too  far  in  the  direction  of 
aestheticism  by  making  her  services  attractive  to  persons  who  have  good 
taste,  why  should  we  make  our  services  bald,  bare,  and  unattractive  ? 
Let  us  use,  to  the  glory  of  God,  what  the  Roman  Church  uses  for  her  own 
aggrandizement  and  power.  The  ritual  of  the  Church  of  Rome  appeals 
to  the  common  desire  for  a  realistic  representation  of  invisible  things. 
The  Jews  said  to  Aaron,  "Make  us  gods  that  si i all  go  befoi'e  us."  Men 
want  to  see  something,  and  the  Roman  Church  points  man  to  the  crucifi.x; 
and  to  the  host,  and  says,  '"  Behold  your  god." 

The  Church  of  Rome  is  corrupt  because  she  unduly  exalts  the  priests. 
The  priest  occupies  an  exalted  position  in  the  Romish  service,  and  he 
stands  there  the  representative  of  the  bishop.  The  bishop  stands  there  as 
the  rei^resentative  of  the  pope,  and  the  pope,  as  I  hoard  an  archblshoi:)  de- 
clare to  some  thousands  not  many  years  ago,  represents  on  earth  the 
power  of  God  in  heaven,  and  wound  up  by  saying,  "  Whose  representative 
I  am."  The  Roman  Church  puts  the  priest  between  the  soul  and  the 
Saviour.  The  Roman  Church  tells  men  of  the  vast  treasury  of  grace  there 
is  purchased  by  the  death  of  Christ,  but  that  that  treasury  is  committed  to 
the  Church,  and  the  man  wanting  giace  from  that  treasury  must  go  to  the 
priest  for  it — must  be  brought  to  the  priest  for  regeneration,  must  come 
to  the  priest  for  spiritual  nourishment,  and  must  get  from  the  jjriest  a 
final  passport  to  eternal  glory. 

What  are  the  results  of  the  teaching  of  the  Church  of  Rome?  I  am  not 
prepared  to  deny  that  in  many  lands  and  in  many  ages  she  has  done  good 
work.  I  will  take  the  illustration  that  Bishop  Butler  uses  in  another  con- 
nection— about  a  man  having  a  sickness.  The  sickness  may  do  him  good ; 
but  on  the  whole  the  sickness  has  done  him  harm.  The  Church  of  Rome 
has  done  good;  but  on  the  whole  it  has  been  an  evil  for  the  human  race. 
It  has  introduced  a  type  of  character  deficient  in  dignity  and  self-reliance. 
I  do  not  think  there  is  any  thing  more  humiliating  than  to  see  a  man  in  a 
confessional  kneeling  to  another  man  possibly  no  better  than  himself.     I 


ADDRESS    OF    HKV.    WILLIAM    NICHOLAS.  407 

do  not  know  of  any  thing  more  humiliating  than  for  an  eminent  American 
one  week  to  write  about  the  dogma  of  the  infallibility  of  the  pope,  de- 
claring against  it,  and  the  next  week  swinging  around  and  saying,  "  That 
is  a  doctrine  that  I  am  prepared  to  accept  and  to  defend."  (Here  the  time 
expired.) 

The  hour  for  adjournment  having  arrived,  tlie  doxology  was 
sung,  and  the  benediction  was  pronounced  by  Bishop  J.  F. 
HuEST,  D.D.,  LL.D, 


408  TEMPERANCE. 


SECOND    SESSION. 


Topic:   TEMPERANCE. 


The  Conference  met  at  the  usual  lioiir,  the  Rev.  Bishop  A. 
W.  Wayman,  D.D.,  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
presiding.  Prayer  was  offered  by  the  Rev.  A.  M.  Green,  D.D., 
of  the  African  Metliodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  tlie  Scripture 
lesson  was  read  by  the  Rev.  T.  W.  Henderson,  D.D.,  of  the 
same  Church. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Business  Committee  reported  tlie  rec- 
ommendation of  that  committee,  in  response  to  the  memorial 
for  a  change  of  Rule  VIII,  that  wherever  the  word  "  ten  "  oc- 
curs it  be  changed  so  as  to  read  '"  five."  Also  the  recommen- 
dation of  the  Committee  that  the  following  new  rule  be  adopted 
for  the  remainino;  sessions  of  the  Conference  : 

' '  At  any  time  when  reports  from  the  Business  Committee  are  under 
consideration,  a  motion  may  be  made,  and  it  shall  be  put  without  debate, 
that  a  vote  be  taken  on  the  main  question.  In  case  such  a  motion  pre- 
vails, the  main  question  with  all  pending  amendments  in  their  order  shall 
be  put  without  debate." 

On  motion,  these  recommendations  of  the  Business  Com- 
mittee were  adopted. 

The  programme  of  the  afternoon  was  taken  up,  and  the  Rev. 
R.  H.  Mahon,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  read  the  following  appointed  essay  on  "  The  Church  and 
the  Temperance  Reform  : 

Mr.  President:  It  is  estimated  that  the  annual  cost  of  liquor  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States  is  $900,000,000.  This  is  $14.50  or  there- 
abouts for  every  inhabitant  of  the  laud.  This  amount  exceeds  all  that  is 
expended  in  a  single  year  for  bread  and  meat  together  by  about 
$90,000,000.  If  we  estimate  the  entire  annual  cost  of  cotton  and  woolen 
goods,  boots  and  shoes,  public  schools,  clergymen's  salaries,  and  foreign 
and  home  missions,  it  does  not  reach  the  enormous  expenditure  for  intox- 
icating drinks  by  $1.37,500,000.  Deduct  from  this  almost  incredible  sum 
a  comparatively  small  amount  used  for  medical  and  chemical  purposes, 
and  we  have — I  am  indebted  to  Dr.  Daniel  Dorchester  for  these  estimates 
— some  idea  of  the  alarming  prevalence  of  the  drink  habit.  If  the  people 
of  other  countries  do  not  spend  as  much  in  this  direction,  it  is  not  that 
they  drink  less ;  there  is  simply  a  difference  in  price. 


ESSAY    OF    KEV.    R.    H.    MAIION.  409 

But  the  cost  in  dollars  and  cents,  great  as  it  is,  is  a  small  feature  of  this 
monstrous  vice.  The  poverty,  the  shame,  the  degradation,  the  ignor- 
ance, the  disgrace,  the  sorrow,  the  crime,  and  the  utter  ruin  to  both  soul 
and  body  of  thousands  of  people  annually  consequent  upon  this  vast  out- 
lay must  all  be  taken  into  the  account.  Viewed  in  this  light  the  Church 
can  but  feel  its  responsibility  in  the  matter.  The  Church  can  no  more 
ignore  or  compromise  or  make  terms  with  the  evil  of  intemperance,  which 
of  necessity  includes  the  liquor  traffic,  than  with  the  social  evil,  or  any 
other  of  the  base  indulgences  of  this  lower  life.  To  participate  in  any 
way  with  it,  or,  which  amounts  to  the  same  thing,  to  be  silent  or  inactive 
with  respect  to  it,  would  be  for  the  Church  to  violate  her  trust,  and  fall 
short  of  her  God-appointed  mission.  The  fact  that  the  liquor  business 
obtains  favor  and  protection  from  the  civil  power  does  not  in  the  least  re- 
lease the  Church  from  its  obligation  to  oppose  it.  This  iniquity,  en- 
throned as  it  is  with  the  accursed  world-power,  is  a  menace  not  only  to 
all  godless,  but  to  good  goverment  as  well,  and,  therefore,  cannot  be  re- 
garded as  simply  a  secular  or  political  issue.  It  is  none  the  less  sinful 
because  it  is  respectable  in  the  eyes  of  the  world.  Being  thus  enthroned, 
the  evil  will  forever  prevail  unless  they  whose  mission  it  is  to  save  men 
shall  seek  and  secure  its  final  destruction.  It  is  important,  then,  to  in- 
quire in  what  way  and  by  what  means  the  Church  can  best  serve  the  cause 
of  temperance  reform. 

1.  I  answer,  first:  By  a  total  abstinence  on  the  part  of  the  ministry  and 
membership  of  the  Church  from  all  participation  in  the  liquar  traffic,  and 
from  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  except  in  cases  of  necessity.  This  may  seem 
to  be  an  extreme  view,  but  it  is  precisely  that  which  the  Scriptures  en- 
join with  respect  to  all  the  ways  and  customs  and  habits  of  the  world 
that  are  complicated  with  evil.  We  are  admonished  to  "have  no  fel- 
lowship with  the  unfruitful  works  of  darkness,"  and  to  "abstain  from  all 
appearance  of  evil."  The  fact  that  wine  was  extensively  drunk  in  the 
days  of  our  Saviour,  and  that  he  himself  graced  a  wedding-feast,  and  to 
supply  the  wants  of  the  occasion  turned  water  into  wine,  afford  no  justi- 
fication whatever  to  one  to  be  a  winebibber  or  even  to  take  an  occasional 
glass.  We  live  under  a  different  order  of  things.  While  drunkenness 
has  been  a  sin  of  all  ages,  wine  was  made  and  drunk  then  much  as  a 
farmer  would  in  this  day  and  time  make  cider  in  his  own  orchard  for  home 
use.  We  have  to  contend  at  present  not  with  the  abuse  of  wine  in  its 
dietary  use  so  much  as  with  most  unconscionable  money  i>ower,  vigor- 
ously employed  in  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  powerful  intoxicants  for 
no  other  than  the  low  aim  of  mere  money-getting,  and  to  minister  to  the 
most  degrading  of  human  appetites.  In  connection  with  this  we  have  the 
saloon,  a  thing  which  is  said  to  have  been  unknown  in  primitive  times, 
but  which  is  now  the  most  potent  ally  of  the  devil  and  the  prolific  source 
of  the  worst  forms  of  vice  and  corruption.  Should  any  Christian  feel  that 
he  has  sufficient  self-control  to  take  a  drink  now  and  then  without  danger 
to  himself,  let  him  consider  the  course  of  an  apostle  with  respect  to  cer- 
tain meats  and  offerings,  whose  enlightened  conscience  enabled  him  to 
29 


410  TEMPERANCE. 

eat  all  things,  yet  declared  that  ' '  if  meat  make  my  brother  to  offend,  I 
will  eat  no  more  meat  while  the  world  shall  stand." 

The  spirit  of  religion  is  that  of  self-denial  for  one's  own  good  and  of  self- 
sacrifice  for  the  good  of  others.  However  harmless  a  glass  of  wine 
may  apparently  be  in  itself,  yet  in  view  of  the  incalculable  evils  attend- 
ing the  rum  traffic  and  the  demoralizing  and  ruinous  effects  of  social 
drinking,  it  is  better  for  all  church  members,  and  in  fact  for  all  who  love 
sobriety  and  good  order,  to  observe  a  total  abstinence  with  respect  to 
these  things. 

2.  In  the  next  place  the  Church  should  be  satisfied  icith  nothing  less 
than  the  entire  cibolition  of  the  liquor  traffic  as  it  is  now  carried  on.  That 
this  business  is  evil,  and  only  evil,  admits  of  no  doubt.  The  fact  that 
the  public  peace  requires  that  it  shall  be  kept  at  all  times  under  strict 
surveillance,  and  in  many  places  entirely  prohibited,  is  proof  of  its  pos- 
itive iniquity.  The  manufacture  and  sale  of  intoxicants  to  be  used  as  a 
beverage  are  so  inseparably  connected  with  a  long  train  of  vices,  both 
public  and  private,  that  they  must  all  alike  be  considered  as  belonging  to 
that  kingdom  of  darkness  that  stands  directly  opposed  to  the  kingdom 
of  God.  The  question  then  admits  of  no  compromise.  The  mission  of 
the  Church  is  not  to  regulate  evil,  or  hold  it  in  esteem  when  in  high 
places,  but  to  prevent,  and  by  the  divine  grace  destroy,  it.  But  when  we 
commit  the  Church  to  entire  prohibition  I  would  not  be  understood  as 
advocating  the  thought  that  the  Church  in  its  efforts  at  prohibition  should 
assume  any  political  attitude.  The  Church  has  nothing  to  do  directly 
with  politics  or  governmental  affairs.  Those  belong  to  society  at  large. 
Caucuses,  conventions,  and  candidates  for  political  ends  are  not  within 
the  province  of  the  Church. 

In  its  official  or  organic  capacity  the  Church  has  little  or  nothing  to  do 
with  legal  prohibition,  save  to  accept  gratefully  and  as  from  God  every 
step  of  reform  that  the  powers  of  this  world  may  take  in  that  direction. 
It  is,  we  think,  to  the  interest  of  hoth  religion  and  temperance  reform  that  the 
Church  shall  in  her  assemblies  and  official  acts  hold  herself  aloof  from  all  po- 
litical and  party  alliances,  and  seelc  the  accomplishment  of  her  aims  in  her 
own  holy  methods.  (This  applies  to  countries  where  Church  and  State  are 
separate.) 

The  prime  object  of  those  who  engage  in  the  liquor  business  is  not  to 
cause  drunkenness  or  to  superinduce  vice,  but  to  make  money.  With 
them  it  is  simply  business,  with  regard  to  none  but  financial  results.  They 
look  upon  all  prohibitory  measures  as  sumptuary  and  intolerant  and  in- 
tended to  enforce  religion  by  law.  They  tell  us  that  prohibitory  laws  if 
enacted  could  not  be  enforced.  Thus  we  see  the  real  difficulty  in  the  way 
of  temperance  reform  to  be  the  deep-rooted  selfishness  and  avarice  of  the 
human  heart,.  Men  are  willing  to  make  money  at  the  risk  of  souls.  The 
Church  is  therefore  charged  with  the  creation  of  a  correct  and  healthy 
moral  sentiment  on  this  subject.  Society  has  no  power  to  renovate  itself. 
Its  tendency  is  toward  corruption.  It  is  the  special  calling  of  the  Church 
to  enlighten  the  public  mind  touching  the  sinfulness  of  these  things  and 


ESSAY    OF    REV.    K.    H.    MAHON.  411 

to  arouse  the  public  conscience  against  them.  To  engage  in  the  man- 
ufacture and  sale  of  an  article  in  a  way  that  tends  to  demoralize  and  de- 
base one's  fellows  must  be  made  to  appear  discreditable  and  odious,  as 
well  as  damning,  to  him  who  does  it.  In  other  words,  it  is  the  office  and 
work  of  the  Church,  by  the  means  at  her  command,  to  so  affect  the  moral 
sentiment  as  to  convert  men  in  their  judgment  and  in  their  feelings  and 
in  their  hearts  from  this  unholy  traffic  and  turn  them  to  a  higher  and  bet- 
ter and  holier  way  of  life,  and  thus  make  legal  prohibition  not  only  pos- 
sible, but  practicable.  Legislation  alone  is  not  sufficient.  True,  prohib- 
itory measures  do  much  by  removing  the  opportunities  and  occasions  for 
intemperance  and  crime ;  but  such  measures  to  be  effective  must  be  sus- 
tained by  the  moral  sentiment  of  the  community. 

By  sermons,  lectures,  addresses,  pronunciamentoes,  by  exhortation,  by 
reproof,  by  conversation,  and  by  the  circulation  of  a  sound  and  abundant 
literature  the  public  conscience  may  and  must  be  educated  to  regard  the 
liquor  traffic,  and  especially  the  saloon^  as  well  as  the  drink  habit,  to  be 
disreputable,  and  at  variance  with  both  good  citizenship  and  a  life  of 
holiness.  The  Sunday-school  also  affords  a  splendid  opportunity  to  in- 
culcate a  love  of  temperance  and  to  give  moral  caste  to  the  coming  gen- 
eration. Let  those  who  are  charged  with  the  preparation  of  our  lesson 
helps,  and  those  who  teach  the  children,  give  special  emphasis  to  the 
temperance  lessons  to  be  studied  once  a  quarter.  Nearly  all  the  Churches 
have  their  young  people's  societies,  corresponding  to  the  Epworth  League 
among  Methodists.  Could  these  be  induced  to  incorporate  a  temperance 
clause  in  their  constitutions  and  pledge  their  members  to  abstain  from  ar- 
dent spirits  incalculable  good  would  follow.  Few  things  w^ould  contrib- 
ute more  immediately  to  correct  the  pernicious  custom  of  social  drinking 
among  the  young  men  of  the  country.  Dr.  Cuyler,  a  man  of  eminent 
service  in  the  pastorate,  said  "that  he  could  never  run  a  church  well 
without  having  a  temperance  wheel  in  it  somewhere."  Very  little  legis- 
lation is  needed  to  be  done  by  the  Church  or  Churches  on  the  subject  of 
intemperance.  The  evil  has  long  been  acknowledged,  and  rules  have  been 
enacted  against  insobriety  and  liquor  dealing.  There  is  a  special  need, 
however,  of  a  more  faithful  enforcement  of  the  rules  already  made.  They 
who  are  charged  with  the  administration  of  discipline  in  the  Church  have 
a  duty  to  perform  that  is  second  only  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  The 
expulsion  of  persistent  offenders  is  incumbent,  inasmuch  as  the  Church 
can  by  this  means  most  surely  keep  itself  pure,  and  emphasize  in  the  eyes 
of  the  world  its  abhorrence  of  this  whole  business. 

The  Church  has  been  severely  criticised  at  times  for  its  seeming  want 
of  interest  and  zeal  in  behalf  of  temperance  and  prohibition.  While  the 
Church  is  not  altogether  blameless,  much  of  such  criticism  has  itself  been 
intemperate  talk.  Some  denominations  are  a  little  in  advance  of  others 
in  the  zeal  and  interest  that  they  manifest  in  this  work.  Still  the  teach- 
ing of  all  the  Churches  is  good  enough,  perhaps.  In  this,  as  in  many  other 
things,  the  practice  of  the  Church  has  not  been  as  good  as  its  creed.  Ow- 
ing to  a  too  frequent  neglect  of  discipline  and  executive  responsibility 


412  TEMPERANCE. 

censure  has  in  part  been  deserved.  The  Church,  too,  has  been  slow,  per- 
haps wisely  so  at  times,  to  co-operate  with  some  of  the  methods  of  reform 
that  have  been  proposed.  But  after  all,  to  the  Church  must  be  attributed 
chiefly  whatever  of  real  good  has  been  accomplished  iu  this  behalf.  What, 
indeed,  are  your  temperance  societies,  your  Women's  Christian  Temperance 
Unions,  and  your  great  prohibition  movements  but  so  many  exhibitions 
of  a  deep,  earnest,  and  irrepressible  sentiment  in  favor  of  sobriety  and 
good  morals  for  which  the  Church  is  almost  entirely  responsible  ?  The 
leaders  in  these  movements  are  all  Christian  men  and  women,  and  it  is 
their  religious  zeal  that  impels  them  to  the  use  of  such  powerful  and  vol- 
untary methods.  And  it  has  come  to  pass  that  the  Churches  themselves, 
under  the  reactionary  influence  thus  exerted,  have  in  their  organic  capac- 
ity taken  higher  and  more  pronounced  ground  in  favor  of  entire  prohibi- 
tion. The  last  few  years  have  witnessed  a  great  change  in  public  senti- 
ment in  this  direction ;  and  while  I  am  not  prepared  to  say  that  there  has 
been  a  decrease  in  the  quantity  of  liquor  consumed,  yet  the  sentiment 
against  the  traffic  is  far  more  prevalent  and  powerful  than  ever  before. 
Influential  men  and  women  every-where  are  more  determined  and  more 
emphatic  in  behalf  of  prohibition.  This  is  significant,  and  presages  tri- 
umph in,  we  trust,  a  not  very  remote  future. 

But  this  will  be  no  easy  triumph.  It  must  depend  upon  a  persistent 
and  wise  use  of  the  means  at  command.  Resolutions  adopted  in  meetings 
by  acclamation  are  not  alone  sufficient.  Moral  suasion,  admirable  in  its 
place,  must  be  accompanied  by  practical  effort.  In  this  we  find  room  for 
Christian  co-operation.  The  baleful  custom  of  social  drinking,  made  re- 
spectable by  the  example  of  many  who  live  in  high  life,  and  by  which 
thousands  are  annually  confirmed  in  habits  of  drunkenness,  must  some- 
how be  corrected.  To  do  this  let  the  decanter  and  the  wine-bottle  be 
banished  from  the  home  and  from  the  table,  and  on  all  occasions  when 
wine  is  offered  to  be  drunk  let  Christian  people  observe  a  respectful  ab- 
stinence. Such  is  the  power  and  influence  of  Christianity  in  these  lands 
that  if  all  those  who  claim  membership  in  the  Church  would  withdraw 
their  entire  jiatronage  from  the  liquor  business,  and  institute  against  it  a 
sort  of  universal  boycott,  as  they  have  a  right  to  do,  the  solution  of  the 
question  would  well-nigh  be  met. 

In  their  individual  relations,  and  as  citizens,  they  should  also  seek,  and 
obtain,  if  possible,  such  practical  legislation  by  the  State  as  shall  forever 
abolish  the  saloon.  There  is  no  consistency  in  praying  the  Lord  to  give  us 
good  rulers  and  good  government,  and  to  establish  his  kingdom  in  the 
earth,  and  then  casting  one's  ballot  for  a  member  of  the  saloon  element 
because  he  happens  to  be  the  nominee  of  this  or  that  political  party.  In- 
tolerance and  sectarian  bigotry  that  would  bind  the  consciences  of  men 
are  to  be  despised  and  avoided;  but  the  enactment  of  wholesome  laws  for 
the  suppression  of  vice  and  the  enforcement  of  good  morals  should  have 
the  support  of  all  Christian  people,  as  it  is  the  aim  of  all  good  govern- 
ment. In  this  broad  and  liberal  and  conservative  sense,  "  we  esteem  it  to 
be  the  duty  of  all  church  members  to  aid  in  the  direction  of  public 


ADDRESS    OF    MR.    THOMAS    WORTHINGTON.  413 

affairs  for  the  prohibition,  if  possible,  of  all  vice,  but  especially  of  this,  the 
greatest  legalized  curse  of  modern  times." 

Mr.  Thomas  Worthington,  of  the  Independent  Methodist 
Cliurch,  gave  the  following  invited  address,  on  "  The  Church 
and  the  Temperance  Reform  :  " 

Mr.  President :  Up  to  the  present  time  we  have  been  considering  our 
forces  and  resources.  Kow  v^re  have  to  turn  our  attention  to  our  foes.  It 
will  be  admitted  that  this  afternoon  we  have  the  strongest  of  all  our  foes 
to  face.  What  do  we  mean  by  temperance  reform  ?  The  only  reform  I 
can  conceive  of  is  such  a  one  as  would  destroy  its  existence.  Having  now 
lived  a  considerable  time,  enjoying  fairly  good  health  without  ever  hav- 
ing touched  intoxicating  drink,  I  shall  be  excused  for  having  no  sympathy 
with  those  persons  who  only  want  a  partial  reform,  and  have  to  be  daily 
pleading  Timothy's  weak  stomach  in  justification  of  their  pernicious  practice. 
I  take  it  for  granted  that  intoxicating  drink  is  not  only  not  needed,  but 
that  its  use  in  a  small  degree  is  setting  a  had  example  to  others,  laying  the 
basis  of  a  habit  which  groAvs  upon  the  individual  and  produces  the  most  dis- 
astrous results.  What,  then,  should  be  the  attitude  of  the  Methodist  Church 
toward  this  great  growing  movement?  Active,  determined,  persistent  op- 
position until  complete  annihilation.  What  form  should  the  efforts  take? 
Our  first  weapon  is  suasion.  This  has  been  the  great  lever  of  the  Church 
in  all  time.  This  great  method  St.  Paul  used,  and  his  hearer  in  the  great 
position  of  State  confessed,  ' '  Almost  thou  persuadest  me."  Mighty  method 
when  rightly  applied !  This  is  not  a  question  for  preachers  only,  although 
they  have  much  to  do  in  the  matter.  The  pulpit  itself  must  be  clean  on 
this  question.  I  believe  in  America  you  make  it  one  of  the  test  ques- 
tions on  admission  to  the  ministry.  Would  that  that  had  been  done  in 
England  in  the  past.  Greater  might  have  been  the  strides  and  more  rapid 
the  progress  than  at  the  present  time.  We  must  make  it  understood  that 
a  minister  who  dabbles  with  the  drink  might  just  as  well  give  up  one  or 
the  other.  From  our  pulpits  there  must  be  preached  up  by  living  prac- 
tice the  temperance  reform.  But  much  as  ministers  can  do,  they  cannot 
do  every  thing — temperance  reform  must  be  made  a  people's  question. 
Each  man  and  woman,  each  boy  and  girl  forming  our  churches  and  Sun- 
day-schools should  be  taught  that  the  responsibility  rests  upon  them  of 
individually  going  to  the  drunkard  and  persuading  him  to  be  free.  Had 
the  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  Methodists  in  Great  Britain  been 
actively  employed  in  this  work  for  the  last  ten  years;  had  each  said:  "  I 
am  responsible  for  the  awful  state  of  things  I  see  around  me,  and  I  must 
by  personal  contact  with  these  persons  do  something  to  lessen  its  force 
and  arrest  its  result,"  I  cannot  think  the  consumption  of  intoxicating 
drinks  with  us  would  come  up  to  £135,000,000.  A  terrible  responsibility- 
rests  at  our  door.     In  heaven's  name  let  us  rise  to  our  duty. 

There  is  also  the  political  side  of  the  question.  While  we  are  reclaim- 
ing we  must  have  the  temptations  taken  away  from  the  reclaimed.     In 


414  TEMPERANCE. 

other  words,  we  must  have  the  facilities  for  drinking  taken  away.  How 
can  this  be  done?  By  Christian  men  oiiering  themselves  for  State  and 
municipal  service  as  Christian  men.  I  know  we  shall  be  told  that  Churches 
should  not  mix  up  with  politics.  I  do  not  agree  with  the  previous  speaker, 
who  said  our  business  was  only  to  arouse  public  opinion.  My  contention 
is  that  we  have  to  create,  arouse,  and  direct  public  opinion.  What  would 
be  thought  of  an  engineer  who  onlj'  thought  of  getting  steam  up  to  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  pounds  pressure?  Every  body  knows  there  would  soon  be 
an  explosion.  So  having  aroused  the  steam,  he  wisely  directs  it  through 
cylinder  operating  upon  piston  coupled  to  crank-shaft,  thence  by  crank  to 
wheel,  and  thus  your  heavy  passenger  and  freight  trains  are  moved  from 
one  side  of  the  continent  to  the  other.  And  so  we  shall  be  jiropelled  across 
the  Atlantic  in  a  few  daj^s.  By  all  means  arouse,  but  do  not  commit  the 
suicidal  policy  of  failing  to  direct.  The  mischief  of  that  doctrine  has 
been  that  in  England  beer  has  been  king,  and  in  America  corruption  has 
prevailed  in  high  political  circles.  It  is  the  Church's  duty  to  raise  the 
banner  of  pure  laws  by  pure  men.  And  immediately  there  would  disap- 
pear from  our  public  administrations  the  grasping,  greedy,  self-seeking 
politician.  I  hold  that  it  is  our  business  to  enthrone  Christ  in  the  highest 
and  most  influential  positions  by  putting  Christ's  followers  there.  We 
cannot  afford  to  abandon  the  ruling  of  our  towns,  cities,  and  countries, 
and  hand  them  over  to  the  devil.  It  may  entail  time  and  expense  on  those 
elected,  but  the  men  among  us  who  have  the  means  might  better  leave  a 
little  less  real  and  personal  estate  in  their  wills,  and  leave  mankind  a  little 
nobler,  better,  purer,  and  more  godlike.  Better  take  a  hand  in  rolling 
away  the  stone,  so  that  the  risen  Christ  may  be  enthroned  upon  the  heart 
and  conscience  of  the  people.  In  addition,  then,  to  the  Church  grajipling 
with  the  individual  it  must  declare  emphatically  that  no  political  party 
can  have  its  vote  until  it  can  make  temperance  a  plank  in  its  political 
creed. 

What,  then,  are  our  chances  of  success?  Great.  Every  soul  liberated 
from  the  slavish  appetite  to  drink  will  not  only  become  a  helper  to  others, 
but  an  active  politician  on  the  side  of  temperance.  Every  home  purified 
of  this  scourge  will  become  a  temple  for  teaching  by  practical  illustration. 
Witliin  a  very  short  period  the  drink-evil  would  be  lessened  and  ultimately 
destroyed.  I  venture  to  predict  its  doom  when  the  Church  is  alive  to  its 
duty.  The  agitation  against  slavery  was  advocated  by  a  few  individuals 
who  at  the  beginning  were  dubbed  fanatics  and  fools.  They  were  looked 
upon  as  people  who  had  a  mania,  as  trying  to  benefit  people  who  were 
totally  unfit  for  freedom  and  could  not  appreciate  it — in  fact,  who  would 
become  a  menace  to  the  State  if  they  had  the  ordinary  citizen's  liberty. 
Ultimately  a  few  ministers  began  to  read  their  Bibles  a  little  more  closely, 
and  found  that  "  God  had  of  one  flesh  and  blood  made  all  nations  of  the 
earth;  "  that  property  in  human  blood  was  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  New 
Testament;  that  the  eleventh  commandment  forbade  it;  that  the  Golden 
Rule  was  diametrically  opposed  to  it;  that  Christian  sentiment  properly 
cultivated  revolted  at  it;   and   common   sense  cried,  "Away  with  it." 


ADDRESS    OF    ME.    THOMAS    WOKTHINGTON.  415 

Shortly  the  spirit  took  hold  of  the  Churches,  and  England  willingly  paid 
£20,000,000  of  sterling  money  to  harmonize  one  part  of  her  public  policy 
with  the  Saviour's  life.  Later  we  had  the  great  question  of  free  trade. 
Looking  backward,  it  does  seem  odd  to  us  that  ships  should  be  lying  out- 
side our  coast  containing  the  very  commodities  for  which  the  people  were 
starving,  but  were  denied  admission,  under  the  fear  that  the  landlord  in- 
terest would  be  destroyed  if  foreign  grain  was  admitted.  A  few  men 
reading  their  Bibles  found  that  God  had  made  the  earth  to  bring  forth 
food  for  man  and  beast  the  world  over,  and  any  law  preventing  the  flow 
of  the  world's  productions  from  where  they  were  not  needed  to  where 
they  were  absolutely  required  was  unrighteous  and  wicked  and  opposed 
to  the  divine  economy — which  must  ultimately  prevail.  This  doctrine 
began  to  be  preached  from  the  pulpits.  Philanthropists  hailed  it ;  the 
common  people  shouted  for  it ;  the  Christian  prayed  and  worked  for  it ; 
and  eventually  the  barriers  were  taken  down  so  far  as  our  country  is  con- 
cerned. We  have  an  instance  in  our  own  country  of  what  the  religious 
sentiment  can  do  when  aroused.  Three  years  ago  a  palace  for  varieties 
was  erected  in  Manchester  at  a  cost  of  £100,000.  When  ready  for  opening 
its  managers  applied  for  a  drink  license  as  well  as  a  music  license.  The 
first  was  refused.  They  applied  again  in  August  (this  year),  and  succeeded 
before  the  licensing  committee  in  spite  of  protests  from  every  side.  The 
action  of  the  committee  had  to  be  submitted  to  the  whole  bench  of  masr- 
istrates  for  confirmation  or  reversal.  The  interval  of  five  weeks  brought 
a  perfect  tornado  of  public  sentiment.  A  sober,  thinking  people  was 
aroused ;  churches  and  chapels  rung  with  protest  and  denunciation ;  col- 
umns upon  columns  appeared  in  the  daily  papers ;  and  the  leading  articles 
of  the  best  papers  were  dead  against  the  license.  All  kinds  of  pleas  were 
put  in  by  the  promoters,  but  the  magistrates,  recognizing  the  public  feel- 
ing, quashed  the  license.  Shall  we  be  discouraged  or  slack  after  such  an 
evidence  as  that? 

It  may  be  that  more  people  are  affected  by  the  drink-evil  than  by  any 
thing  else ;  that  the  vested  interest  is  greater  than  that  of  any  other  busi- 
ness in  the  world ;  that  its  operations  will  be  less  scrupulous ;  that  we  are 
fighting  at  great  odds;  but  none  of  these  should  deter  us.  Greater  is  He 
that  is  for  us  thrfn  all  that  can  be  against  us.  The  greater  the  foe  the  stronger 
the  opposition.  And  so  with  a  more  hearty  faith  should  we  enter  into 
the  confiict,  for  greater  wall  be  the  victory  when  it  comes.  A  sobered 
home,  town,  and  nation  will  be  ample  compensation  for  any  effort  put 
forth  or  sacrifice  made.  In  the  face  of  all  opposition  and  persecution,  if 
need  be,  let  us  say : 

' '  Terrors  cannot  scare  us, 
Dangers  only  dare  us, 
God  our  guide  will  bear  us 

Manfully  forever. 
Wind  and  wave  defying, 
And  on  God  relying. 
Shall  we  be  found  flying? 

Never,  never,  never!" 


416  TEMPERANCE. 

The  Kev.  C.  H.  Phillips,  D.D.,  of  the  Colored  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  gave  the  second  invited  address,  on  "  Legal 
Prohibition  of  the  Saloon : " 

Mr.  President :  Civilized  and  barbarous  nations  have  so  long  indulged 
in  fiery  alcohol  that  any  intervention  on  the  part  of  the  government  is 
considered  an  invasion  of  their  rights  and  inconsistent  with  individual 
liberty.  Rights  are  absolute  both  in  nature  and  society,  but  the  prerog- 
ative of  sale  and  purchase  is  conditional ;  hence  no  man  has  an  innate  right 
to  buy  or  to  sell  intoxicating  liquors.  There  are  natural  rights  belonging 
to  the  individual ;  these  are  inherent  and  are  not  derived  from  society  nor 
the  State.  There  are  natural  rights  belonging  to  society;  and  these  are  a 
proper  adjustment  of  the  relation  of  individuals  to  each  other  and  to  the 
whole  body  politic.  Society  has  frequently  asserted  its  right  to  suppress 
the  traffic  in  spirits  and,  under  necessity,  to  prohibit  their  manufacture. 
It  is  the  right  of  self-protection.  The  saloon  has  invaded  society,  and 
this  great  upheaval  of  public  sentiment  is  simply  society  defending  itself 
against  this  impudent  invasion  of  the  liquor  traffic.  During  the  yellow  fever 
scourge,  which  swept  over  this  country  in  1878  and  1879,  and  located  prin- 
cipally at  Memphis,  twenty-one  thousand  persons  perished.  Were  the  citi- 
zens of  Memphis  right  in  prohibiting  passengers,  mail,  and  express  from 
coming  into  and  from  going  out  of  that  city  ?  Is  it  right  to  have  a  large 
police  force  in  our  cities,  to  the  end  that  life  may  not  be  endangered  and 
the  safety  of  property  molested  ?  It  is  the  duty  of  the  government  to 
prohibit  a  business  that  destroys  not  merely  twenty-one  thousand,  but 
more  than  sixty  thousand  of  its  citizens  annually.  From  necessity  we  de- 
duce the  right  to  interfere  with  the  open  saloon  and  legalized  liquor  traf- 
fic and  advocate  legal  prohibition.  Whether  the  saloon  must  be  sup- 
pressed by  law  should  no  longer  be  a  question  of  propriety.  It  is  an  evil. 
Evils  are  to  be  killed,  not  regulated.  The  experience  and  result  of  all 
past  legislation  in  regard  to  the  liquor  traffic  abundantly  prove  that  it  is 
impossible  to  satisfactorily  limit  or  regulate  a  system  so  essentially  dele- 
terious in  its  tendencies.  Experience  has  shown  additionally  that  nothing 
can  restrain  the  people  from  buying  liquors  but  such  laws  as  will  pro- 
hibit their  sale.  Moral  suasion,  license  high  and  low,  have  all  proved 
powerless  as  remedies.  Legal  prohibition,  the  only  panacea  for  the  blight 
and  mildew  of  the  liquor  traffic,  is  not  only  just  and  reasonable,  but  indis- 
pensable and  efficient.  It  will  apply  the  remedy  where  it  is  needed.  It 
will,  like  a  mighty  Samson,  pull  down  the  temple  of  Bacchus,  carry  off  its 
pillars,  break  up  the  foundations  of  the  liquor  oligarchy,  and  elevate  our 
noble  nation  to  a  sacred  niche  in  the  grand  temple  of  history — an  inspira- 
tion and  a  glory  forever.  We  have  laws  against  murder,  against  theft, 
against  gambling,  against  lotteries,  against  the  sale  of  tainted  meats,  and 
against  impure  drugs. 

We  have  laws  against  every  trade  that  is  injurious  and  that  does  not 
develop  the  best  results.  The  government  should  suppress  and  legalize 
no  longer  a  trade  that  is  in  compact  with  death  and  in  covenant  with 


ADDRESS    OF    KEV.    C.    H.    PHILLIPS.  417 

hell.  As  society  advances  so  must  the  government.  The  government 
must  undergo  changes  in  order  to  meet  the  demands  of  society.  Why 
should  the  government  not  give  to  society  a  prohibitory  law  that  would 
surely  close  up  the  saloons,  these  fountains  of  vice  from  which  flow  drunk- 
enness, ignorance,  and  poverty,  the  enemies  of  progress  and  dead-weights 
upon  the  chariot- wheels  of  civilization?  The  crisis  presses  us,  the  war  is 
on,  the  conflict  rages,  and  this  contest  between  right  and  wrong,  light  and 
darkness,  civilization  and  barbarism,  will  never  cease  until  water,  cold, 
limpid,  and  bright,  whether  it  glistens  in  blue,  green,  and  ruby  in  the 
listed  arches  of  the  rainbow,  or  descends  in  pearl-drops  from  the  fragrant 
distilleries  of  the  skies ;  whether  it  glitters  on  the  flowers  and  plants  of  a 
thousand  hills,  or  dances  over  the  rocks  of  a  thousand  rills;  whether 
it  sparkles  in  the  ice-gem  or  pours  in  the  thunder  of  Niagara ;  whether 
it  bubbles  up  in  glassy  purity  from  the  dark  veins  of  the  earth,  or  gushes 
out  at  the  fountain,  shall  have  become  the  universal  beverage  of  mankind. 

"We  demand  the  power  of  prohibitory  legislation  against  the  saloon  be- 
cause it  is  a  tangible,  overt  wrong ;  because  of  its  tremendous  influence  in 
politics ;  because  it  seeks  to  and  in  many  cities  largely  controls  the  press, 
that  badge  of  modern  civilization,  that  ubiquitous  and  high  power  before 
whom  all  the  people  must  bend,  whether  willingly  or  reluctantly;  be- 
cause it  aims  to  hold  the  balance  of  power  between  the  two  great  parties, 
abetting  the  possibilities  of  the  one  that  would  best  fulfill  its  abominable 
behest  and  vigorously  opposing  the  other ;  because  the  legal  prohibition 
of  the  saloon  would  promote  the  development  of  a  progressive  civilization ; 
because  it  is  compatible  with  rational  liberty,  with  all  the  claims  of  jus- 
tice; and  because  it  would  guarantee  greater  positive  advances  in  social 
culture. 

There  are  forces  strong  and  relentless  arrayed  against  the  saloon; 
forces  that  have  for  their  objective  ultimatum  legal  prohibition  for  the 
United  States  and  international  prohibition  to  cover  the  round  world. 
Among  the  many  temperance  organizations  that  have  declared  the  saloons 
must  go  is  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union. 

' '  The  woman's  cause  is  man's ;  they  rise  or  sink 
Together.     Dwarf t  or  godlike,  bond  or  free." 

Woman  comes  upon  the  field  of  conflict  to  help  man  wipe  out  this  stain 
from  her  sex  and  country,  and  to  make  temperance  reform  permanent  and 
desirable.  The  saloon  has,  perhaps,  no  enemies  more  aggressive  in  their 
operations,  more  formidable  in  their  attacks,  than  Wesleyan  Methodists. 
As  early  as  1743  the  rules  governing  the  united  societies  of  Methodists 
formulated  by  the  Wesleys  prohibited  drunkenness,  the  buying  and  selling 
or  drinking  of  spirituous  liquors  except  in  cases  of  extreme  necessity. 
Methodism  has  taken  no  backward  step ;  her  attitude  has  been  aggressive, 
her  relation  to  the  saloon  always  hostile.  My  faith  in  Him  who  is  pow- 
erful in  his  providence,  all-knowing  in  his  information,  severe  in  his  de- 
nunciation of  wrong,  leads  me  to  assert  that  the  saloon  will  yet  sustain 
its  Waterloo  upon  the  battle-fields  of  prohibition.     A  great  principle,  like 


418  TEMPERANCE. 

the  waters  of  the  oceans,  has  its  neap  and  its  spring  tides,  its  ebbs  and  its 
flows.  Fluctuations  and  reverses  may  come  as  we  march  on  through  dust 
and  smoke  of  battle  to  final  victory.  But  these  vicissitudes  will  only 
form  the  foundation  for  a  series  of  victories  which  will  stay  not  until 
legal  prohibition — the  goal  toward  which  we  press — will  be  in  full  force 
throughout  the  country.  Should  we  who  are  here  to-day  not  live  to  see 
the  prohibition  light  that  dawns  just  down  the  vista  of  coming  ages,  we 
may  at  least  throw  off  the  drapery  of  our  couches  and  pass  on  to  our  rest 
in  the  confident  hope  that  the  legal  prohibition  of  the  saloon  will  usher 
in  an  era  of  peace,  happiness,  and  prosperity,  and  inaugurate  a  glorious 
and  brilliant  future  for  our  posterity. 

In  the  absence  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  AntlifE,  D.D.,  of  the 
Primitive  Methodist  Church,  who  was  detained  by  illness  at 
Montreal,  the  Rev.  James  Pickett,  of  the  Primitive  Methodist 
Church,  gave  the  third  invited  address,  on  "  Legal  Prohibition 
of  the  Saloon,"  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  I  feel  sure  that  this  great  Conference  regrets  the  occa- 
sion of  the  absence  of  my  honorable  friend,  than  whom  hardly  any  man  in 
Great  Britain  has  done  any  more  valiant  service  in  this  great  reform.  But 
no  one  regrets  it  so  much  as  I  do.  It  will,  of  course,  be  fairly  understood 
that  I  am  here  merely  as  a  substitute. 

The  solution  of  the  drink  problem  is  pre-eminently  a  task  for  God's  ' 
Church,  a  task  for  which  it  is  fitted,  and  I  had  almost  said  for  which  it  is 
ready,  if  there  could  only  come  to  it' a  baptism  of  good  sense  and  a  bap- 
tism of  pluck  to  face  the  task  and  deal  with  the  problem  itself.  It  is  be- 
yond question,  if  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  in  all  lands  chooses  to  say 
before  the  birth  of  the  twentieth  century  that  the  drink  traffic  may  be 
swept  from  existence,  that  it  would  be  done.  But  the  Church  is  in  very 
great  peril,  in  my  humble  judgment,  and  that  peril  is  dual.  It  is  in  dan- 
ger of  indifference,  brought  about  by  familiarity  on  the  one  hand  and  of 
handing  over  the  solution  of  this  problem  to  the  politician  on  the  other. 

I  am  glad  that  the  first  speaker  relieved  me  of  any  need  for  questioning  his 
position  when  he  said  this  is  not  a  political  question,  because  he  so  admi- 
rably answered  himself  before  he  got  through.  If  the  solution  of  the  drink 
problem  shall  become  purely  a  political  question,  then  before  long  it  will 
degenerate  into  a  bone  of  contention  for  political  wranglers  and  fall  into 
the  shadow,  from  which  it  will  be  difficult  to  bring  it  back. 

Primarily  this  question  is  a  moral  and  spiritual  one.  The  first  inspira- 
tions for  dealing  with  it  are  spiritual,  and  when  those  of  us  who  draw  om* 
stimulus  from  the  cross  of  Jesus  Christ  hand  this  question  over  to  i)lace- 
seekers — of  course  Americans  know  nothing  of  that;  place-seekers  are  in 
England — then  the  drink  traffic  will  multiply  and  grow  in  strength  as  the 
years  pass  by.  But  first  of  all  this  is  a  moral  and  spiritual  question.  At 
the  same  time  I  do  not  deny  that  it  has  a  political  character.  But  it  is 
not  less  spiritual  because  it  is  political.     It  is  not  less  religious  because  it 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    JAMES    PICKETT,  119 

is  a  question  of  law  and  of  politics.  It  has  been  necessarily  a  political 
question.  The  good  order  and  well-being  of  the  community  are  insepara- 
bly bound  up  in  its  history,  and  the  State  has  been  bound  to  look  upon 
this  question  as  one  of  its  own.  The  principle  that  the  State  has  <the  right 
to  regulate  the  drink  traffic  is  universally  admitted.  But  what  does  that 
admission  mean  ?  If  you  admit  that  the  State  has  a  right  to  regulate,  you 
admit  also  that  it  has  a  right,  if  the  necessity  should  arise,  to  absolutely 
annihilate  and  sweep  it  from  existence. 

It  is  beyond  dispute  that  society  has  a  right  to  protect  itself.  Society 
has  a  right  to  protect  the  weak  who  are  in  it,  and  many  of  them  made 
weak  because  of  the  devastation  of  this  terrible  foe  of  our  kind;  be- 
cause it  is  now  becoming  notorious  that  nothing  more  swiftly  draws  the 
fiber  from  the  human  form,  nothing  more  completely  brings  the  will-force 
into  disaster,  than  excessive  use  of  intoxicating  drink.  It  has  thrown  onto 
the  body  of  society  a  great  mass  of  human  life  that  has  scarcely  strength 
to  maintain  itself.  It  therefore  becomes  the  business  of  society  to  pro- 
tect the  weak.  But  especially  is  it  true  that  society  has  a  right  to  screen 
its  youth ;  and  if  there  were  one  phase  of  this  topic  that  makes  my  soul 
blaze  more  than  another,  it  is  the  awful  destruction  that  is  being  wrought 
day  by  day  among  the  boys  and  girls  all  over  the  land,  and  is  coming  into 
our  Sunday-schools  and  churches,  rifling  our  peace  and  flinging  the 
churches  and  Sunday-schools  into  disaster  too  dark  to  be  depicted.  I 
cannot  see  why  every  man  who  loves  his  kind  does  not  become  mad  on 
this  question,  and  swear  before  his  Maker  that  he  will  fight  it  to  the  death. 
If  these  things  be  admitted,  society  has  a  right  to  deal  with  this  traffic; 
and,  if  the  necessity  shall  arise,  it  has  the  indisputable  right  to  prohibit  it 
altogether.  Now,  is  this  unnecessary,  as  some  slow  and  tory  spirits  seem 
to  suppose  ?  The  business  of  the  Church  is  to  elevate  society.  Certainly 
the  Church  should  be  prompted  to  shackle  the  liquor  traffic  from  impulses 
of  self-preservation ;  and  it  is  the  business  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ, 
every  body  admits,  to  check  other  forms  of  evil  as  well.  But  tell  me,  How 
long  would  other  evils  live  if  they  did  not  fatten  on  this  evil  ? 

I  am  glad  that  this  Conference  is  to  consider  the  question  of  getting  rid 
of  this  social  vice.  The  duty  of  the  Church  is  to  create  healthy  political 
sentiment,  and  in  the  creation  of  sentiment  the  saloon  goes.  For  this 
reason :  sentiment  almost  always  crystallizes  itself  into  law ;  and  no  law  can 
be  prominent  that  is  not  buttressed  by  sentiment  and  does  not  draw  its 
life  from  the  existence  of  healthy  public  opinion.  And  here  in  the  polit- 
ical and  humanitarian  aspects  of  this  great  question,  what  is  the  Church  of 
Christ  to  do  ?  In  the  first  place,  to  agitate ;  in  the  second  place,  to  agitate ; 
and  in  the  third  place,  to  agitate,  until  there  has  been  generated  an  opin- 
ion that  becomes  well-nigh  omnific  and  voices  itself  in  unmistakable  ways 
against  this  destroyer  of  our  kind,  and  more  than  all  else  grieves  the  heart 
of  Him  who  died  that  we  might  live. 

For  the  purpose  of  creating  a  right  sentiment  on  this  drink  question, 
the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  mvist  correct  its  own  conception.  The  sophis- 
try of  our  having  opinions  free  rather  than  sober  must  always  be  vetoed, 


420  TEMPEEANCE. 

for  the  reason  that  no  opinion  under  heaven  can  be  free  until  it  is  sober. 
And  then  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  must  keep  its  hands  clean  on  the 
subject— I  speak  for  myself,  Mr.  Chairman.  I  hope  the  time  will  come 
when  bloated  brewers  and  all  kinds  of  distillers  will  feel  that  they  must 
change  their  calling  or  their  Church  for  the  Methodist,  and  realize  that 
the  Methodist  sentiment  at  least  is  dead  against  any  direct  or  indirect 
complicity  with  the  drink  traffic.  And  then  it  must  get  a  braver  and 
bolder  spirit,  hitting  out  fairly  and  squarely  against  it  in  the  high  places 
and  in  the  low ;  for  the  Christian  Church  all  over  the  land  should  have 
the  goodness  to  watch  law  and  understand  that  all  good  law  is  best  in 
that  which  is  moral  and  true,  and  make  it  the  function  of  the  law  that  it 
is  easier  to  do  right  than  to  do  wrong.  If  it  would  daily  watch  the  law- 
makers instead  of  the  law,  and  refuse  to  allow  those  who  are  allied  with 
the  drink  traffic  to  have  any  thing  to  do  with  law-making,  the  Church  of 
Christ  would  have  a  better  chance.  When  we  have  better  strength,  when 
we  have  better  hands,  and  force  the  great  work  of  rescue  on  the  one  hand 
and  prohibition  on  the  other,  then  we  may  expect  the  bright  blessing  of 
God. 

The  Kev.  Bishop  W.  J.  Gaines,  D.D.,  of  the  African  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  introduced  the  general  discussion  of 
the  afternoon  in  the  following  words  : 

Mr.  Chairman,  Fathers,  and  Brethren  of  the  Ecumenical  Conference: 
There  is  no  subject  that  has  been  brought  before  this  Conference  that  has 
interested  my  mind  so  much  as  that  of  the  liquor  traffic.  I  represent 
about  eight  million  colored  people,  and  many  of  them  are  being  led 
downward  to  destruction  day  after  day  by  rum.  I  am  a  Southerner  by 
birth.  We  Southern  people,  white  and  colored,  have  determined  in  our 
minds  to  break  up  the  liquor  traffic  in  the  Southland.  And  I  have  de- 
cided that  when  we  have  succeeded  in  breaking  up  the  whisky  traffic,  we 
shall  have  done  as  much  for  the  country  as  the  Northern  people  did  in 
breaking  up  slavery.  The  colored  people  of  Georgia  pay  taxes  on  about 
thirteen  million  dollars.  Had  they  not  drunk  whisky,  the  bar-room 
keepers  could  not  have  paid  their  rent.  We  have  made  them  rich  by 
buying  the  meanest  whisky  that  is  made.  Had  temperance  by  moral 
suasion  and  prohibition  been  enforced  we  would  have  been  paying  tax  on 
iifty  million  dollars  in  Georgia.  I  want  to  tell  this  Conference  that  the 
Churches  throughout  the  South,  white  and  colored,  have  taken  this 
monster  by  the  horns,  and,  by  the  grace  of  God,  we  intend  to  fight  until 
the  war  is  over. 

I  want  to  say  one  word  to  you,  gentlemen.  I  do  not  believe  we  can  get 
whisky  out  of  the  country  until  some  political  party  takes  hold  of  this 
question.  You  may  differ  with  me — you  are  likely  to  do  it.  During  the 
great  prohibition  tight  in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  we  had  two  distinct  political  par- 
ties— the  Prohibition  Party  and  the  Anti-prohibition.  The  Prohibition- 
ists succeeded  in  carrying  out  their  princi])les,  and  elected  their  mayor, 
council,  and  aldermen  by  a  large  majority.  When  the  qviestion  came  up 
a  second  time  before  the  people,  we  Prohibitionists  "put  on  kid  gloves  " 
and  said  we  would  not  hurt  any  l)ody,  insult  any  body,  nor  fight  any  body. 
What  was  the  result?  The  Anti-prohibitionists  took  the  city  of  Atlanta 
away  from  us  and  disgraced  it  with  bar-rooms.  And  they  have  control  of 
the   city   now.      And   unless   the   best    white   and   colored    people    get 


GENERAL    KEMAEKS.  421 

together  and  work  as  a  unit  we  cannot  conquer  the  liquor  traffic  in  that 
State. 

Brethren  of  the  Convention,  1  believe  in  moral  suasion  and  prohibition 
both.  If  the  Republican  Party  had  not  taken  hold  of  the  (juestion  of 
slavery  it  would  have  been  in  existence  to-day,  and  moral  suasion  of  itself 
would  not  have  accomplished  the  result.  The  way  that  you  must  con- 
quer whisky  is  the  way  you  have  conquered  slavery.  That  is  a  fact  that 
should  be  apparent  to  all  Christian  people,  white  and  colored.  I  admit 
that  whisky  is  doini:^  my  people  more  harm  than  it  is  white  people,  for  I 
suppose  they  are  more  able  to  buy  it  and  get  a  better  kind  of  whisky. 
I  desire  to  state  here  that  the  Southern  white  people  and  colored  people 
generally  agree  in  fighting  the  whisky  traffic,  and  especially  the  Chris- 
tian people  of  that  part  of  our  country.  We  propose  to  crush  that  mon- 
ster, the  rum  traffic.  Let  us  here  in  this  Convention  pass  some  resolution 
expressing  to  the  world  that  we  are  opposed  to  this  rum  traflac  and  pro- 
pose to  tight  it  until  Jesus  comes. 

The  Rev.  J.  C.  Simmons,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  Soutli,  spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  President  and  Brothers :  I  am  a  temperance  man  by  birth  and  by 
blood.  Before  there  was  a  temperance  organization  in  the  United  States 
my  father  was  sent  for  far  and  near  to  preach  on  the  subject  of  temper- 
ance. I  inherited  his  qualities  in  that  respect,  and  1  have  been  at  it  ever 
since  I  was  a  preacher.  I  have  lifted  up  the  standard  for  temperance  all 
over  California,  and  my  trumpet  has  given  no  uncertain  sound.  But  I  am 
here  to-day  to  speak  on  one  single  point,  and  from  my  heart  I  believe  that 
upon  that  point  depends  the  success  of  this  crusade  against  the  liquor  traffic. 
I  am  satisfied  of  that.  The  manifestation  of  interest  on  the  part  of  this 
Conference  whenever  the  subject  of  temperance  has  been  mentioned 
shows  that  the  great  heart  of  the  Methodist  Church,  north,  south,  east, 
and  west,  is  in  favor  of  temperance,  and  on  both  sides  of  the  ocean  we  are 
united. 

Why  do  we  not  succeed?  There  has  been  a  crusade  on  the  part  of  the 
women  of  our  land,  whether  on  the  other  side  of  the  sea  or  not.  Why 
have  they  not  succeeded?  I  believe,  before  God,  it  is  because  they  have 
been  drawn  off  on  side  issues  instead  of  confining  themselves  to  the  fight 
of  the  one  great  evil — the  saloon.  Why,  sir,  they  have  attacked  the  drop 
of  wine  that  we  give  at  the  sacrament ;  and  in  the  ministration  of  the 
sacrament  I  have  seen  men  and  women  pass  the  wine  by  without  tasting 
it,  so  influenced  have  they  been  by  those  who  have  opposed  the  use  of 
fermented  wine  at  the  sacrament.  If  they  had  expended  their  force  in 
their  crusade  against  the  saloons  they  would  have  accomplished  grander 
results.  We  have  as  a  Church  been  firing  at  a  shadow  on  the  wall,  while  the 
wolves  have  been  tearing  out  the  hearts  of  our  children.  And  there  are 
other  wolves  waiting  when  the  soul  shall  leave  the  body  to  begin  a  feast 
far  more  ferocious  than  that.  Who  is  the  friend  of  the  saloon?  Every- 
where men,  w^omen,  and  children  rise  up  against  it.  Let  us,  then,  turn 
all  our  forces  against  the  saloon.  Let  these  side  issues  pass,  and  let  the 
temperance  movement  be  concentrated  with  all  its  powers  ujjon  this  one 
evil.  In  that  way  we  shall  accomplish  something,  and  not  before.  I  am 
satisfied  of  that. 

I  was  in  Georgia  a  few  days  ago,  my  old  home,  and  I  was  in  one  of  the 
"dry"  counties  of  that  State,  at  Cochran,  and  I  counted  thirty-six  jugs 
taken  out  of  the  car  with  sealed  mouths.  And  when  I  went  into  the  ex- 
press  office  at  Hawkinsville  I  counted  fifty-four  more  jugs  with  sealed 


422  TEMPERANCE. 

mouths.  That  is  in  a  "dry"  county.  But  the  State  law  requires  that 
whisky  in  original  packages  can  go  through,  and  they  have  all  they 
want.  We  want  to  turn  our  forces  against  the  saloon,  ancl  not  let  up  until 
no  saloon  man  will  dare  bottle  up  whisky  and  send  it  to  one  of  these 
' '  dry  "  counties. 

The  Rev.  W.  B.  Laek,  of  tlie  Bible  Christian  Church,  made 
the  following  remarks : 

Mr.  President :  I  am  glad  of  the  opportunity  to  say  a  word  or  two  on 
this  question  by  way  of  following  up  some  remarks  which  have  been 
already  made.  I  am  here  to  represent  a  section  of  the  Methodist  Church 
that  has  a  very  clean  record  on  this  matter.  As  to  myself,  I  have  been  a 
total  abstainer  from  the  day  of  my  birth.  I  think  we  must  admit  that 
there  has  been  a  remarkable  awakening  of  the  public  mind,  of  the  Chris- 
tian mind — yes,  of  the  Methodist  mind — to  the  evils  of  the  liquor  traffic 
both. in  my  country  and  in  this,  and  consequently  the  demand  for  the 
suppression  of  the  traffic  has  groM'n  louder  every  day.  But  no  sooner  do 
we  approach  this  question  than  the  rights  of  property  are  trotted  out 
against  us.  I  wish  to  ask  if  there  are  no  other  rights  to  be  considered 
than  the  rights  of  property  ?  I  wish  to  ask  if  the  government  has  no  duty 
as  the  protector  of  rights  other  than  those  of  property?  and  I  would  like 
to  ask  if  the  rights  of  property  are  to  have  the  pre-eminence  over  all 
other  rights?  There  are  multitudes  of  drunkards'  wives  who  are  a  thou- 
sand times  worse  than  widows,  and  there  are  the  children  of  drunkards 
who  are  worse  than  orphans.  There  are  thousands  of  broken-hearted 
mothers;  and  I  ask,  in  God's  name,  have  they  no  rights  ?  Has  society  no 
rights  ?  Their  rights  are  so  sacred  and  their  interests  so  holy  that  they 
can  never  be  estimated  in  money. 

I  will  grant  that  it  is  probable,  perhaps  I  may  even  go  further  and  say 
that  it  is  possible,  that  you  cannot  get  eflfectual  legislation  on  this  ques- 
tion without  sacrificing  to  some  extent  the  rights  of  property.  What 
then  ?  Why,  this :  you  cannot  withhold  this  legislation  without  sacri- 
ficing rights  infinitely  more  sacred  and  interests  infinitely  more  holy  than 
the  rights  of  jiroperty.  I  say  in  reply  to  those  who  speak  of  the  stupid 
twaddle  about  making  men  moral  by  act  of  Parliament,  is  it  not  the  busi- 
ness, the  duty,  of  the  government  to  defend  and  protect  moral  interest  as 
well  as  material  ?  And  I  will  go  further  and  say  yes,  if  necessary,  to  the 
sacrifice  of  the  material.  I  protest  against  the  materialism  that  is  ever 
and  anon  being  flung  in  the  faces  of  the  men  and  women  who  are  labor- 
ing in  the  work  of  reform — the  rights  of  property. 

We  have  heard  a  great  deal  about  doctrinal  Christianity.  Have  we 
forgotten  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  ethical  Christianity  ?  And  is  there 
any  thing  more  needed  than  ethical  Christianity  in  our  houses  and  legis- 
lation ?  And  I  ask  if  it  is  not  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  educate  the  State 
in  the  Christian  ethics  of  government  ?  But  if  the  Chvirch  is  to  do  that, 
let  her  see  to  it  that  her  own  hands  are  clean.  For  myself,  I  would  a 
thousand  times  rather  worshi])  in  a  barn  or  in  the  by-way  of  a  city  than  in 
a  sanctuary  built  and  beautified  by  money  obtained  in  the  liquor  traffic. 

The  Rev.  J.  W.  Haney,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  continued  the  discussion,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  In  spite  of  my  unfortunate  appearance  I  am  a  temper- 
ance man.  I  drink  nothing  but  M^ater  and  always  vote  prohibition.  The 
great  crying  shame  of  this  generation  is  the  licensed  liquor  traffic,  and  the 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  423 

liquor  traffic  is  licensed  chiefly  by  the  so-called  Christian  nations  of  the 
world.  The  Mohammedan  nation,  the  followers  of  the  false  prophet — 
two  hvmdred  and  fifty  millions  of  human  beings — are  prohibitionists ;  the 
government  is  a  prohibition  government. 

What  is  the  attitude  of  the  Church  to  this  great  evil,  this  licensed 
crime  ?  An  attitude  of  unswerving  hostility,  and  no  other  attitude  can 
be  assumed  by  the  Christian  Church.  The  Church  to  which  I  belong  has 
struck  the  high-water  mark  in  a  pastoral  address  from  Bishop  Merrill  with 
regard  to  licenses,  and  has  incorporated  into  the  Discipline  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church.  All  license,  high  or  low,  is  vicious  in  principle 
and  a  failure  in  practice.  The  liquor  traffic  can  never  be  legalized  with- 
out sin.  I  want  to  repeat — possibly  somebody  did  not  hear  it — ■"  It  can 
never  be  legalized  without  sin !  "  Now,  sir,  if  the  whole  Methodist  world 
will  come  up  to  the  fighting  line  we  will  stamp  this  thing  out  of  existence. 

What  is  the  proper  attitude  of  the  State  toward  this  thing  ?  We  as  a 
nation  have  ninety  cents  invested  in  every  gallon  of  the  abominable  stuff. 
It  is  worth  f  1.15  a  gallon.  Think  of  it,  we  who  live  in  the  United  States, 
Christians  and  all,  have  ninety  cents  invested  in  each  gallon  of  whisky 
that  is  made.  That  is  a  terrible  thing ;  and  if  I  could  blush  more  than  I 
appear  to  do  normally  I  would  blush  to  my  ear-tips  when  I  make  that 
statement.  Now,  what  is  the  law  ?  Let  William  Blackstone,  the  great 
writer,  define  it:  "Law  is  a  rule  of  civil  action,  prescribed  by  the  supreme 
authority  of  the  State ;  commending  what  is  right,  prohibiting  what  is 
wrong."  That  is  the  foundation  of  law.  All  human  law  must  be  built 
on  that  foundation,  and  right  along  that  line  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  has  declared  that  there  is  no  power  or  right  in  any  legis- 
lative body  to  "  barter  away  the  public  morals  or  the  public  health."  And 
so,  by  the  declaration  of  the  word  of  God,  by  the  dictum  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  and  by  the  authority  of  Church  and  State,  it 
is  declared  that  the  dram-shops — that  is  what  we  call  them  in  our  laws  out 
AVest;  we  have  no  saloons  there,  they  are  dram-shops — are  outlaws. 
They  have  no  right  to  an  existence,  but  the  right  to  be  destroyed.  They 
have  no  other  right. 

What  is  the  purpose  or  what  is  the  objective  point  of  this  discussion  ? 
That  we  may  move  forward  on  this  line  and  come  nearer  together —  (Here 
the  time  expired.) 

Mr.  W.  H.  Lambly,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  Canada,  spoke 
as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  I  differ  in  toto  from  the  sentiments  of  the  first  paper 
read  this  afternoon  with  regard  to  the  enforcement  of  the  law  for  the 
prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic.  If  the  Christian  men  and  women  of 
Canada  have  not  the  right  to  ask  for,  obtain,  and  enforce  prohibitory 
laws,  there  is  nobody  under  the  broad  heavens  who  has  the  right  to  do  it. 
In  Canada  we  have  a  national  prohibitory  law  upon  our  statute  books. 
This  law  covers  the  entire  dominion,  and  any  county  or  city  in  that  do- 
minion has  the  right  by  a  majority  vote  of  the  people  to  obtain  prohibi- 
tion pure  and  simple;  and  many  counties  have  adopted  that  law,  and 
thus  have  prohibition  with  all  the  blessings  attending  it.  Besides  this 
national  law,  which  no  other  nation  has,  our  local  legislatures  have  given 
us  local  option  laws,  so  that  any  municipality  by  a  majority  vote  of  the 
people  may  come  under  a  prohibitory  law,  and  thus  enjoy  the  blessings 
of  prohibition.  Now,  if  we  have  not  universal  prohibition  in  Canada  it 
is  the  fault  of  the  people.  And  it  is  the  fault  of  the  Christian  people  in 
Canada  that  we  have  not  prohibition  to-day. 


424  TEMPERANCE. 

I  say  that  the  Church  of  God  to-day  in  all  Christian  lands  is  responsi- 
ble for  the  traffic  in  strong  drink.  And  consequently  the  great  Methodist 
Church  which  we  represent  here  to-day  is  largely  responsible  for  the 
liquor  traffic.  If  the  Christians  of  tliis  land,  or  any  other  laud,  and  the 
voters  who  could  be  influenced  by  the  Christian  Church  were  to  cast 
their  votes,  irrespective  of  party,  for  prohibition,  they  would  wipe  out 
of  existence  any  government  that  would  refuse  to  give  us  prohibition,  and 
in  five  years  we  would  have  prohibition  pure  and  simple  all  over  the  land. 
But  what  are  the  facts  ?  Many  Christians  preach  temperance,  talk 
temperance,  pray  temperance,  weep  over  the  awful  ravages  of  the  traffic, 
and  then  go  and  vote  party  every  time.  Until  we  can  sink  party  politics 
and  vote  only  jjrohibition  we  will  never  realize  prohibition  in  our  land. 

The  saloon-keeper  has  been  attacked  this  afternoon.  Our  fight  is  not 
with  the  saloou-keeper ;  our  fight  is  not  with  the  rum-seller ;  our  fight  is 
with  the  system  that  permits  them  to  exist.  We  might  to-day  take  the 
rum-sellers  of  Christendom  and  drown  them  in  the  Potomac,  and  it  would 
not  arrest  the  traffic  or  destroy  the  evil,  because  another  brood  would  rise 
in  their  place  and  carry  on  their  hellish  work.  We  must  destroy  the 
system ;  and  that  can  be  destroyed  only  by  the  ballot  and  by  the  grace  of 
God.  And  by  the  power  of  omnipotence  we  will  destroy  that  system  and 
bury  it  beyond  any  hope  of  resurrection  in  this  world  or  in  the  world  to 
come.  And  we  will  bury  that  system  as  Brother  Jones's  sister  said  she 
would  bury  the  devil,  ' '  face  downward,  so  that  the  more  he  would  scratch 
the  deeper  he  would  get."  Another  thing.  We  want  women  to  have  a 
vote  on  this  question.  In  Canada,  where  we  are  ahead  on  this  question, 
as  we  are  on  most  of  the  vital  questions,  our  women  have  a  vote  on 
municipal  matters.  In  Toronto  the  women  have  the  balance  of  power  in 
their  hands,  and  they  can  elect  a  temperance  mayor  every  time.  And 
when  the  women  of  our  land  get  the  ballot  they  will  destroy  the  liquor 
traffic  at  once  and  forever. 

Tlie  Rev,  Joseph  !Nettleton,  of  the  Weslevan    Methodist 

Church,  made  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President :  In  our  Fijian  Mission  our  missionaries  are  total  abstain- 
ers, and  always  have  been.  Our  native  pastors  and  all  our  class-leaders 
are  total  abstainers,  and  eighty  thousand  members  of  the  Methodist 
Church  are  voluntary  abstainers  from  strong  drink.  Missionaries  from  the 
beginning  have  been  themselves  total  abstainers.  They  have  clean  hands. 
In  Lancashire  a  few  years  ago  on  a  Sunday  night,  when  the  chapel  was 
crowded  and  lighted  by  standards  here  and  there  all  over  the  church, 
through  some  accident  or  mischievous  freak  the  gas  was  turned  off  in  the 
middle  of  the  service,  and  the  congregation  was  in  total  darkness.  In- 
struction was  given  to  just  turn  the  taps  until  the  chapel-keeper  could  get 
around  with  the  lights.  That  was  attended  to  all  over  the  chapel.  After 
the  steward  got  through  lighting  in  the  body  of  the  chapel,  he  went  up 
to  the  minister  in  the  pulpit  and  said,  "If  you  please,  sir,  you  forgot  to 
turn  off  the  taps  in  the  pulpit."  Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  my  own  impression 
is  if  you  can  turn  off  the  taps  in  all  the  Methodist  churches,  you  can  turn 
off  the  taps  throughout  the  country. 

The   Rev.  E,  E.  Hoss,  D.D.,  of   the  Methodist  Episcopal 

Church,  South,  continued  the  discussion,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Conference :  I  began  my  ministry 
twenty-one  years  ago  with  this  doctrine :  That  no  man  has  a  moral  right 
to  engage  in  the  promiscuous  sale  of  ardent  spirits  so  long  as  he  can  make 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  425 

an  liouest  living  by  stealing.  The  Church  to  which  I  belong  has  as  ab- 
solutely clean  a  record  in  this  matter  as  any  Church  under  the  heavens.  I 
do  not  know  a  single  man  of  four  thousand  itinerant  preachers  who  is  not 
a  total  abstainer.  By  the  action  of  our  General  Conference  we  exclude  all 
drunkards  from  the  Cliurch,  and  also  all  men  who  are  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  and  sale  of  ardent  spirits.  Our  last  General  Conference  also 
declared  that  we  are  a  prohibition  Church.  So  far,  then,  there  is  abso- 
lute unanimity  of  sentiment  among  us. 

Further  than  this,  we  believe  that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  Christian  cit- 
izen, in  the  exercise  of  his  rights  and  privileges  as  a  citizen,  to  do  all  that 
he  possibly  can  to  limit  or  abridge,  extirpate  or  destroy,  this  business.  We 
stand  squarely  on  that.  At  the  same  time  we  do  not  believe  that  our 
Church  as  a  Church,  organically,  has  a  right  to  commit  herself  to  any  po- 
litical party  under  the  sun.  We  are  not  the  tail  to  any  political  kite. 
Whatever  the  principles  of  the  party  may  be,  that  party  will  sooner  or 
later  degenerate ;  and  the  Church  cannot  go  into  a  partnership  of  that  sort — 
the  Church  as  a  Church  cannot  commit  itself  to  any  political  organization. 

The  Rev,  J.  H.  Lockwood,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  I  never  like  to  declare  in  the  introduction  of  a  temper- 
ance address — at  least  it  is  not  popular  in  our  State  to  start  out  by  saying, 
I  am  a  temperance  man.  It  reminds  us  so  much  of  the  old  days  when 
they  used  to  put  under  the  picture  they  drew  whatever  it  might  be  in- 
tended to  represent;  for  instance,  "  This  is  a  horse,"  or  "  This  is  a  cow." 
Why,  as  a  matter  of  course,  all  Methodist  preachers  are  temperance  men, 
and,  therefore,  we  never  think  it  necessary  to  preface  our  remarks  by  say- 
ing that  w^e  are  temperance  men. 

I  want  to  speak  a  word  on  the  subject  of  temperance  in  its  relation  to 
constitutional  ])rohibition  of  the  ram  traffic.  I  represent  the  pioneer 
State  on  this  question  of  constitutional  prohibition.  I  do  not  mean  to 
say  that  Kansas  was  the  first  State  to  adopt  prohibition.  We  all  know 
that  it  w^as  not.  There  are  many  honored  names  among  the  States  of  this 
republic  that  adopted  prohibition  before  we  did.  But  ours  was  the  first 
State  to  put  prohibition  in  the  organic  law  of  the  State.  If  I  had  the 
time,  which  I  know  I  have  not  in  a  few  minutes'  speech,  I  would  be  glad 
to  give  you  a  history  of  how  we  secured  prohibition  in  Kansas.  We  were 
indebted,  first,  to  our  friends  who  worked  up  temperance  sentiment  and 
had  the  State  at  a  white  heat,  and  as  a  result  had  cajitured  the  Legislature 
of  1879  and  1880.  Second,  we  were  indebted  to  our  enemies,  who  unre- 
mittingly gave  us  an  opportunity  to  defeat  them  by  proposing  to  go  before 
the  people  when  they  saw  we  were  about  to  strengthen  and  make  more 
efficient  the  local  option  law.  They  thought  they  would  flank  us  by  ap- 
pealing to  the  people,  but  we  took  up  the  gauntlet  thus  thrown  down  and 
joined  in  the  appeal  to  a  popular  vote.  The  result  was  seven  thousand 
majority  in  favor  of  prohibition.  Third,  we  were  indebted  to  a  woman 
who,  when  w^e  needed  one  vote  to  secure  the  necessary  two  thirds,  went 
to  her  husband,  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  and  pleaded  with  him  for 
the  sake  of  their  boy  to  vote  for  the  submission  of  the  amendment,  and 
thus  carried  the  day.  We  have  had  prohibition  for  ten  years,  and  we  have 
no  desire  to  go  back  either  to  license,  local  option,  or  statutory  law. 

From  the  time  prohibition  was  incorporated  into  the  constitution  of 
Kansas  until  now  it  has  been  a  ceaseless  war.  We  have  fought  over  every 
inch  of  ground,  and  there  is  not  a  legal  phase  of  this  question  that  has  not 
been  settled  in  our  favor  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  our  State  and  of  the 
United  States.  The  only  thing  left  the  enemies  of  prohibition  is  re-sub- 
30 


426  TEMPER  ANCE. 

mission  of  the  question  to  the  voters  of  the  State,  but  every  time  it  has 
been  proposed  we  have  covered  it  with  an  avalanche  of  ballots.  We  have 
nailecl  our  flag  to  the  mast,  and  j^ropose  to  fight  it  out  on  the  line  if  it 
takes  ten  years  more.      "  Ad  astra  2)er  aspera  "is  the  motto  of  Kansas. 

Tlie  Ee\^.  S.  N,  Griffith,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Churcli,  made  tlie  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President:  I  come  from  the  State  of  North  Dakota.  In  1887  a  vast 
majority  of  the  counties  in  that  then  Territory  secured  prohibition  by  local 
option — voting  by  counties.  In  1888,  after  one  solitary  year — for  the  law 
provided  that  it  should  be  re-submitted  in  a  year  under  certain  conditions 
— a  majority  of  the  counties  voted  against  it.  As  Christian  men  we  voted 
for  it — being  kings  in  the  State  and  priests  in  the  Church.  The  thing 
which  defeated  us  in  1888  was  money  sent  into  the  Territory.  We  had  a 
money  invasion  of  our  Territory,  and  that  is  w^orse  than  an  army  invasion. 
Money  was  brought  in  and  paid  out  to  thrashing  crews,  who  had  obtained 
citizenship  by  having  been  in  the  Territory  six  mouths,  and  there  was 
enough  of  such  votes  to  beat  us  that  year.  In  1889  we  had  votes  enough 
to  put  prohibition  into  the  State  constitution.  In  that  campaign  the  sum 
of  eighty  thousand  dollars  was  sent  into  the  Territory  by  the  liquor  in- 
terest in  the  nation.  The  liquor  i)arty  in  the  Territory  got  to  quarreling 
as  to  who  was  to  distribute  the  "  boodle."  In  the  good  province  of  God 
this  gave  us  a  chance  to  vote  prohibition ;  because  those  who  furnished  the 
money  took  it  away  on  account  of  the  quarrel  and  because  they  felt  sure 
they  would  get  the  State  without  it. 

Now,  I  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  money  invasion  of 
States  where  prohibition  would  be  otherwise  voted  will  prevent  it.  If 
several  of  the  States  could  have  had  an  honest  vote  there  would  have  been 
no  doubt  of  success.  Money  invasion  is  what  this  cause  at  this  juncture  has 
to  fear — money  used  to  buy  votes.  Why,  I  know  a  man  who  was  offered 
five  thousand  dollars  if  he  would  use  his  influence  against  prohibition, 
and  others  who  were  offered  any  thing  they  would  ask.  We  began  to 
track  this  money,  and  we  found  that  the  bulk  of  it  came  from  the  organ- 
ized liquor  power  of  the  United  States.  We  exceedingly  fear  the  influ- 
ence of  this  organized  jjower  at  the  national  capitol  in  this  fair  city. 

Now,  I  think  we  can  never  conquer  the  liquor  traffic  until  the  national 
liquor  tax  is  abolished.  A  man  makes  fifteen  cents  worth  of  whisky,  puts 
it  in  bond,  gives  that  fifteen  cents  worth  of  whisky  as  security  for  ninety 
cents  of  tax,  and  in  four  years  it  is  worth  four  dollars  a  gallon.  The 
liquor  traffic  of  the  country,  concentrated  by  the  operation  of  the  law,  is 
backed  by  about  five  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  dollars  annually,  or 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  more  than  the  revenue  of  the  general 
government.  While  it  would  be  comparatively  easy  for  States  to  carry 
prohibition  if  left  to  themselves,  not  a  State  will  undertake  it  but  it  will 
be  liable  to  be  voted  down  by  venal  votes  purchased  by  those  representing 
the  whisky  traffic. 

The  Rev.  F.  A.  Hubbard,  of  the  African  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  continued  the  discussion  in  the  following  words : 

Mr.  President :  I  have  only  a  word  to  say.  It  seems  to  me  in  discussing 
this  all-important  subject,  and  rallying  our  forces  to  handle  it  as  it  should 
be,  we  should  take  action  here  to  unloose  the  mothers,  the  women  of  the 
country,  to  help  us  in  this  great  struggle.  There  is  where  the  trouble 
lies.  We  have  been  working  for  thirty  years  to  unfetter  the  women. 
They  are  on  the  right  side  of  the  temperance  question,  and  we  should  set- 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  427 

tie  it  once  for  all.  We  have  been  working,  arguing,  and  talking  about 
settling  the  rum  traffic,  but  we  have  not  settled  it  yet.  Why  fetter  these 
millions  who  are  willing  to  vote  with  us  against  this  monster.  But  until 
we  come  to  that  point  we  will  never  wipe  out  this  rum  traffic. 

Mr.  S.  McCoMAs,  J.P.,  of  the  Irish  Methodist  Church, 
spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  I  come  from  a  country  where  we  have  heard  a  great  deal 
about  the  difficulty  of  paying  rent;  and  yet  in  that  country  our  drink  con- 
sumption has  been  considerably  over  ten  millions  of  dollars — considerably 
over  the  entire  rent  of  the  State.  I  come  from  a  city  which  we  think  to 
be  no  big  city.  Its  principal  factories  or  manufactories  are  Guinness  Double 
X  Stout  and  John  Ennis's  whisky.  They  are  the  staple  things  of  the 
place.  We  are  not  behind  in  the  temperance  movement,  and  we,  the  Irish 
Methodist  Church,  are  doing  a  great  work  there.  Our  people  and  minis- 
ters are  in  the  van  of  the  temperance  movement.  We  have  the  Sunday 
closing  act,  and  we  have  tried  its  operations  for  several  years.  It  has 
been  a  blessing,  and  no  statesman  in  our  nation  would  dare  propose  to  re- 
peal it.  Roman  Catholics  and  ecclesiastics  on  the  bench,  people  of  all 
kinds,  are  in  favor  of  it. 

I  think  one  of  the  most  ingenious  masterpieces  of  the  devil  in  order  to 
defeat  the  temperance  movement  was  the  offer,  with  limited  liability  ac- 
companying it,  to  establish  stock  companies  for  the  purpose  of  buying  up 
breweries  and  distilleries  in  the  United  States.  Where  there  were  ten  in- 
terested in  it  before  there  are  one  hundred  now,  and  every  one's  judgment 
is  warped  who  holds  a  share  of  stock  in  these  breweries.  Where  the 
treasure  is,  there  the  heart  is.  Whatever  may  be  their  conscience,  holders 
of  stock  will  sympathize  with  that  traffic.  That  is  a  great  injury.  Min- 
isters in  our  country,  themselves  total  abstainers,  have  not  been  absent 
from  these  investments.  In  our  country  it  has  been  shown  that  the  spec- 
ulation is  not  all  clear  sailing,  not  always  a  money-making  concern.  I 
was  talking  to  a  stock-broker  there,  and  he  said,  ' '  Those  American  brew- 
ing companies  will  have  a  great  smash-up  one  of  these  days."  I  said, 
"  Why  do  you  think  that?"  He  said,  "If  the  Yankees  thought  there 
was  any  good  in  them  they  would  keep  them."  I  believe  in  the  intelli- 
gence of  our  American  friends  in  those  matters.  By  the  advanced  opinion 
on  temperance  in  this  country  we  in  England  and  Ireland  are  benefited, 
and  we  are  determined  to  have  these  two  things  on  our  flag — total  absti- 
nence for  the  individual  and  prohibition  for  the  State. 

The  Hon.  J.  J.  Rogerson,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  Can- 
ada, made  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President :  We  are  here  to-day  one  Methodist  family  for  a  grand, 
glorious  object,  talking  about  a  question  that  comes  home  to  our  hearts, 
especially  the  hearts  that  have  been  wounded  by  this  accursed  liquor 
traffic.  We  ask  God  to  so  cement  the  forces  of  this  Church  and  the  other 
Protestant  Churches  of  this  and  other  lands  represented  here  to-day  that 
we  may  go  forward  to  awaken  the  conscience  of  the  world  on  this  liquor 
business — a  business  which  is  robbing  our  churches,  ruining  our  homes, 
and  inflicting  misery  on  our  communities — the  devil's  chief  factor  for 
every-thing  that  is  vile.  I  pray  God  to  lead  us  forth  in  the  flght  and  give 
us  the  victory,  that  we  may  succeed  in  closing  every  liquor  store  through- 
out the  world.  We  want  the  temptation  removed  from  the  people — those 
places  which  have  done  the  devil's  work  in  the  past  and  ruined  thousands 
of  souls. 


428  TEMPERANCE. 

I  am  here  from  a  fishing  colony,  from  a  community  where  half  a  cent- 
ury ago  men  used  strong  drink  as  freely  as  water.  It  was  openly  kept  in 
places  of  labor,  stores,  wharves,  and  ships,  for  whoever  liked  to  drink 
it  free  of  charge.  The  ministers  and  earnest  laymen  belonging  to  the 
Churches,  especially  our  Methodist  Church,  banded  themselves  togetlier 
and  made  a  strong  effort  to  abolish  the  drinking  customs,  and  after  a  long 
and  bitter  struggle  in  1873  succeeded  in  influencing  our  Legislature  to 
pass  the  Permissive  Act,  which  gives  the  people  the  power  to  close  up 
the  liquor-stores  and  to  prohibit  its  sale ;  and  now  fully  half  the  country 
is  free  from  its  curse.  I  return  to  my  native  Newfoundland  more  than  ever 
determined  to  arouse  our  friends  there  to  fully  carry  out  the  power  the 
people  possess  by  driving  it  forever  from  our  shores. 

I  argue  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  work — not  of  this  Church  only, 
but  all  other  Churches — to  join  hands  and  see  that  the  grog-shop  is  driven 
from  our  countries,  so  that  the  youth  who  are  springing  up  about  us  may 
be  protected. 

Mr.  John  H.  Lile,  CO.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Metliodist  Church, 
spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen :  I  have  been  rather  sorry  this  afternoon 
to  know  that  every  one  of  the  delegates  present  is  thoroughly  with  us  in 
this  teetotal  question — that  we  have  not  had  something  from  the  other  side. 
There  is  an  old  saying  that  there  are  two  sides  to  every  question.  And  I 
really  think  in  a  debate  of  this  sort  we  should  hear  from  those  who  are 
not  with  us  their  side  of  this  question,  for  if  they  are  not  with  us  they 
are  against  us. 

Eev.  T.  B.  Appleget  :  Mr.  President :  In  the  name  of  Western  Method- 
ism I  protest  against  the  insinuation  that  there  is  a  Methodist  preacher  in 
the  land  who  is  not  a  total  abstainer. 

Mr  Lile  :  I  dare  say  the  gentleman  is  right  as  to  this  covmtry ;  I  hope  to 
God  he  is.  But  I  presume  there  is  no  one  on  this  floor  who  has  not  read 
Wesley's  rules,  and  Wesley's  rules  which  I  read  when  I  was  admitted  into 
the  Church  are  sufficient  to  make  every  layman  and  minister  of  this  Con- 
ference an  out  and  out  temperance  man.  I  hold  that  in  connection  with 
our  temperance  work  if  the  ministers  and  the  officers  and  the  rank  and 
the  file  in  my  own  land  would  take  up  this  question  with  some  amount  of 
enthusiasm  it  would  not  be  long  before  the  government  would  listen  to 
the  Christians  of  the  laud  and  help  the  people  to  helji  themselves.  The 
drink  curse  in  your  country  is  nothing  compared  to  what  it  is  in  London. 
Very  few  people  do  we  see  drunk  in  your  big  cities ;  but  you  cannot  go 
into  the  thoroughfares  of  London  without  seeing  the  results  of  the  traffic. 
Therefore,  some  think  the  most  earnest  of  the  laymen  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  who  are  so  far  advanced  on  this  question,  have  a  bee  in  their  bon- 
net. It  is  high  time  to  be  earnest  on  this  question.  It  is  a  gratifying  fact 
that  in  connection  with  our  Wesleyan  Methodist  colleges  in  England  w^e 
find  ninety-nine  of  our  students  out  of  a  hundred  are  pledged  abstainers, 
and,  therefore,  our  young  men  coming  into  our  circuits  are  abstainei-s. 
The  time  was  when  a  man  was  not  received  favorably  who  was  an  ab- 
stainer. But  there  is  a  change  come  over  the  people,  and  they  now  say, 
Send  us  a  man  who  is  an  out  and  out  temperance  man.  This  is  grand 
temperance  work,  for  which  some  of  us  have  been  working  all  our  lives. 
We  ask  you  to  come  over  and  help  us. 

Mr.  Henky  J.  Farmer-Atkinson,  M.P.,    of   the   Wesleyan 

Methodist  Church,  concluded  the  discussion  of  the  afternoon, 

as  follows : 


GENERAL   REMAKKS.  429 

Mr.  President :  Mr.  Lile  misquotes  Wesley's  rules.  He  tells  us  that  the 
rules  Siiy  evei-y  man  ought  to  abstain  entirely.  They  do  not.  The  rules 
of  Wesley  are  against  dram-drinking  and  against  spirituous  liquors.  My 
friends  also  put  it  as  though  certain  persons  were  the  opponents.  And 
you  see  to-day  that  there  is  a  current  of  political  distinction  in  the  re- 
marks that  have  been  made.  My  friend  the  Christian  minister  said, 
' '  even  Mr.  Atkinson  "  so  and  so.  Even  Mr.  Atkinson !  How  dare  he  make 
such  a  remark  ?  I  dare  say  I  am  as  much  a  Bible  Christian  as  the  men 
who  brought  this  on — but  I  do  not  wish  to  be  personal.  Another  refer- 
ence was  made  to  *' slow  "  and  "Tory  "  persons.  The  origin  of  "  Tory  " 
is  that  he  was  a  sort  of  robber  in  Ireland. 

Mr.  Chairman,  those  who  call  themselves  Primitive  Methodists  are  no  more 
Primitive  Methodists  than  impostors.     I  am  really  a  Primitive  Methodist. 

A  Delegate  (Primitive  Methodist  Church,  England) :  Mr.  Chairman :  I 
wish  to  know  to  what  body  of  Primitive  Methodists  the  gentleman  alludes. 

Mr.  Atkinson  :  I  am  not  standing  up  here  to  reply  to  all  the  people 
here.  If  all  the  people  here  were  to  ask  me  questions,  and  I  were  to  stop 
to  answer  them,  they  would  rob  me  of  my  time  again. 

The  Delegate:  I  want  to  know  to  what  body  of  Primitive  Methodists 
the  gentleman  refers. 

Mr.  Atkinson  :  I  do  not  want  another  speech  from  you.  My  answer  is 
that  our  Methodism  was  there  before  the  Primitive  Methodists  of  any  sort. 
Ours  was  the  first  Methodism. 

TuE  Delegate  :  Mr.  Chairman,  the  speaker  has  implied  that  Primitive 
!Methodists  are  impostors.  I  want  to  know  what  Primitive  Methodists  he 
means.  If  he  does  not  mean  the  body  of  which  I  am  a  member,  I  will 
leave  him  for  other  people  to  look  after. 

The  Chairman  :  lie  does  not  mean  you. 

The  Delegate  :  I  must  have  an  answer  from  the  gentleman  himself. 

The  Chairman:  Will  Mr.  Atkinson  answer  the  gentleman?     I  cannot. 

Mr.  Atkinson:  It  would  take  a  hundred  better  men  than  he  is  to 
frighten  me.  I  hope  the  interruption  of  this  fellow  M'ill  not  be  counted 
against  my  time. 

A  Voice  :  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  these  expressions  of  feeling  will  be 
withdrawn. 

Mr.  Atkinson  :  They  totally  misunderstand  my  argument.  I  wish  to 
satisfy  the  Chair.  These  men  are  weak  brothers,  who  do  not  understand 
my  ways.     There  were  no  imputations.     The  men  are  stupid. 

The  Chairman:  Gentlemen  will  suspend  conversation  and  be  seated. 
The  time  for  discussion  has  expired.  The  secretary  desires  to  make  a  few 
announcements.   The  Conference  will  come  to  order  that  he  may  make  them. 

The  Delegate  :  If  the  gentleman  does  not  withdraw  his  remark  the 
subject  will  be  laid  before  the  Business  Committee,  and  it  will  have  to 
report  Avhat  shall  be  done. 

The  Chairman  :  The  gentleman  will  apologize.    He  does  not  mean  you. 

Mr.  Atkinson  :  No ;  I  will  not  apologize.    I  have  nothing  to  apologize  for. 

The  Delegate  :  He  must  withdraw  his  imputation. 

The  Chairman  :  The  Chair  has  nothing  to  do  with  that.  You  must  set- 
tle that  when  you  get  on  your  side  of  the  water. 

The  time  for  adjonrnment  having  arrived,  the  doxology  was 
sung,  and  the  Conference  closed  Avith  the  benediction  by  the 
Rev.  W.  A.  J.  Phillips,  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 


430  BUSINESS  PROCEEDINGS. 


NINTH  DA  Y,  Friday,  October  16,  1891. 


TOPIC : 
SOCIAL  PROBLEMS. 


FIRST     SESSION 


THE  Conference  met  at  the  usual  hour,  the  Rev.  F.  W. 
Bourne,  President  of  the  Bible  Christian  Church,  in  the 
chair.  The  Scripture  lesson  was  read  by  the  Rev.  James  D. 
Lamont,  of  the  Irish  Methodist  Church,  and  prayer  was  offered 
by  the  Rev.  Bishop  J.  M.  Walden,  D.D,,  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church. 

The  Journal  of  the  sessions  of  the  preceding  day  was  read 
and  approved. 

The  Rev.  D.  J.  "Waller,  D.D.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  offered  the  following  personal  explanation : 

Mr.  President :  I  rise  to  a  question  of  privilege.  I  regret  to  find  that 
a  construction  has  been  put  upon  what  I  said  yesterday  morning  in  refer- 
ence to  my  friend  Dr.  Steplieuson,  the  President  of  the  Wesleyan  Meth- 
odist Church,  which  was  entirely  foreign  to  my  thoughts.  May  I  take 
this  opportunity  of  disclaiming  any  intention  whatever  of  reflecting  upon 
Dr.  Stephenson,  much  less  of  lowering  the  dignity  of  the  office  which  he 
holds?  I  regard  the  office  of  President  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church 
as  a  position  of  the  greatest  honor,  and  the  distinguished  minister  who  now 
fills  it  I  hold  in  the  highest  esteem  and  afiiection.  My  object  was  simply 
to  emphasize  what  Dr.  Stephenson  himself  stated  in  a  previous  session, 
that  in  this  matter  he  was  acting  in  his  private  and  not  his  official  capacity. 
With  regard  to  misai^prehension  touching  the  office  I  hold  as  the  Secretary 
of  the  Conference,  I  wish  to  say  that  my  only  object  was  to  indicate  the  fact 
that  I  was  necessarily  familiar  with  the  history  of  its  proceedings  and 
records ;  and  then  I  proceeded  to  call  attention  to  its  action  in  reference 
to  a  recent  movement  in  the  direction  of  Methodist  union.  I  will  look  at 
that  part  of  my  speech,  and  will  see  that  it  contains  no  word  of  which  Dr. 
Stephenson  or  any  member  of  this  Conference  has  any  reason  to  complain. 

Tlie  following  documents  were  referred  to  the  Business  Com- 
mittee for  their  consideration  : 

1.  A  resolution  of  sympathy  with  Bishop  D.  A.  Payne,  D.D.,  of  the 
African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

2.  An  address  from  the  Synod  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Virginia. 


BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS.  4:31 

I.  The  consideration  of  the  subject  of  Methodist  Federation 
was  resumed,  and  the  Business  Committee,  througli  its  Secretary, 
recommended  the  adoption  of  the  amended  report  on  Meth- 
odist Federation.  The  discussion  on  tlie  adoption  of  the  report 
continued  as  follows : 

Rev.  J.  M.  Buckley,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church : 
Mr.  President:  The  subject  of  Christian  unity  is  difficult  and  delicate. 
These  resolutions  appear  to  have  been  prepared  with  great  care,  and  were 
amended  after  a  clear  statement  to  the  body  and  with  a  full  understand- 
ing of  their  import.  Twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago  an  engagement  was 
announced  between  the  daughter  of  a  European  queen  (I  do  not  refer  to 
England)  and  the  son  of  the  queen  of  another  country.  Some  time  after- 
ward the  world  was  informed  that  the  engagement  was  "  off,"  because  one 
of  the  parties  had  insisted  upon  naming  the  time  before  the  other  was 
ready,  and  the  controversies  which  arose  upon  that  subject  led  to  a  jier- 
manent  alienation.  We  are  in  great  danger  here.  The  puljlic  does  not 
understand  the  animus,  not  to  say  the  carnal  excitement,  which  takes  place 
when  this  subject  is  up  for  discussion.  The  public  does  not  understand 
that  on  the  other  side  of  the  water  there  is  a  different  method  of  ruling 
from  that  which  prevails  here;  that  the  European  cries  for  "chair"  do 
not  mean  any  disrespect,  nor  is  the  person  who  utters  those  cries  regarded 
as  out  of  order.  Neither  do  they  on  the  other  side  of  the  water  under- 
stand our  methods  of  demanding  that  no  other  business  shall  be  decided 
until  a  point  of  order  has  been  acted  upon. 

With  regard  to  the  expression  of  the  resolution  "That  the  Conference  rec- 
ognizes, with  gratitude  to  God,  the  growing  desire  for  closer  union  among 
the  evangelical  Churches  of  Christendom,"  the  question  is  whether  the 
word  "  union  "  means  anymore  than  we  mean.  I  cannot  see  that  it  does. 
I  cannot  see  that  that  word,  followed  by  the  word  "  among, "  means  any 
more  than  that  the  Conference  recognizes,  with  gratitude  to  God,  a  growing 
desire  for  union  among  the  evangelical  Churches  of  Christendom,  and  espe- 
cially hails  with  devout  thankfulness  the  extension  of  that  desire  among 
the  various  Methodist  Churches.  If  we  do  not  mean  that  much,  why  are 
we  here  at  all?  If  we  do  mean  it,  why  object  to  saying  it?  As  for  the 
word  "  union,"  it  has  two  senses  well  defined ;  hence  it  usually  requires  an 
adjective  of  some  sort  to  define  what  is  meant.  "Union"  is  frequently 
used  as  the  equivalent  of  "unity."  One  of  the  most  popular  hymns  in 
this  country  several  years  ago  had  this  word  union  in  it :  "  From  whence 
does  this  union  arise  ? "  There  the  union  meant  nothing  more  nor  less  than 
"unity."  We  can  ascertain  from  the  second  resolution  what  must  be 
meant  by  union  in  the  first ;  for  the  second  resolution  assiunes  that  Meth- 
odist bodies  cannot  doubt  that  concerted  action  upon  many  questions  will 
be  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Rev.  Hugh  Prick  Hughes,  M.A.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church: 
Mr,  President :  Dr.  Stephenson  is  the  only  Wesleyan  Methodist  delegate 
here  in  an  official  capacity.     And  whatever  any  unauthorized  individual 


432 


BUSINESS    PEOCEEDINGS. 


may  say,  Dr.  Stephenson,  in  the  attitude  he  has  assumed  on  this  question, 
represents  the  British  Conference.  Two  or  three  years  ago  the  British 
Wesleyan  Conference  passed  resolutions  substantially  identical  with  those 
before  us.  We  recommend  people  to  fraternize  and  co-operate  with  the 
other  Methodist  Churches.  More  than  that,  the  Wesleyan  Conference  au- 
thorized its  greatest  committee,  the  Committee  of  Privileges,  to  seek  the 
formal  co-operation  of  the  representatives  of  the  other  British  Methodist 
Churches  on  questions  of  common  interests.  I  hold,  therefore,  that  every 
body  who  wishes  not  to  misrepresent,  but  to  rej^resent,  the  British  Confer- 
ence must  vote  for  these  resolutions.  I  agree  with  Dr.  Buckley  that  the 
eye  of  the  whole  world  is  upon  us.  If  we  have  any  trace  of  the  spirit  of 
John  Wesley  we  must  adopt  these  resolutions.  If  we  do  not  we  shall 
stultify  ourselves.  We  shall  make  our  declarations  of  brotherly  love 
meaningless,  and  bring  ourselves  in  just  and  general  contempt.  In  view 
of  the  discussion  which  has  taken  place  during  the  business  hour,  it  is 
more  necessary  than  ever  that  these  resolutions  should  be  passed ;  and  I 
hope  that  they  will  be  passed  in  the  form  that  the  Business  Committee 
recommends.  I  do  earnestly  hope  that  without  much  more  delay,  in 
view  of  the  gravity  of  the  situation  and  the  fact  that  they  redound  to  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  happiness  of  man,  these  resolutions  which  have  been 
carefully  considered,  and  to  which  no  reasonable  man  could  offer  serious 
objection,  will  be  adopted  with  practical  unanimity. 

Rev.  William  Arthur,  M.A.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Chvu-ch: 
Mr.  President:  In  these  resolutions  there  are  two  words.  The  first  speaks 
of  the  growing  desire  for  closer  co-operation.  A  light  is  thrown  back 
from  that  on  the  second  resolution.  By  the  term  organic  union — I  have 
heard  some  proposal  to  substitute  for  that  "  unity  " — 

Mr.  T.  Morgan  Harvey,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church:  lam 
sorry  to  interrupt  my  dear  friend,  but  is  it  in  order  to  discuss  two  sen- 
tences which  have  been  eliminated  by  the  Conference? 

Rev.  Mr.  Arthur  :  I  stated  that  in  the  treatment  of  the  first  resolution 
a  light  is  thrown  upon  the  second.     I  think  that  is  in  order. 

The  Chairman:  The  word  "co-operation  "  has  been  taken  out  of  the 
first  clause  and  "union"'  substituted.  And  in  the  second  clause  the 
parenthetical  clause  referring  to  organic  imion  has  been  omitted  alto- 
gether. 

Rev.  Mr.  Arthur  :  Then  for  that  term  ' '  union  "  I  have  certainly  heard 
the  suggestion  that  "  unity  "  should  be  substituted.  The  difference  is 
this :  You  have  yonder  a  great  obelisk ;  it  is  not  a  unity,  it  is  a  union. 
It  is  not  one  stone,  it  is  a  great  many  stones  that  have  been  put  together, 
and  now  constitute  a  union.  And  in  that  union  you  may  find  unity. 
But  this  is  a  desire  for  union — the  resolutions  says  no  more.  "The  Con- 
ference recognizes,  with  gratitude  to  God,  the  growing  desire  for  closer 
union  among  the  evangelical  Churches  of  Christendom."  •  Surely  we  have 
the  desire ;  surely  it  is  a  growing  desire ;  surely  it  is  a  desire  to  be  cher- 
ished ;  surely  it  is  a  desire  to  be  recognized,  and  recognized  with  gratitude 
to  God.     In  the  Evangelical  Alliance  forty  years  ago  we  passed  such  reso- 


BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS.  433 

lutions,  and  we  ought  to  be  prepared,  I  think,  to  pass  them  now.  It 
commits  us  to  nothing  that  I  am  not  prepared  before  the  Church,  before 
the  world,  before  my  Master  above  and  all  my  brethren  below  to  b;  com- 
mitted to.  But,  sir,  though  I  am  perfectly  ready,  and  more  than  ready,  I 
would  say  to  the  friends  of  union  that  if  any  thing  is  to  be  forced,  a 
union  is  not  to  be  forced ;  that  if  any  thing  is  to  be  rushed  through,  a 
union  is  not  to  be  rushed  through.  To  carry  your  resolution  by  the 
sacrifice  of  feeling  is  not  to  advance  your  cause,  but  to  throw  it  back. 

Mr.  Harvey  :  I  move  that  the  vote  be  now  taken. 

Rev.  Dr.  Stephenson:  I  believe  that  under  the  rules  I  have  a  right  to 
reply.  I  will  not  occupy  five  minutes.  I  will  not  say  one  word  more 
upon  the  general  question,  but  I  wish  in  one  sentence  to  acknowledge  the 
remarks  of  my  friend  Mr.  Waller,  which  were  spontaneous  on  his  part, 
and  without  any  request  from  me.  Then  with  regard  to  any  thing  which 
occurred  on  yesterday  which  could  in  the  least  disturb  the  minds  of  my 
excellent  brothers  on  the  left,  we  earnestly  hope  it  will  be  overlooked. 
They  possess  our  entire  respect  and  hearty  affection,  and  we  regret  that 
any  thing  could  be  said  that  would  in  the  least  degree  i-eflect  upon  them. 

The  Chairman  :  The  secretary  will  read  the  first  clause  of  the  report. 
[The  secretary  so  read.] 

The  Chairman  :  The  question  is  upon  agreeing  to  the  first  paragraph 
of  the  committee's  report  as  just  read  by  the  secretary. 

The  first  paragraph  of  the  report  was  unanimously  adopted. 

The  Chairman  :  The  secretary  will  read  the  second  paragraph.  [The 
secretary  so  read.] 

Rev.  Dr.  Stephenson  :  Mr.  President :  Before  taking  the  vote  upon  that, 
may  I  ask  the  permission  of  the  Conference  to  move  that  we  include  the 
two  words  "  and  Ireland  "  after  the  words  "  Great  Britain?" 

The  motion  unanimously  prevailed. 

The  Chairman:  Now  the  question  is  on  the  adoption  of  the  second 
paragraph  of  the  report  of  the  committee. 

The  question  being  put  upon  the  adoption  of  the  second 
paragraph  of  the  report  of  the  Business  Committee,  it  was 
unanimously  agreed  to. 

The  Chairman  :  The  secretary  will  read  the  third  resolution.  [The 
secretary  so  read.] 

The  Secretary  :  Mr.  President,  I  ask  permission,  which  I  think  will 
be  unanimously  granted,  to  insert  in  lieu  of  the  word  "  Assembly "  the 
word  "Conference." 

On  motion,  the  permission  was  granted. 

The  Chairman:  The  question  now  is  on  the  adoption  of  the  third 
paragraph  of  the  report  of  the  Business  Committee. 

The  third  paragraph  of  the  report  was  unanimously  adopted. 


434 


BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS. 


A  Voice  :  Mr.  Chairman :  We  have  voted  upon  the  resolutions  separately, 
but  we  have  not  voted  upon  them  as  a  whole. 

The  Chairman  :  If  it  will  prevent  any  difficulty  arising  hereafter,  I  will 
trouble  the  Conference  to  confirm  these  resolutions  as  a  whole,  but  in 
my  opinion  it  is  unnecessary.  The  question  is  upon  the  motion  that  the 
report  of  the  Business  Committee  as  a  whole  be  adopted. 

The  motion  unaniinously  prevailed.  The  report  on  Methodist 
Federation,  as  linally  amended  and  adopted,  was  as  follows : 

I.  That  the  Conference  recognizes,  with  gratitude  to  God,  the  growing 
desire  for  closer  union  among  the  evangelical  Churches  of  Christendom, 
and  especially  hails  with  devout  thankfulness  the  extension  of  that  desire 
among  the  various  Methodist  Churches. 

3.  The  Conference  cannot  doubt  that  concerted  action  among  the  different 
Methodist  bodies  upon  many  questions  would  be  greatly  to  the  advantage 
of  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  Conference  would  suggest  that  such  con- 
certed action  might  be  possible  and  useful  in  the  following  great  provinces 
of  the  Methodist  world,  namely:  («)  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  including 
affiliated  Conferences  and  missions ;  (&)  the  United  States,  including  its 
missions  and  Mission  Conferences ;  (c)  Australasia,  with  Polynesia  and  its 
other  missions ;  (d)  Canada,  with  its  missions. 

3.  This  Conference,  therefore,  respectfully  requests  the  Churches  repre- 
sented in  this  Conference  to  consider  whether  such  concerted  action  be 
possible,  and  if  so,  by  what  means  and  in  what  way ;  and  directs  the  Sec- 
retaries to  forward  a  copy  of  this  resolution  to  the  senior  bishop  or  pres- 
ident of  every  Conference  represented  here. 

II.  The  Business  Committee  further  recommended  the  adop- 
tion of  the  following  resolution  on  Social  Purity  : 

The  Conference  expresses  its  devout  thankfulness  to  Almighty  God 
that,  through  the  growing  influence  of  Christian  opinion,  the  Contagious 
Disease  Acts  have  been  abolished  in  the  United  Kingdom;  but  deei:)ly 
regrets  that  such  immoral  legislation  is  still  in  force  in  various  other  parts 
of  the  world.  The  Conference  further  declares  its  earnest  hope  that 
Christian  sentiment  will  soon  make  such  immoral  legislation  every-where 
impossible;  nnd,  further,  the  Conference  records  its  strong  conviction  that 
men  of  notoriously  immoral  life  should  not  be  allowed  to  occupy  places 
of  public  trust  and  authority. 

By  request  of  the  Business  Committee,  the  Rev.  Hugh  Price 
Hughes,  M.A.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church,  spoke  as 
follows  upon  the  resolution  : 

Mr.  President :  I  hope  that  this  resolution  will  be  passed  with  the  una- 
nimity that  has  characterized  our  action  this  morning.  I  deeply  regret  that 
this  is  the  last  session  that  I  shall  be  able  to  attend ;  and  I  am  much  obliged 
to  the  Business  Committee  and  to  the  Conference  for  taking  up  this  reso- 
lution now,  when  I  can  move  its  adoption.     Long  experience  on  this  ques- 


BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS.  435 

tion  in  my  own  country  has  led  us  very  decidedly  to  the  conclusion  that 
immoral  men  cannot  be  trusted  either  to  make  or  to  administer  moral  law. 
I  earnestly  hope,  therefore,  that  without  further  discussion  the  Conference 
will  accept  the  resolution  unanimously. 

The  resolution  on  Social  Pnrity  was  unanimously  adopted. 

III.  The  Business  Committee,  through  its  Secretary,  further 
recommended  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution  on  the 
Opium  Traffic  : 

Whereas,  There  exists  an  ever-increasing  vice  which  is  known  as  the 
plague  of  eastern  Asia  and  the  curse  of  China,  entailing  spiritual,  phys- 
ical, and  financial  ruin  on  millions  in  those  lands ;  and, 

Whei'eas,  This  vice,  arising  from  the  use  of  the  opium  drug,  was  mainly 
originated,  and  is  to  a  large  extent  perpetuated,  by  the  production  of 
opium  under  the  direct  auspices  of  the  Indian  government ;  and. 

Whereas,  The  conscience  of  the  British  public  is  being  roused  to  secure 
the  abolition  of  those  legislative  enactments  which  sanction  the  produc- 
tion of  this  drug ;  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  we  tender  to  British  Christians  who  are  seeking  the  repeal 
of  those  unrighteous  parliamentary  enactments  our  warmest  sympathy 
and  earnest  prayers  for  their  success  in  the  removal  of  this  national  dis- 
honor and  the  abolition  of  this  appalling  evil ;  and  that  a  copy  of  this 
resolution  be  sent  to  Sir  Joseph  Pease,  M.P.,  as  an  expression  of  our 
warmest  appreciation  of  his  noble  efforts  in  securing  the  vote  of  the  im- 
perial Parliament  of  Great  Britain  in  condemnation  of  this  pernicious 
traffic. 

The  Rev.  George  Douglas,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  Canada,  by  request  of  the  Business  Committee,  moved 
the  adoption  of  the  foregoing  resolution,  and  spoke  thereupon 
as  follows  : 

Mr.  President:  In  rising  to  move  this  resolution,  which  will  be  seconded 
by  Mr.  Hill,  of  Hankow,  and  supported  by  Mr.  Reid,  of  Shanghai,  I  feel 
that  any  extended  discussion  of  this  subject  would  be  an  insult  to  the  in- 
telligence of  this  Ecumenical  Conference.  We  all  know  something  of  the 
opium-plague  which  rests  like  an  appalling  calamity  on  south-eastern 
China,  but  it  may  be  doubted  whether  there  is  a  man  on  the  floor  of  this 
Conference,  or,  indeed,  on  this  continent,  who  has  sounded  the  abyssmal 
depths  of  the  dread  sea  of  sorrow  which  rolls  its  billows  over  the  six- 
teen hundred  cities  in  the  empire  of  China.  The  Anglo-Saxon  connec- 
tion with  the  opium-traffic  carries  us  back  to  the  times  of  the  historic 
Warren  Hastings,  one  of  the  most  brilliant  among  the  founders  and  build- 
ers of  the  Indian  Empire,  but  a  man,  says  Burke,  whose  relentless  cruelty 
and  merciless  cupidity  have  forever  tarnished  and  darkened  the  luster  of 
his  great  name.  Warren  Hastings  was  an  absolute  master  in  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  Asiatic  races.    He  knew  the  Chinese  in  their  ancient  civiliza- 


436  BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS. 

tion  extending  beyond  the  founding  of  the  pyramias ;  he  knew  them  in 
the  plentitude  of  their  literature  and  stagnant  erudition ;  he  knew  that 
though  astute  and  cunning  they  were  a  nation  of  children  in  their  sim- 
plicity and  well-nigh  infantile  curiosity,  he  knew  that  they  were  phys- 
ically wasted  by  poverty  and  hereditary  vice ;  he  knew  that  they  were 
susceptible  of  demoralization  by  the  seductive  witchery  of  the  opium 
drug;  he  knew  all  this,  and  yet  with  heart  of  adamant  ribbed  with  steel 
he  deliberately  undertook  to  build  up  a  colossal  fortune  on  the  ruin  of 
millions,  a  fortune  which  his  avenging  nemesis  ultimately  destroyed. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  out  of  the  thorny  bosom  of  adversity  we 
pluck  the  flowers  of  highest  advantage,  while  our  choicest  blessings  some- 
times generate  our  deepest  sorrows.  Now,  in  opium  we  have  heaven's 
panacea  for  pain.  It  has  alleviated  the  weary  pilgrim  aloug  the  Via  Do- 
lorosa of  anguish,  and,  as  if  fanned  with  angel  wings,  has  soothed  many  a 
poor  sufferer  into  the  serenities  of  sweet  repose.  But  this  minister  of 
mercy  has  become  the  fierce  agent  of  widest  ruin  known  to  man.  Let 
loose  every  tiger  in  the  jungles  of  India;  let  loose  the  pestilence  that 
walketh  in  darkness  and  the  destruction  that  wasteth  at  noon-day ;  let 
loose  that  triumvirate  of  ruin — famine,  earthquake,  and  war,  yet  neither 
one  nor  all  of  these  can  rival  the  terrible  agent  which  Warren  Hastings 
let  loose  amid  the  millions  of  China.  This  man  ordained  that  the  poppy 
should  be  grown  in  Rajj^ootana  and  the  Bengal  Presidency.  His  first 
venture  was  two  thousand  chests,  which  he  sent  iu  an  armed  vessel  to 
force  the  contraband  on  the  Chinese.  From  this  beginning  the  trade  has 
grown  to  the  most  alarming  proportions,  since  somewhere  about  eighty 
thousand  chests  are  now  the  annual  shipment  from  India  to  China. 

Eighty  thousand  chests !  What  mind  can  estimate  the  terrible  signif- 
icance of  these  figures?  According  to  toxicologists,  every  four  grains  of 
Indian  opium  will  send  the  strongest  man  unaccustomed  to  the  drug  into 
a  sleep  that  knows  no  waking.  Every  pound  will  destroy  sixteen  hun- 
dred lives ;  every  chest  containing  one  hundred  and  fifty-three  pounds  of 
the  drug  will  silence  forever  on  earth  two  hundred  thousand  souls.  Six 
thousand  chests  would  destroy  all  of  the  earth's  inhabitants,  while 
eighty  thousand  would  destroy  the  life  of  twelve  worlds  similar  to  our 
own.  Can  any  thing  be  more  appalling  than  to  think  of  an  annual  ship- 
ment from  India  to  China  to  destroy  the  lives  of  twelve  worlds?  and  this 
is  exclusive  of  the  opium  raised  in  China  itself. 

The  fascination  and  destructive  power  of  this  drug  far  surpass  that 
of  the  alcoholic  poison  in  our  midst.  Bayard  Taylor,  the  eminent  Amer- 
ican traveler,  tells  us  that  when  he  was  in  Canton  curiosity  prompted 
him  to  inhale  two  or  three  whiffs  of  the  opium  fumes.  He  asserts  that 
he  would  not  for  the  world  have  repeated  the  experiment.  Such  was 
the  exhilaration,  such  the  delectable  serenity  and  sense  of  repose,  that  he 
feared  his  will-power  was  not  adequate  to  resist  the  terrible  fascination. 
Now  the  letting  loose  of  this  subtle  and  treacherous  agent  among  the 
exhausted  millions  of  China  has  literally  taken  the  empire  captive.  An 
educated  Chinese  lecturer  in  San  Francisco  recently  affirmed  that  fifty  mill- 


BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS.  437 

ions  of  the  empire  were  opium-smokers,  while  twenty-five  millions  were 
its  abject  slaves,  ruined  utterly  and  beyond  recovery.  The  fiction  of 
Prometheus  chained  to  the  mount  and  devoured  by  vultures  has  its  fearful 
realization  in  the  victims  of  the  opium-habit. 

The  opium-smoker,  says  a  missionary,  can  at  once  be  distinguished  in 
any  company.  His  sunken  eyes,  his  hollow  cheeks,  his  shrunken  chest, 
his  emaciated  form,  the  vacant  look  of  hopeless  anguish,  all  tell  the  tragic 
tale.  Opium  he  must  have  or  die.  He  daily  consumes  as  much  as  would 
poison  one  hundred  men.  He  will  sell  his  property ;  he  will  sell  his  cloth- 
ing; he  will  sell  his  wife  and  children;  he  will  lie;  he  will  rob,  and  in 
extremity  murder ;  but  opium  he  must  have  or  perish.  Medical  mission- 
aries aftirm  that  in  their  hospitals  out  of  every  one  hundred  thought  to 
be  recovered  from  the  habit,  eighty  or  ninety  relapse  and  ultimately  are 
destroyed.  The  six  hundred  missionaries  in  China  are  a  unit  as  to  the  de- 
structive power  of  opium.  They  affirm  that  it  is  one  of  the  most  formid- 
able barriers,  since  no  opium-smoker  can  ever  be  admitted  into  the 
Christian  Church.  Hudson  Taylor  also  affirms  that  for  every  convert  to 
Christianity  there  are  a  thousand  that  are  morally  destroyed  by  opium. 

But  the  calamity  is  no  longer  peculiar  to  the  empire  of  China.  It  is 
rapidly  extending  and  becoming  the  plague  of  British  India.  "With  the 
ever-increasing  cultivation  of  the  poppy  in  China  the  demand  for  Indian 
opium  is  on  the  decline,  and  it  would  seem  that  the  Indian  government 
favored  the  sale  of  opium  among  the  people  of  India.  Twenty-three 
thousand  chests,  or  sufficient  to  poison  three  worlds,  are  now  consumed 
annually  in  Central  India.  There  are  more  than  ten  thousand  o^^ium- 
dens  in  the  Presidencies  of  Bengal,  Madras,  and  Bombay.  And  who  is  re- 
sponsible for  the  crime  of  advertising  opimn-depots  in  the  railway  cars  of 
the  Indian  government?  Nor  is  this  evil  limited  to  India.  It  is  belting 
the  world.  There  are  opium-dens  in  British  Columbia,  dens  in  San  Fran- 
cisco and  Valparaiso,  dens  in  Melbourne,  Australia,  where  the  work  of 
ruin  is  ever  advancing.  In  the  latter  city  a  Christian  worker  found  with 
other  Europeans  two  beautiful  English  girls,  utterly  lost,  one  of  whom 
wailed  in  his  ear,  "  "WHien  you  return  to  England  do  not  let  my  mother 
know  that  you  saw  me  in  a  Chinese  opium-den ;  that  would  break  her 
heart." 

And  now  what  is  the  agonizing  thought  which  comes  from  the  contem- 
plation of  this  unparalleled  ruin?  We  know  that  nations,  like  individuals, 
are  all  sinners.  There  is  not  an  American  Christian  but  dejjlores  the  act 
of  their  Senate  in  refusing  to  ratify  the  Belgian  treaty  which  proposed  the 
shutting  out  of  all  liquor,  powder,  and  fire-arms  from  the  African  conti- 
nent, with  the  abolition  of  the  interior  slave  traffic,  since  the  refusal  to 
ratify  that  treaty  will  entail  the  loss  of  tens  of  thousands,  if  not  millions, 
of  lives  in  the  Dark  Land.  There  is  not  a  British  Christian  but  wears  the 
sackcloth  and  ashes  of  humiliation  at  the  thought  that  the  Indian  gov- 
ernment is  so  implicated  in  the  origin  and  perpetuation  of  this  terrible 
opium  traffic.  I  know  that  it  is  a  heritage  of  wrong  which  has  come  down 
from  the  past  entailing  complications,  financial  and  otherwise,  which  only 


438  BUSINESS    PKOCEEDINGS. 

the  highest  statesmanship  can  alleviate  and  abolish.  I  will  not  speak  of 
the  two  opium-wars,  which  Lord  Elgin,  the  Chinese  plenipotentiary, 
affirmed  were  the  most  infamous  that  ever  stained  the  escutcheon  of  a 
great  nation.  I  will  not  dwell  on  the  fact  that  much  of  the  diplomatic 
intercourse  with  China  has  aimed  at  widening  the  area  of  this  upas-tree 
of  death.  I  will  not  linger  on  the  fact  that  nearly  thirty  millions  of 
accursed  gold  coming  from  this  traffic  passes  into  the  exchequer  of  the 
Indian  government,  whose  agents  are  engaged  iu  its  manufacture ;  nor  will 
I  refer  to  men  like  Sir  Richard  Temple  and  Dr.  Farquharson,  of  Aberdeen, 
who  stand  pilloried  before  the  continents  as  having  opposed  the  righteous 
resolution  of  Sir  Joseph  Pease,  condemning  the  traffic,  which,  thank  God, 
was  triumphantly  carried  through  the  Commons.  I  will  not  speak  of  this ; 
it  is  a  sorrow  and  a  humiliation  to  those  of  us  who  pay  homage  to  that 
government  whose  general  policy  is  founded  in  righteousness  and  justice. 
Why  do  we  introduce  this  resolution  of  sympathy  with  British  Chris- 
tians? Because  on  the  testimony  of  an  eminent  London  philanthropist 
it  is  believed  that  the  moral  support  of  the  British  colonies  and  American 
Christians  generally  would  be  an  inspiration  to  those  noble  men  and 
women  who  are  laboring  for  the  abolition  of  this  crime  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  Mr.  President,  there  is  something  grander  than  the  electric 
storm  which  rends  the  heavens ;  something  wider  than  the  wideness  of 
oceanic  tides  that  moan  and  sob  and  wail  and  shriek  around  the  shores  of 
every  island  and  every  continent,  receding  at  length  like  some  fair  pen- 
itent into  silence  and  tears ;  there  is  something  mightier  than  the  force  of 
gravitation  that  interpenetrates  all  worlds  and  holds  the  universe  in  its 
integrity ;  that  something  is  the  aroused  conscience  of  a  great  people,  who 
moan  and  sob  and  wail  and  appeal  to  God  against  the  eternal  wrong,  that 
moves  not  earth  itself,  but  heaven  and  the  moral  universe  of  God.  What 
would  give  this  Ecumenical  Conference  such  dignity,  power,  and  sublimity 
as  to  send  out  a  moral  force  from  this  center  which  should  awaken  the 
sympathy  and  prayer  of  Ecumenical  Methodism  or  the  abolition  of  this 
evil?  I  think  of  the  great  Church  of  Australia  weeping  over  the  wrong 
with  the  Church  of  South  Africa.  I  think  of  the  Church  of  the  West 
Indies  catching  up  the  strain  and  telling  its  sorrow  to  the  Church  of  the 
South.  I  think  of  its  being  carried  on  and  on  to  Canada,  who,  gathering 
up  the  sorrow  and  sympathy  and  prayer,  lays  them  at  the  feet  of  British 
Christianity  as  an  inspiration  to  them  in  their  great  work  of  exalting  this 
valley,  of  leveling  this  mountain,  and  preparing  the  way  of  the  Lord  along 
which  the  gospel  car  shall  pass  laden  with  blessings  and  carrying  ever- 
lasting joy  and  gladness  to  the  redeemed  millions  of  China. 

The  Rev.  David  Hill,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church, 
seconded  the  motion  for  tlie  adoption  of  the  resolution  on  the 
Opium  Traffic  in  the  following  words  : 

Mr.  President,  Fathers  and  Brothers :  Dr.  Douglas  has  appeared  before 
you  as  an  advocate  for  the  extermination  of  the  opium  traffic.  It  is  my 
humble  province  to  appear  as  a  witness  of  the  evil  which  this  traffic  has 


BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS.  439 

wrought  in  Cliina.  Time  will  not  allow  me  to  say  much ;  but  I  will  say- 
that  for  twenty  years  the  opium  traflfic  in  China  has  been  more  rapid  in 
its  spread  and  more  tenacious  in  its  hold  upon  the  people,  in  many  respects, 
than  the  liquor  tralhc  in  England.  I  would  say,  further,  that  the  conscience 
of  the  whole  of  the  country — I  speak  of  China — is  distinctly  against  the 
opium  traffic.  Further,  that  a  consensus  of  the  missionaries  throughout 
the  country  shows  that  they  are  against  the  traffic.  It  is  manifested  in 
this  way :  not  one  single  opium-smoker  is  permitted  to  come  into  the  fold 
of  the  Church  in  a  Protestant  Christian  country. 

I  regret  to  say  that  the  observation  made  in  the  resolution,  that  the 
growth  of  opium  is  ever  increasing,  is  only  too  true.  In  the  largest 
province,  Sze-chuen,  one  third  of  the  area  is  devoted  to  the  growth  of  the 
poppy.  In  that  western  province  the  poppy  is  being  introduced,  and  also 
into  the  eastern  provinces.  I  received  a  letter  from  one  of  the  mission- 
aries of  my  own  mission,  who  said  that  he  had  seen  in  close  proximity  to 
his  own  residence  the  first  field  devoted  to  the  growth  of  the  opium  poppy. 
It  is  spread  all  over  the  country,  and  is  working  devastation  wherever  it 
goes.  I  remember  one  man  saying  to  me  that  "  in  the  villages  all  around 
here  thirty  years  ago  there  was  not  a  single  opium  tavern ;  but  now  every 
village  has  its  tavern."  And  unless  the  British  government  takes  action 
in  this  matter  its  opportunity  for  glory  in  this  respect  will  pass  away 
forever;  because  the  Chinese  government  will  take  the  matter  into  its 
own  hands,  and  by  the  legalization  of  the  sale  and  growth  of  opium  in  the 
country  will  be  able  to  oust  the  Indian  traffic.  And  to  the  brethren  here 
present,  especially  my  English  brethren,  I  will  say  that  great  responsi- 
bility rests  upon  you  with  respect  to  this  matter.  We  look  to  you,  to  the 
pulpits  of  England,  to  take  up  this  matter  earnestly.  I  believe  that  if  the 
pulpits  of  England  sounded  forth  with  no  uncertain  sound  their  deter- 
mination to  suppress  the  opium  traffic,  the  thing  could  be  speedily  done. 
I  beg  to  second  the  resolution. 

The  Rev.  C.  F,  Reid,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  supported  tlie  motion  for  the  adoption  of  the  resolution 
on  the  Opium  Traffic  in  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President :  It  might  seem  to  some  that  this  was  not  a  question 
proper  to  come  before  this  Conference,  but  I  wish  to  state  a  few  facts 
which,  I  think,  will  convince  you  that  if  there  is  in  this  Conference  any 
power  to  form  a  public  opinion,  it  should  certainly  be  exerted  upon  this 
subject.  Shanghai,  or  what  is  known  as  Shanghai,  is  composed  of  two 
cities ;  first,  there  is  the  Chinese  city,  which  is  encircled  by  a  great  wall ; 
second,  just  outside  of  that  city  are  the  foreign  concessions,  the  French, 
the  English,  and  the  American.  Inside  of  that  Chinese  wall  a  few  years 
ago,  and,  I  presume,  at  this  moment,  there  was  not  to  be  found  a  single 
opium-shop ;  they  had  all  been  closed  by  the  Chinese  officials.  But  the 
moment  you  step  outside  the  gate  of  that  walled  city  you  enter  upon 
territory  controlled  either  by  an  American  and  English  or  a  French  munic- 
ipality, and  here  it  has  been  estimated  that  every  sixth  shop  door  on  the 


440  BUSINESS    PEOCEEDINGS. 

streets  opens  into  an  opium-den.  In  the  city  of  Shanghai  we  have 
immense  opium-palaces,  as  they  are  called — palaces  that  are  furnished 
most  splendidly,  and  elaborately  arranged  for  the  purpose  of  accommo- 
dating a  thousand  smokers  at  a  time.  And  some  of  these  palaces  are 
owned  by  our  fellow-countrymen.  And,  Mr.  President,  when,  a  few  years 
ago,  the  missionaries  in  Shanghai  felt  that  they  must  do  something  to 
remove  this  terrible  blot  upon  the  civilization  of  our  countries,  an  effort 
was  made  in  the  rate-payers'  meeting  to  stop  or  at  least  modify  the  giving 
of  license  to  open  opium-dens.  When  it  came  to  the  vote  the  mission- 
aries stood  almost  alone  on  the  one  side,  and  the  rest  of  the  foreigners  on 
the  other.  Such  a  state  of  affairs  indicates  to  me  that  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  that  the  Christian  people  in  our  countries  should  do  all  they  can 
to  form  such  a  public  opinion  as  will  make  it  impossible  for  men  to  hold 
their  self-respect  and  at  the  same  time  continue  in  this  infamous  traffic. 
In  the  great  city  of  Soochow  it  is  said  that  six  out  of  every  ten  are  given 
up  to  the  opium  habit.  It  has  a  great  influence  upon  our  churches.  In 
the  first  place,  we  are  compelled  to  draw  a  line  right  here ;  we  are  com- 
pelled to  say  to  every  man  who  comes  to  us,  "  We  cannot  receive  you 
into  our  churches  unless  you  will  at  once  declare  that  you  will  leave  off 
this  habit.  We  will  take  you,  if  you  will  so  declare,  after  six  months'  or 
a  year's  probation."  But  the  temptations  are  so  great  that  in  almost  every 
case  these  men,  before  the  probation  expires,  lapse  again  into  the  opium- 
habit.  See  what  the  difficulties  are:  six  out  of  ten  of  tlie  men  to  whom 
we  present  the  Gospel  are  accursed  by  this  habit.  It  is  taking  all  the  life 
out  of  that  great  empire. 

And  this  habit  is  being  forced  upon  them  without  their  consent.  The 
Chinese  government  tried  hard  to  stop  it.  But  when  they  found  they 
could  not  legislate  effectually  on  the  subject,  that  they  could  not  come  to 
such  an  understanding  with  the  foreign  Powers  as  to  enable  them  to  put  a 
stop  to  the  foreign  traffic,  they  were  in  self-defense  compelled  to  go  to 
work  and  raise  the  opium  themselves.  What  has  happened  ?  Thousands 
and  thousands  of  acres  of  land  where  rice  was  once  raised  to  feed  the 
hungry  millions  of  China  now  blossom  with  the  scarlet  destroyer  which 
is  to  poison  their  people. 

Following  the  foregoing  remarks  the  resolution  on  the  Ojjium 
Traffic  was  unanimously  adopted. 

Mr.  Henry  J.  Fakmek- Atkinson,  M.P.,  of  the  "Wesleyan 
Methodist  Church,  offered  the  following  personal  explanation 
of  remarks  made  in  the  discussion  of  Thursday  afternoon  : 

Mr.  President :  I  tried  to  follow  Dr.  Waller,  and  every  one  else  since,  in 
order  that  I  might  say  what  I  have  to  say.  It  is  this :  Our  friends  here 
do  not  seem  to  understand  that  when  I  use  words  I  use  them  in  a  parlia- 
mentary sense,  and  that  I  never  use  a  word  that  is  not  parliamentary.  I 
reserve  to  myself  the  right  to  explain  my  own  words;  and  when  any  body 
gets  up  and  puts  a  pistol  to  my  head,  I  stop  my  explanation,  because  I 
never  will  explain  under  duress. 

When  I  talked  as  I  did  about  Primitive  Methodists,  I  used  the  same 


ESSAY    OF    HON.    ALDEN    SPEAKE.  441 

language  that  I  use  in  Loudon  and  Yorkshire,  and  at  many  meetings  of 
Primitive  Methodists,  to  whom  I  have  given  money  to  help  forvk^ard  their 
missionary  and  other  work. 

Now,  in  England  I  should  be  ashamed  to  explain  that  I  am  not  only  a 
friend  of  the  Primitive  Methodists,  but  of  all  denominations.  I  am  hand 
and  glove  with  all  denominations  that  are  trying  to  do  good.  But  I  give 
the  largest  donations  to  the  Methodist  society  of  which  I  am  a  member. 
I  take  the  chair  for  them ;  I  talk  with  them,  and  say  that  I  am  the  best 
Primitive  Methodist,  and  that  I  was  one  before  they  were  born,  and  they 
all  laug-h.  I  am  not  used  to  having  mv  words  taken  in  the  sense  that  thev 
were  here ;  I  feel  it  very  bitterly.  They  had  better  ask  the  president  of 
the  Conference,  who  has  been  my  own  personal  friend,  visiting  with  me 
and  working  with  me  for  forty-three  years,  and  he  will  tell  them  that, 
instead  of  my  being  an  enemj^,  I  am  a  friend.  Why  any  gentleman  should 
seize  upon  me  before  this  large  number  of  my  fellow-Methodists,  I 
cannot  see.  But  nobody  can  make  any  thing  from  me  in  that  way.  I  am 
not  made  of  that  stuff. 

One  other  point,  and  I  am  done.  My  beloved  president  knows  very 
well  that  I  could  settle  this  matter  in  my  own  way;  that  nobody  had  any 
power  to  speak  for  me;  and  when  my  beloved  president,  in  his  rej^ly  on 
the  main  question,  made  the  remarks  that  he  did,  in  parliamentary  terms, 
he  was  guilty  of  fraud  upon  the  Conference  and  an  impertinence  to  me, 
one  of  his  flock. 

The  time  having  arrived  for  the  order  of  tlie  day,  the  topic  of 
"  Social  Problems  "  was  taken  up.  The  Hon.  Alden  Speare, 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  read  the  following  ap- 
pointed essay  on  "  The  Church  in  Her  Kelation  to  Labor  and 
Capital :" 

Mr.  President :  "The  Church  in  Her  Relation  to  Labor  and  Capital "  is 
the  theme  assigned  me  to  discuss  for  the  brief  time  allotted.  Under 
the  blessing  of  God  the  Church  was  instituted  and  is  sustained  by  the  use 
of  both  labor  and  capital,  a  truth,  we  assume,  that  we  are  not  desired  to 
prove  or  discuss.  The  Church,  by  the  spiritual  changes  which  it  has 
wrought  in  the  lives  of  millions  of  her  membership,  has  elevated  them 
from  habits  and  conditions  that  lead  only  to  poverty  and  crime  to  habits 
of  industry  and  thrift  which  have  given  them  a  competency  of  worldly 
goods,  honorable  and  useful  positions  in  the  Church  and  the  body  politic 
of  their  country,  and,  beyond  and  above  all  else,  the  Church  has  made 
them  fellow-laborers  with  Jesus  Christ  for  the  salvation  of  the  world.  In 
return  for  such  priceless  benefits,  labor  and  capital  should  give  their  first 
and  best  efforts  to  the  Church  for  its  extension  and  prosperity. 

We  fancy,  however,  that  it  was  the  desire  of  those  that  proposed  the 
theme  for  discussion  to  elicit  opinions  not  only  on  the  question  of  the 
relation  of  labor  and  capital  to  the  Church,  but  also  their  relation  to  each 
other,  more  especially  in  view  of  the  growing  conflict  between  them.  For 
the  purposes  of  this  paper  we  shall  assume  that  the  word  "  labor  "  may  be 
defined  as  "the  wage-earner,"  and  capital,  the  unexpended  earnings  and 
accumulations  that  own  all  vested  property,  and  also  the  money  tliat  puts 
and  keejjs  in  motion  all  the  varied  and  multiplied  industries  of  the  world. 
31 


442  SOCIAL    PROBLEMS. 

Labor  is  generally  acknoAvledged  to  be  the  primary,  if  not  tlie  only, 
source  of  wealth.  That  country  and  that  people  are  most  prosperous  and 
happy  where  labor  finds  constant  and  remunerative  employment.  And 
as  to  employment,  Daniel  Webster  used  the  following  w^ords :  ' '  The  in- 
terest of  every  laboring  community  requires  diversity  of  occupation,  pur- 
suits, and  objects  of  industry.  The  more  that  diversity  is  multiplied  or 
extended  the  better.  To  diversify  employment  is  to  increase  employment 
and  to  enhance  wages.  .  .  .  Proclaim  it  every-where  and  make  it  a  proverb, 
where  there  is  work  for  the  hands  of  men  there  will  be  work  for  their 
teeth.  .  .  .  Where  there  is  employment  there  will  be  bread.  .  .  .  Em- 
ployment feeds  and  clothes  and  instructs.  Employment  gives  health, 
society,  and  morals.  Constant  employment  and  well-paid  labor  produce 
in  a  country  like  ours  general  prosperity,  content,  and  cheerfulness,"  and, 
we  may  add,  should  produce  like  results  in  all  lands.  To  furnish  this 
"constant,  diversified,  and  well-paid  employment,"  ]VIr.  Webster  would 
have  enacted  by  the  general  government  such  a  tariff  as  would  furnish 
the  money  to  pay  our  national  expenses,  and  that  should  so  guard  our 
home  industries  that  they  could  be  continued  at  a  profit  to  the  capi- 
talist, secure  good  wages  to  the  laborer,  and  be  increased  as  new  avenues 
and  inventions  should  come  forward.  Such  is  the  essence  of  our  Amer- 
ican tariff,  and  with  the  single  exception  of  England,  the  feature  of  pro- 
tection to  home  industries  is  found  in  the  revenue  laws  of  all  EurojJean 
nations. 

England,  on  the  contrary,  entirely  repudiates  the  protection  feature, 
and  collects  duties  only  on  articles  she  does  not  manufacture  or  only  to  a 
limited  extent,  and  theirs  is  a  tariff  "  for  revenue  only."  And  her  great- 
est statesman,  Gladstone,  tells  us  that  our  ' '  laws  make  us  produce  more 
cloth  and  more  iron  at  high  prices,  instead  of  more  cereals  and  more  cot- 
ton at  low  prices.  .  .  .  Increasing  these,  the  American  capitalist  will  find 
the  demands  of  the  world  unexhausted,  however  he  may  increase  the  sup- 
ply." In  other  words,  he  advises  us  because  we  have  the  many  and  pro- 
ductive acres  that  respond  to  labor  with  such  bountiful  crops,  to  confine 
our  attention  to  the  cultivation  of  our  land,  and  leave  England  and  other 
countries  to  do  our  manufacturing  for  us,  that,  by  their  lower  wages  and 
other  economic  conditions,  can  produce  them  at  lower  cost  than  we  can 
produce  them,  paying  American  wages.  It  is  well  known  that  the  agri- 
cultural laborer  receives  the  lowest  scale  of  wages  paid  to  any  class  of 
laborers,  for  the  good  reason  that  least  skill  is  required.  Again,  as  to 
finding  the  demands  inexhaustible  for  our  cereals  and  cotton,  in  1889  the 
corn  crop  of  the  United  States  was  just  about  two  billion  bushels.  In 
the  spring  of  1890  corn  was  selling  in  Kansas,  Iowa,  and  Nebraska  at 
from  eight  to  thirteen  cents  per  bushel,  say  one  half  the  cost  of  produc- 
tion, and  the  American  capitalist — in  this  case  the  farmer— did  not  find 
the  demand  of  the  world  inexhaustible,  and  thousands  of  bushels  were 
consumed  in  place  of  coal.  In  1890  we  harvested  a  cotton  crop  of  over 
eisht  million  six  hundred  thousand  bales— several  hundred  thousand  bales 
more  than  the  world  could  consume.     Had  the  crop  of  the  present  year 


ESSAY    OF    HON.    ALDEN    SPEAEE.  443 

been  equally  large  it  would  have  been  an  appalling  calamity  to  that  sec- 
tion of  our  country  that  devotes  so  large  a  portion  of  its  labor  and  capital 
to  the  raising  of  cotton. 

If  vre  were  to  follow  the  teachings  of  England's  greatest  political  leader, 
and  close  our  manufacturing  establishments  for  all  products  that  we  can- 
not make  as  cheaply  as  the  same  articles  can  be  laid  down  on  our  shores 
from  any  other  country,  and  if  we  should  also  put  on  our  farms  and  plan- 
tations the  millions  that  are  now  finding  constant  employment  for  men  at 
more  than  double  the  wages  of  the  agricultural  laborer,  it  needs  no  seer 
to  forecast  the  result.  Whether  this,  the  protective  line  of  legislation,  is 
wise  and  best  for  the  wage- earners  of  any  other  country  than  America  we 
express  no  opinion,  satisfied  that  it  has  been  greatly  advantageous  to  them 
in  the  United  States,  and  has  contributed  more  than  any  thing  else  to  what 
we  now  find — namely,  a  people  unexcelled  in  all  the  opi^ortunities  for  use- 
ful and  well-paid  employment,  Avhere  the  price  of  the  day's  labor  will  pur- 
chase more  food  and  implements  of  husbandry,  and,  in  fact,  more  of  all  the 
essentials  necessary  for  the  sustenance  and  comfort  of  the  wage-earner, 
than  in  any  other  part  of  the  world.  "We  freely  admit  many  articles  of 
luxury  are  sold  lower  in  other  countries,  and  if  the  Avealthy  desire  them 
we  are  quite  willing  they  should  pay  the  enhanced  prices  caused  by  our 
higher  wages. 

It  is  an  acknowledged  fact  that  the  average  pay  of  the  wage-earner  in 
America  is  eighty  to  one  hundred  per  cent,  more  than  in  England,  Ireland, 
and  Scotland,  and  nearly  or  quite  two  hundred  per  cent,  more  than  on 
the  continent  of  Europe.  Such  being  the  fact,  is  it  strange  that  the 
laborers  of  other  lands  are  coming  here  at  the  rate  of  a  half  million  a 
year?  We  fear,  however,  they  are  coming  quite  too  rapidly  to  be  properly 
educated  and  assimilated  into  our  body  politic.  Notwithstanding  the 
prices  here  paid  for  labor,  notwithstanding  the  purchasing  power  of  the 
day's  wages,  still  we  find  discontent  and  strikes,  and  sometimes  riots.  No 
human  foresight  has  been  able  to  prevent  them,  no  legislature  wise  enough 
to  enact  laws  that  shall  provide  an  adequate  remedy  for  their  prevention 
or  cure.  Possibly — we  may  say,  probably — the  law  providing  for  State 
arbitration  has  worked  more  satisfactorily  to  both  employers  and  em- 
l)loyees  than  any  other  method  yet  devised.  It  seems  to  us  that  the  enact- 
ment of  an  immigrant  law,  that  should  prevent  any  country  from  being  the 
dumping-ground  for  all  classes  of  inhabitants  that  are  undesirable  at  home, 
would  be  just  between  different  countries  and  beneficent  to  the  inhabitants 
thus  protected.  In  a  country  like  our  own,  under  a  government  "of  the 
people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people,"  the  elective  franchise  should 
not  be  given  to  any  foreigner  till  he  can  read  and  write  the  language  of 
the  country  of  his  adoption,  and  been  long  enough  a  resident  to  become 
thoroughly  conversant  with  the  laws  and  customs  of  the  land,  be  that 
time  ten  or  twenty-one  years.  Without  this  no  one  is  competent,  or  has  a 
just  claim,  to  take  part  in  the  body  politic.  This  leads  us  to  remark  that 
we  deem  it  a  great  evil  that  in  all  countries  and  States  children  are  not 
taught  the  language  of  the  country,  so  that  when  they  become  of  age  they 


444  SOCIAL    PROBLEMS. 

will  be  better  equipped  for  the  duties  of  freemen  aud  all  the  social  and 
business  concerns  of  the  country  of  their  father's  adoption. 

Since  the  divine  decree,  that  "In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat 
bread,  till  thou  return  to  the  ground,"  it  has  been  the  lot  of  mankind  to 
labor,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  labor  is  to  us  as  beneficent  as  it  is 
necessary.  Happily  for  us  in  America,  labor  is  honorable,  whether  it  be 
with  the  muscles  or  the  brain,  and  small  is  the  number  that  do  not  em- 
ploy one  or  both.  For  that  class  "  whose  chief  good  and  market  of  his 
time  be  but  to  feed  and  sleep, "  we  have  no  place  or  use.  The  Book  of 
Proverbs  is  full  of  promises  to  the  diligent;  that  "he  shall  bear  rule," 
that  ' '  he  shall  be  made  fat, "  that  ' '  the  substance  of  the  diligent  man  is 
precious."  "Wealth  gotten  by  vanity  shall  be  diminished,  but  he  that 
gathereth  by  labor  shall  increase."  "  Seest  thou  a  man  diligent  in  busi- 
ness? he  shall  stand  before  kings;  be  shall  not  stand  before  mean  men." 
"He  that  tilleth  his  land  shall  be  satisfied  with  bread."  "  He  becometh 
poor  that  lendeth  with  a  slack  hand ;  but  the  hand  of  the  diligent  maketh 
rich."  And  St.  Paul's  indorsement  is,  "Not  slothful  in  business,  fervent 
in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord."  Need  we  look  farther  for  i:)romises  of  rich 
reward  to  the  diligent,  for  the  necessity  of  thrift  and  carefulness  in  guard- 
ing the  reward  of  our  industry,  or  for  evidence  that  activity  in  business  is 
not  inconsistent  with  fervor  of  spirit  wliile  we  serve  the  Lord?  But  we 
look  in  vain  for  a  promise  of  any  thing  that  is  desirable  to  the  slothful 
and  improvident ;  on  the  contrary,  j^enury  and  want  are  the  inevitable 
result.  Wesley  told  his  followers  to  "get  all  they  could,  save  all  they 
could,  give  all  they  could."  We  say.  Get  all  you  can  honestly,  by  diligence 
in  honorable  avocations;  give  at  least,  each  year,  one  tenth  of  all  your  earn- 
ings for  religious  and  benevolent  purposes ;  save  at  least  another  tenth  to 
be  savely  invested,  and,  misfortune  excepted,  every  one  may  have  a  com- 
petency, and  want  and  misery  be  banished  from  our  land.  But  even  in  this 
most  highly  favored  land  we  have  discontent,  strikes,  and  attendant  evils. 
Would  we  were  wise  enough  to  divine  the  remedy ! 

Of  late  the  rapid  increase  of  large  fortunes  by  a  few  individuals  has 
created  great  uneasiness  on  the  part  of  many  thinking  men,  and  wide- 
spread discontent  among  the  wage-earners.  We  do  not  share  these  fears, 
and  believe  the  discontent  uncalled  for  and  unwarranted.  If  we  look  at 
the  facts  as  they  here  exist,  we  shall  not  find  ten  families  of  immense 
fortunes  whose  wealth  has  been  in  the  family  more  than  three  generations. 
Nearly  all  of  the  men  of  wealth  of  to-day  have  been  the  architects  of  their 
own  fortunes;  and  most  of  these  have  earned  the  entire  amount  of  their 
present  property  by  their  savings  and  business  enterprise,  receiving  nothing 
by  inheritance.  We  have  no  fears  but  that  these  fortunes  will  soon  vanish, 
either  by  rash  speculation  or  wasteful  extravagance^  and  those  of  the  fol- 
lowing generations  will  join  the  wage-earners  in  some  form  or  other;  or, 
as  is  so  often  and  so  sadly  the  case,  the  possession  of  wealth  will  lead  to 
habits  of  indolence  and  so-called  high  living,  with  its  attendant  dissipa- 
tion, ending  in  penury,  and  an  early  aud  unhonored  grave.  Of  a  circle 
that  gave  a  dinner  to  our  late  President  Grant,  where  the  majority  were 


ESSAY    OF    HON.    ALDEN    SPEAKE.  445 

said  to  be  in  possession  of  more  than  $20,000,000  each,  but  few  remain, 
and  the  fortunes  have  been  divided,  and  in  some  cases  are  already  out  of 
the  name  of  the  family. 

It  has  been  the  pleasure  and  the  privilege  of  one  of  them  to  make  the 
laro-est  and  noblest  gift  of  this  or  any  other  age  in  the  history  of  the  world 
in  <j-iving  $20,000,000  for  the  establishing  and  maintenance  of  a  university, 
broader  in  its  scope — and  it  is  his  desire  aud  purpose  that  it  shall  also  be 
more  beneficent  in  its  results — than  any  existing  university.  When  in 
coming  years  California's  roll  of  honor  shall  be  written,  high  upon  that 
roll  shall  stand  the  name  of  Leland  Stanford !  and  in  this  city  when  shall 
rise  the  university  for  which  Bishop  Hurst  is  confidently  asking  only 
$10,000,000,  there  will  also  be  found  the  same  name  among  the  first  of 
those  contributing  to  the  enterprise.  Without  large  wealth  the  founding 
and  endowment  of  the  universities,  public  libraries,  hospitals,  art  galleries, 
and  other  elementary  institutions  which  are  so  abundant  in  our  land 
were  an  impossibility,  except  to  a  limited  extent.  We  therefore  believe 
that  it  is  not  by  accident  that  large  wealth  occasionally  exists,  and  that 
He  that  sees  the  end  from  the  beginning  will  in  his  own  way  and  time 
cause  it  to  be  used  or  disseminated  for  the  good  of  mankind  and  the  ad- 
vancement of  his  cause.  But  that  man  to  whom  God  has  given  the 
opportunities  and  the  abilities  for  large  accumulation,  who,  when  wealth 
has  come  to  him,  uses  it  only  for  his  personal  pleasure  and  aggrandize- 
ment— when  he  shall  pass  over  the  river,  leaving  all  behind,  he  will  find 
no  gate  open  to  the  city  of  the  blood-washed  throng ;  but  that  dread  sen- 
tence shall  be  his:  "Depart  from  me."  "Insomuch  as  ye  did  it  not  to 
one  of  the  least  of  these,  ye  did  it  not  to  me." 

The  duty  of  the  capitalist  to  the  wage-earner  is  manifest — that  he 
should  pay  for  labor  performed  as  high  wages  as  the  profits  of  the  business 
will  warrant,  reserving  for  himself  only  a  reasonable  return  for  his  own 
services  and  capital  employed.  This  the  wage-earner  has  a  just  right  to 
claim.  And  if  business  of  all  kinds  at  all  times  were  alike  prosperous 
and  profitable,  it  were  a  matter  of  easy  adjustment;  but  it  is  entirely  the 
opposite.  The  profitable  avocation  of  one  year  is  not  infrequently  the 
unprofitable  of  the  next,  and  the  wage-earner  cannot  work  without  com- 
pensation when  the  business  is  a  losing  one.  Hence  it  is  claimed  by  some 
that  labor  is  a  commodity,  to  be  bought  and  sold  at  its  market  value,  but 
the  wage-earners  see  in  this  neither  justice  nor  ecjuity.  Hence  trade 
unions  and  combinations  to  establish  and  maintain  the  highest  possible 
wages  and  the  least  number  of  hours  to  constitute  the  day's  labor. 

We  have  before  stated  that  the  average  wages  of  all  laborers  in  America 
is  more  than  eighty  per  cent,  higher  than  is  paid  in  any  other  country ; 
and  we  do  not  think  them  too  high,  and  hope  they  will  never  be  lower. 
If  we  note  the  reward  that  capital  has  received,  with  rare  exceptions,  we 
shall  find  it  slowly  but  surely  receding  in  its  returns.  Twenty-five  years 
ago  we  believe  the  average  returns  were  six  per  cent.,  possibly  seven,  but 
for  the  last  ten  years  less  than  four  per  cent.  Hence  we  see  government 
and  municipal  bonds,  where  the  investor  is  s\ae  the  element  of  risk  is 


4:4:6  SOCIAL    PROBLEMS. 

eliminated,  selling  at  a  price  that  does  not  give  the  purchaser  two  and  one 
half  per  cent.  And  allow  us  to  say  in  this  connection  that  professional 
men,  jmd,  above  all,  the  minister  of  the  Gospel,  should  never,  never  specu- 
late, or  touch  any  thing  in  the  line  of  speculative  securities. 

A  few  words  as  to  the  hours  that  should  constitute  a  day's  labor.  It 
seems  to  us  this  question  is  vastly  more  vital  to  the  wage-earner  than 
to  capital.  For  a  moment  let  us  assume  that  the  present  scale  of  wages 
for  all  classes  and  conditions  is  as  nearly  equitable  as  it  is  possible  to  make 
it,  and  ten  hours  the  day's  work,  and  that  the  demand  is  made  and  met 
that  eight  hours  shall  hereafter  constitute  the  day's  labor  for  the  wages 
now  i^aid  for  ten.  What  is  the  result  ?  "Will  not  all  the  products  of  labor 
be  enhanced  in  cost  one  fifth,  and  the  jjurchasing  power  of  the  day's  labor  be 
reduced  one  fifth,  unless  a  jjart  or  the  whole  of  the  one  fifth  can  be  taken 
from  what  now  goes  to  capital  ?  Can  this  be  done?  We  have  stated  that 
for  the  last  ten  years  the  average  return  to  capital  has  not  been  four  per 
cent.  What  more  cutting  can  it  bear?  If  further  pressed,  the  "goose 
that  now  lays  the  golden  agg  "  of  constant  and  well-remunerated  employ- 
ment is  killed.  Our  manufactories  must  be  closed,  and  the  laborer  be  left 
without  employment,  if  the  enhanced  cost  of  production  is  not  added  to 
the  goods  produced,  and  even  then  it  must  be  paid  by  the  consumers, 
of  whom  the  wage-earners  and  their  families  are  the  great  majority. 

We  are  in  accord  with  the  projiosition  so  generally  accepted,  that  poli- 
tics shall  not  be  the  subject  of  i^ulpit  discussion.  We  are  also  fully 
persuaded  that  the  puljiit  should  speak  Avith  no  uncertain  sound  on  all 
subjects  appertaining  to  the  well-being,  prosperity,  and  happiness  of  the 
jieople,  whether  for  time  or  eternity,  commending  and  encouraging  the 
right,  condemning  the  wrong,  w^hether  the  subject  be  a  national  or  a  State 
law,  the  attitude  of  capital  in  its  dealings  and  relations  to  the  wnge- 
earners,  or  of  the  w\age-earners  to  capital.  "  The  rich  and  the  jioor  meet 
together,  the  Lord  is  the  maker  of  them  all,"  and  he  will  hold  each  re- 
sponsible to  the  full  measure  for  the  use  made  of  the  abilities  and  opjior- 
tunities  given,  the  rich  and  the  poor  alike,  the  clergy  and  the  laity. 

The  Rev.  J,  Bebry,  of  the  Australasian  Methodist  Church, 
gave  the  following  invited  address,  on  '•  The  Moral  Aspects  of 
Labor  Combinations  and  Strikes  : " 

Mr.  President  and  Brethren :  It  is  not  easy  to  measure  the  strength,  or 
even  to  be  quite  sure  of  the  direction,  of  this  great  labor  movement.  We 
are  so  near  to  it  that  our  difficulty  is  to  put  it  in  true  perspective.  Past 
mistakes  are  suggestive  of  the  need  of  caution.  Suppose  that  fifty  years 
ago  one  hundred  average  Englishmen  had  been  asked  their  opinion  upon 
the  moral  aspect  of  the  Chartist  movement.  Ninety-nine  out  of  the  hun- 
dred would  have  shown  by  their  answer  that  they  utterly  mistook  its 
meaning.  In  the  suffering  heaped  upon  men  like  Ernest  Jones,  Thomas 
Cooper,  and  Henry  Vincent  you  see  what  their  countrjnnen  thought  of 
the  morality  of  their  conduct.     A  young  clergyman,  then  but  little  known, 


ADDRESS    OF    KEV.    J.    BERRY.  ,       447 

under  the  nom  de  plume  oi  "Parson  Lot"  esijoused  the  Chartist  cause; 
and  Charles  Kingsley,  the  eagle-eyed  and  lion-hearted,  was  inhibited 
from  preaching  in  the  diocese  of  London.  Yet  even  this  august  Con- 
ference is  composed  almost  entirely  of  Chartists !  The  points  of  the  char- 
ter are  nearly  all  embodied  in  the  legislation  of  the  countries  from  which 
we  have  come.  It  would  be  difficult  to  get  up  a  debate  on  Chartism  in  a 
mutual  improvement  society  because  no  one  with  brains  would  defend  the 
anti-Chartist  side.  As  our  fathers  were  so  generally  mistaken  about  the 
moral  tendency  of  the  Chartist  movement,  we  may  be  mistaken  about  the 
labor  movement  now. 

Yet  the  question  must  be  faced  and  mastered.  The  i)Osition  of  Method- 
ism in  the  opening  years  of  the  twentieth  century  will  depend  very  largely 
upon  her  attitude  toward  the  labor  movement  in  the  last  decade  of  the 
nineteenth.  We  lost  a  great  opportunity  half  a  century  ago  because  we 
did  not  adopt  and  lead  the  great  temperance  movement,  and  I  often  fear 
that  we  are  in  danger  of  repeating  this  folly  now  that  another  great  op- 
portunity lies  at  our  door.  The  Church  exists  for  the  people,  not  the 
people  for  the  Church.  Among  our  constituency  of  thirty  millions  there 
are  multitudes  of  working-men  and  their  children.  They  are  defined  as 
"the  army  of  the  discontented."  This  discontent  rests  upon  the  belief 
that  they  are  the  victims  of  social  and  economic  injustice.  Are  they 
mistaken  ?  Then  it  is  our  duty  to  tell  them  so,  and  if  we  can  to  bring 
them  to  a  better  mind.  Have  they  good  reason  for  this  discontent  ?  Then 
we  ought  to  espouse  their  cause,  and  to  smite  their  oppressors,  even 
though  these  oppressors  be  our  richest  pew-holders  and  our  largest  con- 
tributors. 

In  considering  the  morality  of  a  strike  there  are  two  questions,  at  least, 
which  must  be  answered:  L  Is  the  cause  sufficient  ?  2.  Is  the  method 
justifiable? 

Is  the  cause  sufficient  ?  We  all  believe  that  war  is  ideally  wrong.  We 
all  hope  and  pray  for  the  time  when  swords  shall  be  beaten  into  plow- 
shares and  spears  into  pruniug-hooks.  Yet  we  can  all  name  wars  in  his- 
tory that  we  would  not  blot  out  of  the  realm  of  fact  if  we  could.  Now,  a 
strike  is  a  social  and  economic  war.  There  is  abundance  of  teaching  in 
the  Bible  about  forbearance  and  forgiveness  and  long-suffering  that  seems 
to  forbid  a  strike,  and  even  to  discountenance  the  organization  which 
makes  a  strike  possible.  Yet  these  verj'  texts  used  to  be  quoted  in  sup- 
port of  slavery.  They  supplied  ammunition  to  the  party  against  emanci- 
pation. Aye,  and  through  long  agonizing  years  they  kept  many  a  martyr 
in  ebony  from  suicide  or  revenge.  Yet  in  the  case  of  slavery  there  were 
limitations.  The  hour  struck  w'hich  pointed  to  the  conviction  that  duty, 
not  only  to  the  oppressed,  but  to  the  oppressor,  demanded  that  slavery 
must  end.  Bad  as  war  is,  a  cowardly  connivance  at  wrong  may  be  still 
worse.  The  analogy  holds  good  in  reference  to  submission  to  economic 
injustice.  Are  strikers  necessarily  and  always  wrong  ?  I  point  for  an- 
swer to  one  of  the  most  recent  and  notorious  of  these,  the  dock  strike. 
There  was  a  cruel  and  shameful  wrong  in  connection  with  that  strike,  but 


448  SOCIAL    PROBLEMS. 

it  was  that  in  the  heart  of  Christian  England  men  should  have  found  it  im- 
possible in  any  other  way  to  wring  more  than  five  pence  an  hour  for  labo- 
rious and  intermittent  and  uncertain  work  from  the  selfish  grasp  of  capital. 
The  time  will  come,  as  Mr.  Arnold  White  puts  it,  when  the  lion  of  capital 
and  the  lamb  of  labor  will  lie  down  together,  but  holy  Scripture  does  not 
mean  that  the  lamb  shall  be  inside  the  lion.  It  is  necessary  for  labor  to 
organize  and  fight  because  capital  organizes  and  fights  and  is  generally 
the  stronger  of  the  two. 

During  the  last  fifty  years  the  wages  of  the  working-classes  have  in- 
creased, and  the  conditions  of  labor  have  been  greatly  improved.  Inter- 
woven with  this  just  and  merciful  legislation  is  the  imperishable  name  of 
Shaftesbury ;  but  legislation  has  been  needed  to  wrest  these  concessions 
from  the  great  employers.  The  occasions  in  our  history  are  very  rare 
when  increase  of  wages,  or  any  improvement  in  the  condition  of  labor,  has 
been  volunteered  by  capital.  Nor  have  we  yet  reached  the  point  when 
the  working-classes  have  economic  justice.  At  a  labor  congress  in  Lon- 
don it  was  stated  that  during  the  last  fifty  years  wages  had  increased  fifty 
percent.  "  True,"  replied  a  working-man  present,  "but  the  wealth  of 
the  country  has  increased  two  hundred  and  fifty  per  cent.,  and  we  who 
have  created  that  wealth  are  not  getting  our  share."  That  remark  touches 
the  very  nerve  of  the  question.  Look  at  the  great  houses  in  which  some 
manufacturing  magnates  live,  and  then  note  the  statement  of  a  well-known 
economist  that  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  actual  producers  of  wealth  have  no 
home  they  can  call  their  own  beyond  the  end  of  the  week ;  no  bit  of  soil 
belongs  to  them,  they  own  nothing  of  value  except  as  much  furniture  as 
would  load  a  cart,  and  a  month  or  two  of  bad  trade  brings  them  face  to 
face  with  pauperism. 

Those  who  object  to  strikes  because  thej^  mean  warfare  need  to  be  re- 
minded that  competition  is  warfare  too,  only  it  is  the  poor  against  the 
poorer,  the  weak  against  the  weaker,  and  the  rich  and  privileged  against 
all.  If  we  cannot  root  out  of  men's  minds  that  aphorism,  which  for  so 
many  has  the  sauction  of  the  eleventh  commandment,  that  we  must  buy 
labor  and  every  thing  else  in  the  cheapest  market  and  sell  in  the  dearest, 
we  must  at  least  convince  them  that  if  they  hope  to  save  their  souls  they 
must  let  another  take  precedence  of  it.  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself."  There  can  be  no  peace  between  employer  and  employed 
until  the  principle  of  profit-sharing  is  recognized  as  the  equitable  settle- 
ment of  the  wages  qviestion  and  adopted  wherever  practicable.  There  are 
difficulties  of  detail,  I  know,  in  the  way  of  its  adoption,  but  such  difficul- 
ties have  a  wonderful  way  of  making  themselves  scarce  when  we  really 
want  to  do  a  thincf. 

The  greatest  difficulty  I  know  is  the  fixed  idea  in  many  employers' 
minds  which  finds  expression  in  such  phrases  as,  "my  business,"  "my 
shop."  No;  if  you  are  a  Christian  your  business  is  God's ;  you  manage 
it  for  him,  and  you  must  take  care  not  to  steal  any  part  of  the  wages  the 
work-people  have  earned  and  that  God  intends  them  to  have.  "The 
husbandman    that    laboreth    must   be    first    partaker  of    the    fruits " — 


ADDRESS    OF   REV.    J.    BERRY.  449 

partaker  of  the  fruits,  and  first  partaker.  Neither  Tom  Mann  nor 
Ben  Tillet  put  that  into  the  New  Testament,  and  no  one,  thank  God !  can 
put  it  out.  Your  own  Mr.  Pillsbury  has  set  a  good  example  in  profit- 
sharing,  and  has  given  the  clearest  testimony  that  in  the  Washburn 
Company's  flour-mills  the  plan  answers  perfectly.  "  Our  system,"  he  says, 
"  not  only  makes  our  men  more  happy  and  contented,  but  results  in  more 
and  better  work  to  such  an  extent  that  the  amount  distributed  to  the  men 
probably  costs  us  notliing  at  all.  We  have  been  able  to  run  with  a  profit 
during  times  of  great  depression,  when  no  small  percentage  of  other  mills 
have  gone  to  the  wall."  I  quote  Mr.  Pillsbury  because  he  leads  in  the 
right  direction,  but  not  as  a  complete  example  of  economic  justice.  That 
cannot  exist  so  long  as  the  interest  claimed  by  capital  and  the  remunera- 
tion paid  to  managers  are  kept  secret  from  the  men. 

In  the  battle  of  Rorke's  Drift,  when  one  hundred  Englishmen  held  the 
fort  against  thirteen  thousand  Zulus,  the  chaplain,  who  was  precluded  by 
his  sacred  office  from  using  the  bayonet  or  firing  the  rifle,  jiassed  am- 
munition to  his  comrades.  Our  sacred  office  keeps  us  out  of  the  social 
and  economic  fight;  but  our  office  demands  that  we  speak  the  word  of 
truth  and  justice,  even  though  it  is  used  as  ammunition  against  those 
whom  we  would  not  willingly  wound.  Let  us  make  haste  to  wipe  out  the 
reproach  that  the  Christian  pulpit  hardly  touches  upon  the  duty  of  the 
rich  to  the  poor,  except  by  an  occasional  sermon  upon  the  duty  of  being 
charitable.  Justice  first;  until  justice  is  done  there  is  no  place  for  charity. 
The  discontent  of  the  working-classes  is  not  to  me  a  withered  leaf,  wit- 
nessing that  our  civilization  is  in  the  autumn  and  that  winter  is  near ;  it  is 
rather  as  noAV-di'op,  sweet  harbinger  of  summer.  A  great  historian  has 
observed,  "  When  people  are  overwhelmed  with  misery  they  are  resigned 
and  dumb.  It  is  when  they  begin  to  hold  up  their  heads  and  look  a])ove 
them  that  they  are  impelled  to  insurrection."  In  the  suffrage  the  working- 
man  has  secured  political  justice.  The  free  school  gives  his  child  educa- 
tional justice.     What  he  now  wants  is  economic  justice. 

Whatever  may  be  the  attitude  of  others  toward  the  new  unionism,  there 
ought  to  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  side  which  Methodists  will  take.  The  de- 
mands of  unionism,  when  just,  are  only  the  application  of  the  doctrine 
of  Arminianism  to  the  affairs  of  this  life,  instead  of  relegating  them  to 
the  life  to  come.  Our  Christianity  has  been  in  large  measure  the  cause  of 
this  discontent.  Its  center  is  in  the  lands  in  which  the  G-ospel  has  been 
most  widely  preached.  This  center  is  not  in  pagan  China  nor  in  Moham- 
medan Turkey,  but  in  Protestant  England  and  Germany  and  America.  If 
Christianity  has  caused  this  discontent,  a  little  more  Christianity  will  effect 
the  cure.  The  patient  is  in  the  half-way  condition  between  the  disease  and 
the  remedy,  bad  enough  to  be  peevish  and  restless,  but  on  the  way  to 
betterment.  Such  is  my  answer  to  those  who  ask  the  moral  meaning  of 
these  strikes  and  labor  combinations. 

But  granted  that  the  objects  sought  by  labor  combinations  are  just, 
what  of  the  methods  employed?  Are  these  always  such  as  the  Church  can 
bless?     By  no  means.     I  have  known  men  called  out  on  strike  at  a  mo- 


450  SOCIAL   PROBLEMS. 

ment's  notice,  when  they  were  under  engagement  that  required  a  fort- 
night's notice  on  both  sides,  and  when  it  was  not  even  pretended  that  the 
employer  had  broken  his  part  of  the  contract.  I  have  known  non- 
union men  to  be  brutally  ill-treated  and  called  most  offensive  names  sim- 
ply because  they  accepted  work  that  waited  to  be  done  and  that  no  mem- 
ber of  a  union  would  touch.  I  know  of  vexatious  and  artificial  limitations 
to  the  number  of  apprentices  permitted  to  be  employed.  These  and  other 
things  that  might  be  named  it  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  defend. 
The  boycott,  moreover,  is  a  mean  and  often  an  immoral  weapon.  But  as 
working-men  are  becoming  better  trained  and  organized  their  methods 
of  warfare  are  becoming  less  objectionable.  They  icant  to  do  the  right 
thing.  The  pity  is  that  they  are  so  often  ill-advised  and  led.  Few  things 
about  the  workiog-man  are  so  pathetic  as  his  loyalty  to  his  leaders.  I  have 
seen  them  throw  down  their  tools  and  go  on  a  strike  at  the  word  of  com- 
mand when  they  knew  that  some  one  Lad  blundered,  and  that  defeat  and 
humiliation  and,  jjossibly,  semi-starvation  aw^aited  them;  but  they  could 
not  harbor  for  a  moment  the  thought  of  disloyalty  to  their  leaders.  The 
crimes  and  blunders  of  trades-unions  are  due  not  to  their  constitution  or 
purposes,  but  to  the  designing  and  worthless  demagogues  who  have  so 
often  grasped  the  reins  of  power.  Mr.  Ben  Tillet  appeals  to  the  Church, 
and  says :  ' '  You  say  we  are  ignorant  and  do  wrong.  Come  with  your 
riper  judgment  and  show  us  what  is  right." 

I  believe  that  the  Christian  ministers  of  England  might  have  been  the 
leaders  of  working-men  if  they  had  shown  themselves  fit,  and  maybe  yet, 
if  they  are  wise  in  their  generation.  We  need  to  understand  them,  to 
sympathize  with  them,  to  champion  their  cause  when  they  are  in  the  right, 
and  they  will  listen  to  us  then  when  they  are  in  the  wrong,  as  they  often 
are.  Just  now  they  need  to  be  taught  to  think  less  about  their  "rights  " 
and  more  about  their  duties.  They  need  to  be  reminded  that  the  objects 
they  seek  depend  more  upon  their  own  thrift  and  sobriety  than  upon  im- 
proved physical  and  social  conditions,  and  to  be  told  that  the  challenge 
of  Christ  has  never  been  rejiealed:  "Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God 
and  his  righteousness,  and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you." 

J.  R.  Inch,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  Canada,  gave 
the  second  invited  address,  on  "  The  Moral  Aspects  of  Combi- 
nations of  Capital,"  as  follows : 

Mr.  President:  The  word  "combination"  is  in  danger  of  sharing  the 
fate  of  many  other  words  of  our  language— suffering  degradation  by  evil 
association.  It  has  already,  in  the  form  "  coniljine,"  been  so  corrupted  as 
to  be  of  exceedingly  doubtful  character.  That  there  should  be  any  ques- 
tion as  to  the  moral  aspects  of  combinations,  especially  when  linked  with 
so  desirable  a  companion  as  "capital,"  indicates  that  the  process  of  de- 
generacy in  this  once  innocent  word  has  made  alarming  progress. 

In  the  outset  let  me  say  a  word  in  defense  of  combinations.  This 
august  body  has  assembled  in  this  beautiful  city,  brought  hither  from  the 


ADDRESS    OF   J.    R.    INCH.  451 

ends  of  the  earth  in  a  comparatively  brief  period  of  time ;  surrounded  on 
our  journeys  by  every  thing  that  could  minister  to  our  comfort;  our  con- 
veyances richer  and  more  luxurious  than  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  could 
have  commanded,  j^ropelled  by  the  mightiest  forces  of  nature  harnessed 
and  trained  to  do  our  bidding;  a  retinue  of  attendants  anticipating  our 
wants — all  this  service  so  organized  and  systematized  that  scarcely  a  jar 
is  felt,  each  agent  fitting  into  his  place  without  friction,  and  the  whole 
vast  organization  running  as  smoothly  as  well-constructed  and  well-oiled 
machines.  That  has  been  brought  to  pass  by  combination  of  capital. 
Let  us  praise  the  bridge  which  has  brought  us  safely  over. 

To  condemn  combinations,  whether  of  capital  or  labor,  would  be  to 
condemn  civilization.  All  that  contributes  to  make  the  life  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  broader,  deeper,  higher  than  the  life  of  any  former  period 
is  due  to  the  combinations  of  human  effort,  and  of  the  natural  resources 
which  human  effort  controls.  This  statement  is  as  true  in  relation  to  the 
domain  of  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  as  to  that  of  the  material.  Edu- 
cation, Christian  enlightenment,  philanthropic  enterprises  of  every  kind 
are  as  much  dependent  upon  combinations  of  labor  and  capital  as  are  the 
triumphs  of  commerce,  and  the  subjugation  of  the  jihysical  forces  of  the 
universe.  In  short,  the  history  of  civilization  is  the  history  of  combina- 
tions. To  prohibit,  or  even  to  seriously  discourage,  combinations  would 
be  to  block  the  wheels  of  progress,  disintegrate  society,  and  launch  man- 
kind once  more  into  a  state  of  savagery. 

But  there  is,  imfortunately,  too  much  pertinence  in  the  theme  assigned 
for  discussion.  Combination,  innocent  and  beneficial  in  itself,  has  been 
sadly  misapplied.  On  the  goodly  and  fruitful  tree  of  civilization  there  have 
grown  unsightly  parasitical  excrescences  which  are  sapping  its  strength 
and  threatening  its  vitality.  It  is  because  there  are  combinations  for  evil — 
combinations  based  on  avarice,  on  fraud,  on  robbery — that  certain  writers, 
indignant  at  injustice  perpetrated,  blinded  in  judgment  by  wrongs,  the 
cause  of  which  they  have  been  too  impatient  to  trace,  have  been  ready  to 
denounce  all  combinations  of  capital,  and  to  question  without  discrimina- 
tion the  legitimacy  of  all  methods  by  which  great  private  fortunes  have 
been  accumulated.  As  well  might  they  frown  at  the  sun  because  of  his 
spots,  or  anathematize  his  beams  because  of  the  annual  \dctims  of  sun- 
stroke, as  to  condemn  modern  civilization  because  of  immoral  perversions 
of  its  methods. 

The  direct  result  of  combination  is  the  increase  of  power — power  over 
nature,  power  over  men.  The  strength  of  ten  men  combined  may  easily 
accomplish  more  than  could  the  strength  of  a  thousand  exerted  without 
concert.  Enterprises  too  vast  for  the  resources  of  single  capitalists  are 
readily  accomplished  by  the  aggregate  wealth  of  a  company  directed  by  a 
single  mind.  Such  enterprises  may  bring  loss  to  individuals,  because  no 
salutary  revolution  in  Church  or  State  was  ever  brought  about  without 
suffering  somewhere.  But  shall  the  progress  of  the  race  be  stayed  be- 
cause the  rolling  wheels  of  civilization  may  run  down  here  and  there  a  few 
laggards  ?     If  greater  harm  than  good  comes  to  society  from  combinations 


452  SOCIAL    PROBLEMS. 

of  wealth,  the  evil  is  not  in  the  fact  of  combination,  it  is  not  in  the  power 
which  combination  gives ;  it  lurks  in  the  avaricious  hearts  and  in  the  sor- 
did motives  of  those  who  combine.  It  is  true  that  the  power  of  great  cor- 
porations may  become,  and  often  does  become,  dangerous  to  society.  The 
power  centered  in  the  management  of  some  of  our  railway  companies  is 
greater  than  that  of  many  a  monarch  on  his  throne — sometimes  greater 
than  that  of  the  strongest  political  combinations.  It  is  the  business  of 
statesmanship  to  limit  and  control  such  power  that  it  may  not  be  exerted 
to  the  detriment  of  society ;  but  to  give  it  free  scope  when  its  action  is 

beneficent. 

"  'Tis  glorious  to  have  a  giant's  strength; 
'Tis  tyrannous  to  use  it  as  a  giant." 

The  line  of  differentiation  between  legitimate  and  illegitimate  combina- 
tions is  not  difficult  to  draw ;  and  yet  it  is  not  always  easy  to  determine 
upon  which  side  of  the  line  a  particular  combination  should  be  placed. 
This  difficulty  arises  from  the  fact  that  the  power  of  a  corporation  organ- 
ized for  perfectly  legitimate  purposes-  may  be  exercised  tyrannically  to 
crush  out  competition,  to  restrict  production,  to  restrain  trade,  to  oppress 
the  laborer,  to  grind  the  faces  of  the  poor,  to  rob  the  widow  and  the  father- 
less. Combinations  may  thus  be  immoral  either  in  their  purposes  or  in 
their  administration.  Broadly  speaking,  all  combinations  are  legitimate 
which  aim  to  make  the  world  a  better  dwelling-place  for  man,  by  subdu- 
ing and  utilizing  the  forces  of  nature,  by  developing  the  resoui'ces  of  sea 
and  land,  by  facilitating  transportation,  and  by  emancipating,  enlighten- 
ing, and  purifying  society.  On  the  other  hand,  all  combinations  which 
aim  to  monopolize  the  sources  of  wealth,  and  so  to  control  trade  and  pro- 
duction as  to  enrich  the  conspirators  to  the  detriment  of  their  fellow-men, 
are  evil  and  only  evil.  Such  associations,  rooted  in  sordid  selfishness,  are 
immoral  in  their  very  nature.  But  in  order  that  the  result  of  a  combina- 
tion shall  be  beneficent  something  more  is  necessary  than  a  legitimate 
aim.  The  power  legitimately  acquired  must  also  be  legitimately  exercised, 
and  in  accordance  with  the  strictest  equity,  toward  both  employees  and 
competitors. 

The  class  of  combinations  which  during  recent  years  has  incurred  to 
the  greatest  degree  the  just  condemnation  of  honest  men  has  been  that 
known  by  the  euphonistic  name  of  ''trusts."  A  word  suggestive  of  faith 
and  confidence  has  in  this  modern  association  been  so  degraded  as  to 
imply  nothing  higher  than  the  "  honor  "  which  is  said  to  be  found  among 
thieves.  The  main  purpose,  management,  and  result  of  these  commercial 
and  manufacturing  conspiracies  is  so  to  control  the  output  of  various  nec- 
essary commodities  as  to  absolutely  fix  the  price  at  which  the  raw  material 
shall  be  purchased  and  at  which  the  product  shall  be  supplied  to  the  con- 
sumer. To  secure  this  end  all  competitive  properties  are  purchased  until 
competition  is  annihilated  and  the  "trust"  becomes  the  absolute  master 
of  the  situation.  It  is  not  necessary  to  say  that  when  this  point  has  been 
reached  the  combination  usually  becomes  an  oppressive  and  cruel  tyi-anny. 

The  alarming  extent  to   which  this  tyi-anny  has  been  exercised  in  the 


ADDRESS    OF   J.    E.    INCH.  453 

United  States  and  in  Canada  has  been  partially  revealed  by  investigations 
held  by  commissioners  acting  under  legislative  authority  in  both  coun. 
tries.  The  testimony  of  sworn  witnesses — many  of  them  members  of 
"  trusts,"  and,  therefore,  sharers  in  the  spoils — has  uncovered  a  system  of 
spoliation  and  robbery  in  comparison  with  which  the  exactions  of  mediteval 
feudalism  might  hide  their  diminished  head.  Time  would  fail  me  to  give 
details  of  these  revelations.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  there  is  scarcely  an 
article  of  general  consumption  in  tlie  poorest  household,  from  the  simplest 
kinds  of  food  and  raiment  to  the  coffins  which  inclose  the  bodies  of  the 
dead,  that  is  not  levied  upon  by  syndicates  and  close  corporations.  The 
poor  man  toiling  in  the  sweat  of  his  brow  day  after  day,  year  in  and  year 
out,  is  compelled,  whether  or  not  he  may  know  it,  to  pay  to  those  organ- 
ized "trusts"  a  handsome  percentage  on  every  pound  of  meal,  of  salt, 
of  sugar,  on  every  gallon  of  oil,  on  every  ton  of  coal,  on  almost  every 
article,  not  only  those  which  may  be  classed  as  luxurious,  but  those  which 
are  the  absolute  necessities  of  existence.  The  "  trust  "  perches  like  a 
harpy  upon  the  cradle  of  the  babe ;  like  a  vampire  it  fastens  itself  upon 
the  stalwart  laborer,  and  sucks  away  his  vitality ;  like  a  ghoul  it  haunts 
grave-yards,  and  feasts  upon  the  dead. 

If  to  any  this  language  seems  exaggerated,  I  invite  them  to  read  the 
report  of  the  Commission  of  the  State  of  New  York  and  that  of  the  Royal 
Commission  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  with  the  evidence  taken  before 
these  commissions,  and  then  say  whether  any  language  cp,n  be  too  strong 
to  denounce  the  robbery  perpetrated  under  the  name  of  "  trusts "  and 
"  combines  "  and  syndicates.  It  has  been  computed,  on  what  appears  to 
be  indisputable  evidence,  that  as  a  result  of  the  ' '  sugar  combine  "  in  the 
United  States  the  consumers  of  sugar  have  been  obliged  to  pay  over 
$25,000,000  in  one  year  more  than  the  cost  of  that  one  article  of  common 
consumption  would  otherwise  have  been.  We  are  told  that  another 
powerful  syndicate  distrilmted  in  one  year  over  $20,000,000  among  its 
stockholders,  after  paying  a  dividend  quarterly  of  ten  per  cent. 

In  proportion  to  its  population  the  Dominion  of  Canada  has  followed 
with  no  unequal  step  the  example  of  the  great  republic.  By  sworn  tes- 
timony before  a  Commission  of  Parliament  in  1889  it  was  proved,  among 
other  things  equally  startling,  that  in  the  city  of  Ottawa  three  men  with 
an  aggregate  capital  of  only  $15,000,  after  buying  off  one  competitor  at  a 
cost  of  $10,000,  another  at  $5,000,  and  several  others  at  lesser  sums, 
divided  among  themselves,  after  paying  all  expenses  of  management,  the 
handsome  dividend  of  $33,000.  In  Toronto  matters  were  said  to  be  even 
more  startling  still.  A  combination  there  secured  absolute  control  of  the 
coal  supply  for  the  city  and  surrounding  country,  and  fixed  the  prices, 
regardless  of  mercy  or  of  equity.  The  governments,  both  local  and  Do- 
minion, and  all  the  charitable  institutions  were  victimized  as  well  as 
private  consumers.  When  the  government  and  public  institutions  called 
for  tenders  for  coal  supply  the  syndicate  farmed  out  to  its  own  members 
the  right  to  furnish  the  su]iply  at  a  price  previously  arranged,  while  bogus 
tenders  from  other  members  at  a  higher  figure  helped  to  hoodwink  the 


454  SOCIAL    PK0BLEM8. 

victimized  public.  Think  of  the  wretched  .poor  of  the  city  shivering  dur- 
ing the  frosts  of  a  Canadian  winter  over  their  nearly  empty  grates,  while 
the  respectable  syndicate  complacently  pocketed  their  handsome  divi- 
dends, perhaps  unconscious  of  the  unrighteous  character  of  their  business ! 

It  does  not  fall  within  the  scope  of  this  discussion  to  inquire  how  far 
these  modern  developments  of  organized  chicanery  may  be  traceable  to 
existing  political  and  financial  conditions.  It  may  be  that  erroneous 
views  of  the  proper  functions  of  government  and  of  the  relations  which 
industrial  classes  sustain  toward  each  other  may  have  some  connection 
with  these  commercial  phenomena.  It  may  be  that  prevailing  codes  of 
international  ethics  are  interpreted  as  ai^plicable  to  smaller  communities. 
If  nations  in  their  attitudes  toward  each  other  may  ignore  the  Golden  Rule 
and  forget  that  they  also  are  "members,  one  of  another, "  it  should  not 
excite  surprise  that  the  same  code  shall  govern  in  the  intercourse  of  class 
with  class  within  the  same  nationality  and  the  same  municipality. 

A  more  pertinent  inquiry  for  this  Christian  council  is  to  determine  the 
attitude  which  the  Church  should  assume  toward  the  social  and  business 
wrongs  which  cause  so  much  unrest  at  the  present  time.  If  multitudes 
of  men  believe  that  they  are  suffering  injustice ;  that  the  social  conditions 
are  antagonistic  to  their  interests;  that  the  rapidly  accumulating  wealth  of 
the  world  is  unfairly  distributed ;  that  frugality,  thrift,  self-denial,  per- 
sonal effort,  and  personal  sacrifice  count  for  little  as  against  the  power 
which  combined  capital  controls;  if,  soured  by  these  convictions,  they 
form  counter-combinations,  and  fight  fire  with  fire  until  hellish  passions 
are  aroused  and  civilization  seems  ready  to  fall  into  anarchy,  what  can 
the  Church  do  to  allay  the  storm  and  avert  the  catastrophe  ?  What  can 
she  do  ?  The  answer  was  given  in  the  prof oundly  thoughtful  and  instruct- 
ive sermon  with  which  this  council  was  opened :  "  It  is  the  business  of 
the  Church  not  to  reconstruct,  but  to  regenerate  society  " — to  regenerate 
it  by  regenerating  the  men  and  women  who  constitute  it.  It  is  vain  to 
hope  for  a  perfect  civilization  from  any  other  source.  Social  evil  and  in- 
justice may  be  restrained,  and  ought  to  be  restrained,  by  the  civil  power, 
and  in  this  work  of  restraining  evil  every  Christian  citizen  should  co- 
operate with  all  his  energy;  but  restraint  is  not  cure,  and  the  cure  must 
come  from  deeper  and  higher  forces.  The  Church  is  the  channel  through 
Avhich  the  moral  and  spiritual  forces  for  the  regeneration  of  society  must 
flow.  Much  of  the  evil  arises  from  ignorance,  much  from  thoughtlessness. 
Society  must  be  made  ripe  by  the  preparation  which  comes  from  knowl- 
edge, discipline,  self-restraint.  The  process  may  be  slow,  for  man  indi- 
vidually must  be  influenced.  "We  have  need  of  patience.  Encouragements 
are  not  wanting.  The  world  has  never  before  witnessed  such  a  display  of 
educational  and  missionary  effort  as  has  characterized  the  close  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  Wealthy  men  are  every  day  expending  millions  for 
the  endowment  of  colleges  and  hospitals.  The  enthusiasm  of  the  crusades 
is  about  to  be  repeated  in  the  history  of  missionary  evangelization. 

In  speaking  of  the  Avild  schemes  propounded  by  some  socialists  and 
communists  for  the  regeneration  of  society,  Henry  George,  notwithstand- 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  455 

ing  the  fact  that  he  has  his  own  panacea  for  social  wrongs,  says  :  "It 
seems  to  me  that  the  only  power  by  which  such  a  state  of  society  can  be 
attained  and  preserved  is  that  which  the  framers  of  the  schemes  I  speak  of 
generally  ignore,  even  when  they  do  not  directly  antagonize — a  deep, 
detiuite,  intense  religious  faith,  so  clear,  so  burning,  as  to  utterly  melt 
away  the  thought  of  self — a  general  moral  condition  such  as  that  which 
the  Methodists  declare,  under  the  name  of  '  sanctification,'  to  be  indi- 
vidually possible,  in  which  the  dream  of  pristine  innocence  should  become 
reality,  and  man,  so  to  speak,  should  again  walk  with  God."  When  the 
time  comes — and  come  it  will — when  both  politics  and  business  shall  be 
thoroughly  leavened  by  the  religion,  pure  and  undetiled,  which  teaches  us 
to  visit  the  widow  and  the  fatherless  in  their  affliction  and  to  keep  "un- 
spotted from  the  world,"  the  day  of  unlawful  combinations  will  have 
passed  away  forever.  The  best  thought  of  the  best  thinkers  on  the  evils 
we  have  been  discussing  has  found  nothing  equal  to  the  principles  incul- 
cated by  Christ:  "  Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself;  "  "  Do  unto  others  as  ye 
would  that  they  should  do  unto  you."  Civilization  founded  on  these 
principles  will  conquer  the  world  and  usher  in  the  millennium. 

The  discussion  on  the  topic  of  the  morning  was  introduced 
by  Mr.  Thomas  Worthington,  of  the  Independent  Methodist 
Church,  in  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President :  I  am  essentially  a  working-man ;  the  bulk  of  the  con- 
tributors to  my  expenses  to  this  meeting  are  of  the  wage-earning  class. 
Not  one  of  my  male  relatives  for  many  generations,  with  the  exception  of 
my  own  father,  has  died  a  natural  death,  the  whole  having  been  slaugh- 
tered in  the  coal-mine.  I  will  dismiss  any  reference  to  the  previous 
speaker's  address  with  my  hearty  Amen!  completely,  wholly,  andtruly. 
I  am  glad  that  this  question  of  capital  and  labor  has  been  raised  in  this 
Conference.  Thousands  of  working-men  are  looking  forward  to  the  pro- 
nouncement of  this  Conference,  and  why  shouldn't  they?  the  Church  has 
pronounced  its  own  divorcement  from  the  working-classes  by  leaving  out 
from  its  subjects  in  the  pulpit  the  rights  of  man.  The  time  has  come 
when  we  must  speak  out  from  our  pulpits  the  declaration  of  Jeremiah : 
"To  turn  aside  the  right  of  a  man  before  the  face  of  the  Most  High 
the  Lord  appro veth  not."  True,  we  want  honesty  of  labor,  we  want 
punctuality  of  attendance,  regularity  of  service,  and  high  quality  of 
work ;  truly,  we  must  preach  up  that  service  is  to  be  as  strictly  rendered  in 
the  absence  of  oversight  as  when  under  the  eye,  but  we  must  as  definitely 
preach  up  the  woes  of  short  pay.  "  Go  to  now,  ye  rich  men,"  saith  the 
apostle  James,  "  weep  and  howl  for  your  miseries  that  shall  come  upon  you. 
The  hire  of  the  laborer  that  shall  reap  down  your  fields  crieth  unto  the 
Lord."  We  need  to  repeat  Christ's  rebuke  of  certain  teachers:  "Ye 
lade  men  with  burdens  grievous  to  be  borne,  and  ye  yourselves  touch  not 
the  burdens  with  one  of  your  fingers."  Wlien  the  Church  begins  to 
take  up  the  rights  of  men  her  doors  will  be  too  narrow  and  her  portals 
too  small  to  admit  the  multitudes  that  shall  flock  to  her  as  the  dove  to 
the  window.  AVe  must  preach  up  the  rights  of  man  to  a  full  participation 
of  the  product  of  his  labor,  but  when  he  finds  his  employer's  will  has 
been  proved  at  £500,000  he  is  apt  to  think  that  if  every  one  had  his  right 
there  would  be  more  in  his  (the  working-man's)  pocket  and  less  in  the 


456  SOCIAL    PROBLEMS. 

will.  By  all  means  let  us  have  a  fairer  distribution  of  the  world's  leisure 
and  measure  and  pleasure.  The  aristocracy  gave  the  working-man  the 
thatched  hut,  trade  has  given  him  the  six-roomed  house,  and  now  he  waits 
for  the  Christian  inheritance. 

I  must  differ  from  the  Chairman  of  the  Boston  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
when  he  says  that  the  working-classes  of  America  are  paid  eighty  per 
cent,  to  one  hundred  per  cent,  higher  wages  than  England.  The  disparity 
is  not  any  thing  like  so  great.  On  the  other  hand,  the  working-classes  of 
America  are  called  upon  to  pay  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  per  cent, 
higher  prices  for  their  commodities.  A  working-man  in  England  can  get 
a  suit  of  clothes  of  superior  make  for  less  money  than  an  American  work- 
ing-man can  purchase  his  pants  and  vest  of  inferior  make.  There  is  no 
commodity  he  needs  for  either  liouse-furnishing  and  housekeeping  he 
cannot  buy  cheaper  in  England  than  America;  so  that  while  the  working- 
men  here  may  be  getting  somewhat  higher  wages,  the  purchasing  power 
of  the  wages  when  earned  is  more  than  swallowed  up  by  the  increased 
prices. 

Let  me  just  utter  one  word  of  protest  against  one  or  two  statements 
made  by  the  reader  of  the  first  paper.  He  said  that  so  great  was  the  corn 
crop  of  America  in  the  year  1889  that  if  it  had  been  repeated  last  year  it 
would  have  been  a  calamity.  I  regret  that  statement  was  made.  I  had 
never  thought  to  hear  in  a  Christian  community  that  the  Almighty  was  to 
be  blamed  for  sending  two  good  crops  together.  I  can  fancy  my  brother 
being  chief  clerk  under  Joseph  in  Egypt,  and  when  he  found  the  first 
good  crop  of  corn  was  in  excess  of  the  demand  proposing  that  the  balance 
should  be  burned  instead  of  coal.  Joseph  was  more  statesmanlike,  and 
proposed  to  build  warehouses,  and  repeated  the  operation  during  the  six 
succeeding  years.  Again,  if  ever  the  brotherhood  of  man  is  to  be  brought 
about  the  positions  taken  up  by  the  first  writer  must  be  abandoned. 
While  God  has  of  one  flesh  and  blood  made  all  nations  of  the  earth, 
he  has  also  made  the  earth — the  whole  earth — to  bring  forth  food  for  man 
and  beast  every- where.  Not  America  for  the  Americans,  but  the  world 
for  the  whole  of  humanity;  and  as  a  prelude  to  the  brotherhood  of  man, 
the  artificial  barriers  to  the  free  exchange  of  commodities  must  be  taken 
down.  Let  us  hope  that  the  pulpits  of  this  and  other  lands  will  broaden 
so  as  to  include  the  whole  range  of  manhood,  and  then  the  desires  of  men 
met,  the  aspirations  of  men  directed,  the  hopes  of  men  inspired  will  be- 
speak humanity  for  that  Christ  who  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever. 

The  Hon.  J.    D.  Taylor,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 

spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  Like  the  last  brother,  I  too  am  a  working-man.  I  have 
worked  for  more  than  thirty  years  on  an  average  of  fourteen  to  sixteen 
hours  a  day.  I  was  raised  on  a  farm  and  did  farm  work ;  I  taught  school ; 
I  published  a  newspaper;  I  was  in  the  army;  I  practiced  law  for  over 
twenty  years;  worse  than  all,  I  am  now  a  member  of  Congress,  and  I 
work  harder  now  than  I  ever  did  before.  I  have  been  giving  this  labor 
question  considerable  attention  for  twenty  years.  I  have  heard  it  dis- 
cussed in  Congress  and  out  of  Congress,  in  newspapers  and  on  the  stump. 
I  have  heard  it  in  all  its  phases ;  and  I  have  come  to  this  conclusion.  That 
there  is  no  remedy  on  God's  green  earth  to-day  except  the  Christian 
Church — the  Christian  religion,  and  the  abolition  of  the  liquor  traffic.  I 
have  visited  the  working-classes  in  nearly  all  the  States  in  this  Union,  and 
I  say  to  you  that  in  the  State  of  Maine  the  working-classes  are  one  hun- 
dred per  cent,  better  off  than  they  are  in  any  other  State  in  the  Union. 


GENERAL    KEMAKKS.  457 

That  is  where  they  have  prohibitory  legislation.  la  those  towns  where  the 
smoke  never  curls  from  the  chimney  on  the  Sabl)ath  day,  and  the  people 
go  to  church,  they  have  few  strikes — no  complaints.  The  people  are 
largely  under  Christian  influence,  live  happily,  and  are  contented. 

Now,  I  want  to  make  this  point.  The  gentlemen  who  have  discussed 
this  question  have  talked  a  good  deal  about  manufacturing  and  markets. 
These  are  great  questions.  I  want  to  say  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
over-production.  I  agree  with  the  last  brother — the  more  corn,  the  better ; 
the  more  wheat,  the  better ;  the  more  products  from  the  mill  and  factory, 
the  better.  During  the  last  eight  years  many  of  the  woolen  mills  in  this 
country  have  been  closed,  have  shut  down  time  and  again,  and  blankets 
and  flannels  have  been  sold  at  one  half  their  value.  Other  mills  have  been 
shut  down,  and  agriculture  has  been  depressed ;  and  yet  we  are  told  there 
is  over-production.  I  do  not  believe  it.  The  people  of  this  country  do 
not  have  as  much  fuel,  or  as  many  blankets,  or  as  much  food,  as  they 
ought  to  have. 

I  want  to  tell  you  a  secret,  a  practical  one.  If  you  will  take  the  one 
thousand  million  of  dollars  spent  in  this  country  every  year  for  liquor  you 
will  l)e  able  to  buy  all  the  surplus  agricultural  products ;  you  will  be  able 
to  buy  all  the  products  of  the  mills  of  this  country;  you  will  be  able  to 
employ  all  the  idle  men  of  the  country;  you  will  be  able  to  pay  them  bet- 
ter wages  than  you  do  to-day ;  and  you  will  give  a  degree  of  prosperity  to 
this  country  that  the  world  has  never  seen.  I  want  to  say  to  my  friends 
that  this  is  a  practical  question. 

Tlie  Rev.  Frank  Ballard,  M.A.,  B.Sc,  of  the  Wesleyan 
Methodist  Cliiirch,  conchided  the  discussion,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President  :  I  take  it  that  we  are  all  "  working-men,"  or  ought  to 
be.  "We  have,  however,  suffered  so  much  in  our  own  land  because  of  this 
theme  that  I  take  it  as  a  real  privilege  to  be  able  to  speak  upon  it  here  this 
morning.  When  I  asked  in  plain  but  courteous  English  what  the 
churches  were  for  in  the  second  city  of  the  English  realm,  I  was  told  that 
I  was  unspiritual  and  was  not  working  on  Methodist  lines ;  that  what  men 
needed  was  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  my  judgment — and  year  by 
year  I  am  more  confirmed  in  that  judgment — there  is  no  Gosjiel,  no  spir- 
ituality, no  Methodism  that  is  worthy  of  the  name  which  does  not  look  in 
the  directions  we  are  bending  this  morning.  I  am  thankful,  indeed,  to 
hear  such  an  echo  of  truth  from  that  part  of  the  globe  to  which  I  have  not 
had  the  opportunity  of  going.  I  am  glad  Mr.  Berry's  trumpet  has  given 
us  no  uncertain  sound  in  this  respect.  It  seems  to  me  that  Christianity 
has  never  yet  been  tried.  From  this  Conference  there  ought  to  go  forth 
to  the  Methodist  world  a  declaration  on  the  subject  before  us.  It  is  vain 
to  talk  about  "  preaching  the  Gospel  "  and  "  spirituality,"  unless  we  are 
prepared  to  deal  with  the  things  which  men  and  women  want  to  know 
about  every  day  in  the  week.  I  do  not  say  it  with  any  bitterness,  but  I 
have  been  libeled  and  defamed  by  Methodist  officials  in  circuits  for  say- 
ing that  these  matters  come  rightfully  within  the  range  of  the  doctrines  of 
the  Methodist  Church. 

Cries  of  "  No,  no." 

Mr.  Ballard:  You  may  say,  "  No,"  but  I  say.  Yes,  and  if  the  brethren 
will  give  me  time  I  can  give  names,  dates,  and  places.  But  I  do  hope  that 
from  this  Conference  there  will  go  forth  a  voice  proclaiming  that  these  mat- 
ters which  we  now  have  under  discussion  are  the  very  things  which  need  to 
be  touched  with  the  light  and  love  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  In  the  Chris- 
tian Gospel  it  is  vain  to  say  we  must  love  the  Lord  our  God  with  all  our 
32 


458  SOCIAL    PROBLEMS. 

heart,  and  our  neighbor  as  ourself,  unless  we  both  plainly  teach  and  truly 
practice  it.  I  cannot  speak  for  Australia,  but  I  can  speak  for  England 
and  Liverpool.  One  reason  why  the  artisans  are  so  often  absent  from  our 
places  of  worship  is  because  we  are  always  preaching  to  them — I  say  it 
quite  respectfully — about  "  our  good  old  Methodist  theology,"  and  yet 
somehow  we  do  not  tell  them  how  they  are  to  live  like  Christ  in  these 
our  days.  We  do  not  tell  them  how  to  meet  their  practical  difficulties, 
how  they  are  to  keep  their  families  in  Christian  holiness  on  the  poor  wages 
they  get  and  in  the  miserable  dens  in  which  so  many  of  them  have  to 
exist. 

Tlie  hour  for  adjonrnment  having  arrived,  the  Conference 
was  closed  with  the  benediction  by  the  presiding  officer,  the 
Kev.  F.  W.  Bourne. 


ESSAY    OF   REV.    PETEK    THOMPSON.  459 


SECOND  SESSION. 

The  Conference  opened  at  the  usual  hour,  the  Kev  Bishop 
W.  W.  Duncan,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  in  the  chair.  Prayer  was  offered  by  the  Kev.  W.  Y. 
Tudor,  D.D.,  of  the  same  Church,  and  the  Scripture  lesson  was 
read  by  tlie  Kev.  L.  K.  Fiske,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 

The  programme  of  the  afternoon  was  taken  up,  and  the  Kev. 
Peter  Thompson,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church,  read  the 
following  essay  on  "  Obligations  of  the  Church  in  Kelation 
to  the  Social  Condition  of  the  People  :  " 

Mr.  President  :  This  subject,  as  thus  described,  is,  I  presume,  intended 
to  apply  to  the  conditions  of  life  in  our  large  centers  of  population,  and  to 
the  forms  and  methods  of  ministry  proper  for  the  Church  in  her  fulfillment 
of  Christ's  commission  to  these  multitudes.  It  will  be  seen,  upon  close  ob- 
servation, that  it  involves  a  many-sided  and  difficult  problem ;  and  yet  some 
general  lines  of  duty  for  us  ought  to  be  clearly  and  strongly  held.  The  sub- 
ject is  now  forced  upon  the  Church  with  urgency,  and  the  study  of  it,  how- 
ever full  of  surprise  and  pain,  and  even  peril,  must  be  earnestly  pursued.  "VVe 
are  only  at  the  beginning  of  our  inquiries,  discussions,  and  serious  efforts 
in  relation  to  these  special  social  conditions.  It  would  be  unfair  not  to 
recognize  the  work  that  has  been  done.  The  social  and  charitable  endeav- 
ors of  the  past  belong  almost  exclusively  to  the  Church.  Whenever  the 
poor  and  oppressed  and  wronged  have  looked  for  help  they  have  turned  to 
the  godly  for  it.  But  the  possibilities  of  a  more  comprehensive  ministry 
for  the  destitute  have  been  pressed,  and  are  being  urged  upon  the  Church 
to-day,  partly  by  members  of  the  Church  who  for  Christ's  sake  consider 
the  poor,  and  who  have  seen  the  vast  demand  for  something  more  real  and 
effective,  and  partly  by  those  outside  the  Church  who  see  and  feel  the 
terrible  pressure  of  life  upon  the  poor  and  oppressed,  and  who  make  pro- 
posals for  dealing  with  them  more  or  less  hostile  to  the  interests  of  the 
Church.  Our  hearts  have  wanned  and  rejoiced  during  this  Conference 
when  we  have  heard  the  oft-repeated  declaration  of  our  colored  brethren, 
•'Methodism  has  done  more  for  us  than  any  other  Church."  In  the  future, 
I  trust  it  will  be  said,  when  reports  are  given  of  city  life  made  pure  and 
wholesome,  that  Methodism  did  more  to  bring  it  about  than  any  other 
Church. 

In  the  limits  assigned  to  me  it  is  difficult  to  give  even  a  suggestive  out- 
line of  the  extent  and  character  of  the  conditions  that  obtain  in  our  larjje 
centers  of  population.  I  will  give  only  a  brief  statement.  According  to 
the  most  recent  statistics,  which  have  been  carefully  collected  by  3Ir. 
Charles  Booth,  it  is  shown  that  over  one  million  three  hundred  thousand 
of  the  population  of  London  are  in  poverty,  more  or  less  acute — that  is,  the 


460  SOCIAL    PROBLEMS. 

best  paid  among  them  are  constantly  in  need  of  the  bare  necessaries  of  life 
and  cannot  maintain  themselves  in  the  simplest  conditions  of  health  and 
comfort.  And  let  it  be  remembered  that  this  estimate  is  based  upon  the 
amount  of  income  that  is  received  by  these  people  when  in  health  and 
work,  and  makes  no  allowance  whatever  for  days  of  sickness  and  trouble  or 
of  pleasure  and  rest.  In  St.  Georges-in-the-East  forty-nine  per  cent,  of  the 
entire  population  belong  to  this  class.  Every  thirty-ninth  house  in  this 
district  is  licensed  for  the  sale  of  strong  drink,  and  the  pauperism  is  repre- 
sented by  the  fact  that  forty-five  per  cent,  of  the  adult  deaths  occur  in  the 
work-house.  The  conditions  of  the  people  in  such  a  district  are  utterly 
appalling.  There  are  combinations  of  evil — physical,  moral,  and  spiritual — 
such  as  bewilder  all  who  attempt  its  examination.  Face  to  face  with  it 
one's  heart  fails,  and  very  many  in  reality  at  once  feel  and  say,  "  They  are 
hopeless."  All  the  evils  attendant  on  poverty  are  there.  We  have  over- 
crowding, indolence,  immorality,  vice,  ignorance,  and  terribly  wide-spread 
incapacity  for  useful  life. 

Think  of  the  misery  of  this  one  million  three  hundred  thousand  during 
one  twelve  months,  enduring  the  exposure  to  cold,  the  pangs  of  hunger, 
the  lone  misery  of  sickness,  and  the  cries  of  their  naked  children;  real- 
ize multitudes  of  rooms  fireless,  of  homes  cheerless,  of  bodies  suffering, 
and  of  the  anguish  in  the  father's  and  mother's  hearts  for  those  they  love. 
Some  may  comfort  themselves  by  saying  that  it  is  not  worse,  or  even  that 
it  is  better,  than  they  thought ;  but  surely  those  whose  hearts  are  still 
human,  those  who  have  any  share  in  the  fellowship  of  Christ,  wall  not 
know  of  such  a  mass  of  our  fellow-men  in  such  conditions  of  life 
without  doing  more  than  heave  a  sigh  and  utter  words  of  pity.  We  must 
not,  in  the  quiet  of  our  own  comfort,  refuse  to  hear  the  deep  pathetic 
moan  of  this  multitude  pleading  for  bread,  for  shelter,  for  instruction, 
imjiloring  sympathy,  counsel,  guidance.  We  ought  to  respond  by  a 
ready  and  adequate  service.  How  shall  they  be  led  to  believe  in  the  love 
of  God  if  those  who  tell  of  it  deny  to  them  their  OAvn  love  ? 

Some  sort  of  classification  may  be  made.  1.  There  are  the  worthy 
poor,  or  ' '  comfortable  poor, "  by  which  is  meant  that  they  are  clean  and 
brave  to  endure,  often,  however,  with  aching  heart  and  weary  body;  and 
their  history  of  heroism  if  we  could  write  it  would  pierce  even  the 
toughest  heart  of  selfishness.  They  are  honest  and  wish  to  be  and  to  do 
well  for  themselves  and  their  homes,  and  among  these  some  are  godly. 
2.  The  poor  who  have  become  degraded  and  are  without  any  apjiearauce  of 
comfort.  These  come  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  from  all  coun- 
tries and  from  all  classes,  and  here  reap  the  terrible  harvest  of  misery 
which  is  generally  the  end  of  a  life  of  sin.  Many  of  these  have  been 
wronged  and  ruined,  and  have  surrendered  themselves  to  their  lot  with  a 
desiderate  consent,  and  in  turn  wrong  and  ruin  others.  Of  these  there  is 
a  vast  multitude.  3.  The  ignorant  and  poor  and  vile,  who  began  life  at 
the  bottom  and  who  have  never  been  touched  with  good,  either  by  State 
or  Church — the  offspring  of  shame,  the  children  of  the  vicious  and  drunken, 
heirs  to  physical  and  moral  diseases,  liable  to  excesses  of  passion  and  lust 


ESSAY    OF    KEV.    PETER    THOMPSON.  461 

awful  to  contemplate,  schooled  in  slums  and  bars  and  brothels,  trained 
to  falsehood,  baseness,  and  hardness  (the  weak  and  sickly  die  early), 
inured  to  poverty  and  rough  usage,  and  familiarized  with  foul  life  and 
language.  Among  these  the  Sunday-schools  have  had  no  place  and  the 
dixy-scliools  are  only  just  beginning  to  operate  with  effect.  The  mass 
thus  composed,  alas!  herd  together  for  mutual  ill,  and  their  social  sores 
fester  and  foul  more  deeply  an  awfully  corrupt  life.  The  position  the 
Church  holds,  as  Christ's  body  through  which  he  ministers  on  earth,  must 
represent  the  thought  and  life  and  work  of  Christ  for  these  who  are  at 
the  very  bottom.  The  relation  must  be  real,  of  the  heart  and  in  deed  and 
truth.  Her  ministry  must  be  of  love — loving  and  effective  to  save.  Ac- 
cepting as  essential  and  permanent  the  supreme  truths  of  the  Gospel  re- 
vealed by  Christ,  the  intelligent  and  earnest  spirit  and  life  of  love  will 
interpret  and  apply  the  divine  message  for  its  own  age  and  the  needs  of 
those  immediately  ministered  to. 

Our  estimates  may  differ  as  to  the  extent  to  which  the  Church  is  re- 
sponsible for  the  existence  of  these  things.  Most  of  us  will  feel  that  there 
has  been  culpable  neglect  and  indifference  on  the  part  of  all.  Have  we 
not  to  share  the  reproach  with  Israel  of  having  neglected  social  duties  in 
in  our  love  of  gain  and  pleasure,  while  we  have  been  worshiping  and 
praying  and  discussing  our  doctrines  and  religious  privileges  ?  The  rapid 
changes  of  recent  years  which  have  taken  place  in  our  national  and  social 
life,  involving  the  aggregation  and  over-crowding  of  the  poor  and  the  deg- 
radation and  ruin  of  vast  multitudes,  have  not  been  watched  and  dealt 
with  as  they  ought  to  have  been.  But  whatever  may  be  the  truth  as  to 
the  past,  the  question  of  urgency  now  is,  "  How  are  we  to  deal  with  this 
vast  multitude  of  enfeebled  and  degraded  humanity  ? "  It  has  been  said 
that  "  the  miseries  of  the  world  are  at  bottom  not  economic,  but  spiritual. 
Put  the  spiritual  right,  and  all  else  will  come  right."  But  what  if,  in  de- 
fiance of  all  the  spiritual  agencies  of  the  Church  to  put  the  spiritual  right, 
the  bad  economics  have  worked  and  continue  to  work  disastrous  thinsrs  in 
the  spiritual  ?  These  evil  workings  in  our  social  and  commercial  life  have 
brought  terrible  wreckage  of  mind  and  heart  as  well  as  body.  Perhaps  I 
might  say,  ' '  Put  the  spiritual  Church  right — all  her  members  of  intelligence 
and  wealth  and  experience — and  then  all  will  come  right,  workers  will  be 
abundant,  money  will  be  plentiful,  and  plans  and  methods  varied  and 
effective. 

The  Church  is  bound  to  have  a  real  fellowship  wuth  the  people ;  within 
sight  of  them,  with  "  ej'es  to  see,"  within  sound  of  them,  with  "ears 
to  hear,"  within  touch  of  them,  with  "  power  to  heal; "  possessed  of  love 
which  will  minister  and  sacrifice;  consumed  by  a  zeal  created  and  sus- 
tained of  love.  In  the  midst  of  these  people  in  sore  bondage  and  loath- 
someness and  corruption  we  must  "hear  their  cry,  and  know  their  sorrows, 
and  deliver  them."  It  is  our  first  and  chief  difficulty  with  the  Church  as 
a  whole  that  Christ's  followers  are  apart  from  the  people  and  are  ignorant 
of  the  realities  of  their  history,  their  lot,  and  their  helplessness.  This 
ignorance  and  indifference  must  in  some  way  be  removed.     Are  not  the 


462  .     SOCIAL    PROBLEMS. 

lovers  of  Christ  bound  to  inquire  and  inform  themselves  ?  Is  it  not  im- 
perative that  each  follower  of  Christ  shall  seek  and  save  the  lost  ?  "He 
loved  us  and  gave  himself  for  us."  "He  dwelt  among  us."  "He  saw 
the  multitude  and  was  moved  with  compassion  toward  them."  "This 
man  receiveth  sinners  and  eateth  with  men."  There  have  been  always, 
and  will  be,  differences,  but  the  separation  of  the  classes  on  the  basis  of 
income,  modified  at  the  lower  end  to  some  extent  by  character,  has  been, 
and  threatens  to  be,  fruitful  of  terrible  evils.  In  any  case,  those  who  are 
brought  face  to  face  with  the  facts  will  feel  compelled  to  "  cry  aloud  and 
sjiare  not." 

When  the  Church  knows  and  sees  the  conditions  and  realities  of  such 
life  she  must  accept  the  commission  of  her  Master,  and  he  must  and  will 
be  glorified  in  her  full  ministry  to  these  sinful  men.  The  reality  of 
Christ's  life  in  us  must  be  revealed  in  powerful  compassion  and  effort.  It 
will  be  spoken  to  our  hearts  in  the  presence  of  this  moral  and  spiritual 
death,  "  I  am  come  that  they  might  have  life."  "  The  Son  of  man  came 
to  minister  and  to  give  his  life."  We  shall  feel  with  St.  John  that  "  we 
ought  to  lay  down  our  lives,"  and  welcome  his  every-day  application  of 
that  full  truth,  "Whoso  hath  this  world's  goods  and  beholdeth  his  brother 
in  need,  and  shutteth  up  his  compassion  from  him,  how  doth  the  love  of 
God  abide  in  him  ? "  With  St.  Paul  we  shall  become  controlled  by  the 
one  resolve,  "that  they  may  be  saved."  We  must  accept  the  position  of 
the  first  apostles,  and  say,  "  Such  as  I  have  give  I  unto  thee."  And  to 
these  hungry  and  starving  and  wretched  people  Methodism  as  represented 
here  cannot  say,  "  Silver  and  gold  have  we  none." 

It  must  become  an  art  with  the  Chiuxh  to  save.  She  must  create  and 
administer  agencies  reasonable  and  adequate.  This  work  of  saving  so- 
ciety is  her  function  and  her  business.  It  will  be  assumed  that  I  do  not 
undervalue  the  common  and  universally  accepted  ministry  of  the  Church 
— strong  and  fervent  preaching,  especially  in  the  open  air,  class  meet- 
ings, Bible-classes,  Sunday-schools,  temperance  and  other  work.  Christ 
crucified  must  be  our  theme.  Jesus  first  and  last.  But  he  must  be  our 
life.  In  a  sermon  recently  jiublished  in  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Magazine 
it  was  said,  "They  dared  not  let  the  great  truth  of  the  Gospel  slip  away 
from  the  gaze  of  Christendom."  Dare  we  neglect  the  life  and  ministry 
by  which  alone  the  gaze  of  the  sorely  sinful  and  wretched  in  our  so-called 
Christian  cities  shall  become  fixed  on  Christ  ?  The  Church  must  hold  the 
glorious  field  of  Christian  doctrine  and  apply  it  more  practically  and  uni- 
versally to  the  new  problems  of  human  life  and  to.  social  and  economic 
duty.  The  Church  must  not  only  occupy  herself  "  with  certain  great 
topics  and  follow  the  lead  of  great  divines,"  but  she  must  make  manifest 
the  life  of  righteousness,  holiness,  and  joy,  and  thus  establish  the  king- 
dom of  God  on  earth.  The  Church  must  live  for  these,  and  jjroclaim  that 
' '  It  is  a  faithful  saying  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus 
came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners."  But  this  will  not  exhaust  her  re- 
sponsibility or  limit  her  privilege.  Her  aim  for  these  will  be :  (1)  That 
the  Sabbath  made  for  man  may  become  theirs  and  may  have  its  divinest 


ESSAY    OF   KEV.    PETER   THOMPSON.  463 

meaniug  iu  their  experience;  (2)  That  home-life  may  be  made  possible 
in  purity  and  brightness  and  fullest  well  being ;  (3)  That  child-life  and 
youth-life  may  become  wholesome  and  strong  in  those  qualities  which  will 
fit  for  good  citizenship  and  lives  of  honor  and  usefulness. 

In  considering  the  duties  of  the  Church  there  are  two  questions  that 
are  important:  (V)  How  ought  the  Church  to  meet  the  immediate  needs 
of  these  people  and  deal  with  them  most  effectively  for  their  present  de- 
liverance? and  (2)  What  ought  the  Church  to  do  in  view  of  their  perma- 
nent improvement? 

In  answer  to  the  first,  the  necessity  of  quick  rescue  and  immediate  help 
in  shielding  them  from  their  peril  or  taking  them  out  of  their  hopeless 
lot  will  be  clearly  seen.  And  here  let  me  say  how  deejjly  I  am  convinced 
that  the  Church  alone  holds  the  secret  of  success  within  her  power.  The 
Gospel  alone  in  its  revelation  of  the  divine  love  and  power  for  all  men 
can  be  the  basis  upon  which  deliverance  can  be  secured.  Here  perhaps 
more  than  anywhere  we  feel  that  God  alone  can  deliver,  that  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  alone  can  regenerate  and  sanctify  and  strengthen. 
But  with  this,  or  perhaps  in  preparation  for  this,  there  must  come  all 
other  effective  help.  "  Get  the  people  saved,  and  all  else  will  come  right." 
Yes!  But  how  are  they  to  be  got  at  and  saved?  The  ministry  of  love 
will  include  a  sensible,  practical  relation  with  the  person  or  persons  whom 
we  seek  to  help ;  and  where  men  are  hungry  and  starving  and  workless, 
the  first  true  gospel  is  to  feed  them  and  clothe  them  and  awaken  in  them 
a  sense  of  the  reality  of  love. 

I  plead  strongly  that  the  Church  ought  to  furnish  living.  Christlike 
men  and  woman — the  best,  strongest,  and  wisest — to  come  into  direct  con- 
tact with  the  life  of  these  sick  and  sinful  and  wretched.  I  thank  God 
for  those  already  supplied.  Every  gift  is  needed,  and  only  by  a  full  and 
many-sided  ministry  can  this  work  be  done.  The  individuality  and  force 
of  each  must  be  allowed  a  perfect  freedom  with  all  suitable  resource  and 
appliance — the  freedom  of  vigorous  personality  and  life.  This  is  true  of 
the  different  districts ;  it  is  true  of  the  different  classes  in  any  district. 
Among  the  sick  and  dying  we  need  medical  missions,  fully  equipped; 
doctors,  whose  hearts  are  tender  and  who  are  full  of  earnest  purpose  for 
the  salvation  of  the  jjoor;  nurses,  whose  gentle,  sweet,  divine  ministry 
produces  such  marvelous  effect  with  the  lonely  and  dying.  The  Church 
ought  to  multiply  these  that  she  may  "  heal  the  sick  and  say,  The  kingdom 
of  God  is  come  unto  you."  To  give  bodily  strength  to  the  father,  that  he 
may  be  able  to  earn  food  for  his  family,  is  the  true  Christlike  help;  to 
give  suitable  food,  to  nourish  and  strengthen  the  body  that  has  become 
feeble  from  starvation,  so  that  the  man  or  woman  may  again  be  equal  to 
the  strain  of  daily  toil,  is  the  real  ministry  of  the  Church.  For  two  years 
our  medical  mission  has  done  a  wonderful  work  for  God  amonjr  our 
lowest. 

Among  the  impure  and  the  fallen  we  need  to  have  a  very  adequate  pro- 
vision of  home  life  and  employment,  and  with  all  the  variety  that  will  be 
suggested  by  the  different  positions  and  histories  and  needs  of  the  victims 


464:  SOCIAL    PROBLEMS. 

of  lust.  For  the  children  of  evil  parents  who  are  placed  in  terrible  social 
peril,  in  fact,  who  are  certainly  doomed  to  impure  lives  unless  they  can 
be  taken  hold  of  and  saved,  we  must  make  arrangements,  such  as  are  now 
provided  by  Dr.  Stephenson,  Dr.  Barnardo,  and  others,  for  orphans.  For 
the  general  mass  of  the  indigent  and  helpless,  and  according  to  the  actual 
need  of  each  area,  the  Church  or  others  must  provide  sh'elters  and  refuges 
under  godly  control  that  will  immediately  meet  such  conditions  of  life, 
especially  during  the  winter  months  and  severe  weather.  Food  depots 
and  coffee  palaces  might  wisely  be  multiplied  and  worked  side  by  side 
with  Christian  agencies  of  all  kinds.  Breakfasts  or  dinners  to  hungry 
children  are  a  necessity,  unless  the  children  are  to  have  dealt  out  to  them 
the  utmost  penalties  for  the  sins  of  their  parents. 

I  know  how  frequently  we  are  now  warned  of  the  danger  of  degrading 
and  pauperizing,  but  I  am  speaking  of  those  who  are  already  at  the  bot- 
tom, and  of  those  who,  if  not  fed,  must  endure  all  the  results  of  starva- 
tion. Moreover,  the  New  Testament  has  no  paragraph  or  scene  of  life 
that  suggests  this  terrible  peril  of  pauperizing  and  degrading  the  poor. 
We  need  much  more  anxiously  to  state  the  danger  of  prosperous  life,  of 
selfishness  and  greed,  and  to  guard  against  the  perils  of  wealth  and  luxury, 
and  of  self-gratification,  and  of  ministering  to  the  flesh.  The  dangers 
for  the  Church  to-day  in  all  her  work  do  not  arise  from  a  too  prodigal  ex- 
penditure for  the  destitute,  or  an  excessive  concern  for  the  outcast  and 
naked ;  they  rather  arise,  as  of  old,  from  self-love  and  mammon.  Let 
us  read  over  again  the  warnings  of  Christ  and  the  Epistle  of  St.  James  as 
to  the  difficulties  which  the  rich  find  in  entering  his  kingdom,  that  we 
may  know  our  true  dangers. 

But  it  is  argued  that  charity  should  be  organized  and  that  certain  se- 
vere rules  should  be  adopted  whereby  only  the  worthy  and  those  who 
have  good  repute  should  be  assisted,  and  that  these  should  be  assisted  ef- 
fectually and  helped  to  success;  that  all  others  should  be  committed  to 
the  work-house  and  forced  by  a  course  of  severity  to  submit  to  the  over- 
sight and  control  of  the  parochial  authorities.  I  am  not  prepared  to  ad- 
mit that  we  are  competent  to  decide  who  are  the  hopeless  ones  and  who 
may  be  really  profited  by  adequate  temj^orary  help.  Many  who  are  now 
good  citizens  in  godly  homes  would  have  certainly  been  degraded  and 
made  paupers  by  such  a  rule.  I  am  coming  very  surely  to  the  conviction 
that  almost  the  worst  doom  that  can  come  in  this  life  to  men  and  women 
is  the  work -house,  and  the  worst  for  children  our  pauper  schools.  Some 
may  find  it  easy  to  suggest  that  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  the  worst  should 
be  removed  as  so  many  diseased  cattle,  to  be  isolated  or  put  away  till  they 
die,  so  as  to  prevent  the  spread  of  our  social  plague,  or  in  order  to  stamp 
it  out.     But  this  is  for  many  reasons  impossible. 

I  venture  to  say  that  if  the  Church  be  in  earnest  and  intend  to  accom- 
plish the  service  of  God  for  these  people,  it  will  cost  far  more  than  any 
one  has  yet  understood  or  estimated.  It  is  true  that  some  have  no  hope 
of  success,  and  say,  "  Leave  them,  and  fix  your  attention  and  spend  your 
energies  on  better  material."     Others  say,  "  So  far  as  the  old  country  is 


ESSAY    OF    KEY.    TETEK    THOMPSON.  465 

concerned,  let  the  Established  Church  -with  all  its  wealth  take  these  for 
parishioners,  and  let  all  our  energy  be  directed  upon  the  artisans  and  the 
middle  and  upper  classes."  Some  others  say,  "Let  us  get  the  artisans 
and  intelligent  laborers  converted,  and  then  employ  the  artisans  to  save 
those  who  are  lower."  This  last  was  a  favorite  theory  of  my  own  seven 
years  ago,  but  I  am  now  inclined  to  say  that  it  is  an  unworkable  ideal. 
We  might,  in  fact,  with  equal  probability  of  success  say,  "  Let  us  save  our 
noblemen  and  millionaires,  and  use  them  and  their  money."  I  will  an- 
swer to  all  these  suggestions,  that  if  the  Church  of  Christ  in  all  her  mem- 
bers will  become  as  her  Lord  in  self-sacrifice,  and  to  the  utmost  of  her 
power  use  all  her  members  for  personal  work  and  all  her  money,  that  is, 
the  money  owned  by  all  her  jiresent  members,  the  word  would  soon  "  run 
and  be  glorified ! "  And  in  order  that  those  who  are  now  followers  of 
Christ  may  secure  their  own  "  perfect  love  "  in  him,  they  will  need,  as 
he  did,  to  give  themselves  for  the  salvation  of  the  people.  If  we  say,  as 
the  apostle  said,  "  Such  as  we  have  we  give,"  then  not  only  the  few  of 
Methodism  with  inadequate  funds  will  be  represented  in  her  ministry,  but 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  Methodism,  intelligent  and  of  strong  purpose, 
with  capacity,  wealth,  and  appliartces,  will  furnish  bread  for  the  hungry, 
succor  and  help  for  the  weak  and  lonely  and  helpless.  The  Church  must 
be  the  teacher  of  the  life  of  love  and  fulfill  the  ministry  of  salvation  not 
only  in  her  pulpits  and  in  her  literature,  but  also  by  emphatic  statement 
and  illustration  of  these  things  in  the  ordinary  ways  of  life.  By  love  for 
others  in  word  and  deed,  in  life  and  effort,  the  whole  Church  must  seek 
to  represent  Christ. 

What  ought  the  Church  to  do  in  view  of  pennanent  benefit  for  these 
classes?  A  writer  belonging  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  has  recently 
said:  "We  shall  not  always  be  content  with  the  philanthropy  that 
picks  up  the  victims  as  they  fly  broken  from  the  wheel  of  oppression;  we 
will  stop  the  wheel  itself."  Archbishop  Westcott  says:  "Our  aim  will 
be,  by  the  grace  of  God,  not  simply  to  relieve  distress,  but  to  render  re- 
lief unnecessary ;  not  to  free  ourselves  from  the  burden  of  anxiety  by  ab- 
dicating our  heritage,  but  to  use  it  with  thoughtful  solicitude  for  the 
common  weal;  to  seek  to  make  the  conditions  of  labor  for  every  fellow- 
man  such  that  he  may  discharge  his  office  for  the  family,  the  nation,  the 
race,  and  in  the  effort  feel  the  joy  of  an  accepted  sacrifice.  Whenever 
we  find  ourselves  in  the  presence  of  such  overwhelming  curses  in  human 
life  as  now  obtain  in  our  large  cities  we  cannot  help  asking,  What  are  the 
causes?  How  can  their  lot  be  ameliorated  and  their  position  redeemed? 
How  can  the  supply  be  cut  off  and  the  manufacture  of  these  helpless  ones 
be  effectually  arrested?  The  Church  must  discover  and  abolish  those 
things  in  reference  to  social  life  whose  fruits  are  so  terrible.  It  will  be 
in  vain  to  appeal  to  those  who  are  dominated  by  selfishness  and  whose 
supreme  concern  in  this  life  is  to  be  untroubled  and  to  secure  their  own 
comfort  and  pleasure. 

I  must  repeat  what  has  been  said  strongly  and  repeatedly,  that  the  liquor 
traflic  is  the  main  and  fruitful  cause  of  this  terrible  life.     Many  of  our 


4:66  SOCIAL    PBOBLEMS. 

difficulties  would  at  once  be  removed  if  this  could  be  thoroughly  and 
effectually  dealt  with.  The  Church  holds  the  key  to  the  situation.  Let 
the  Church  become  united  and  earnest  for  the  destruction  of  the  liquor 
traffic  and  it  will  cease  to  exist.  But  all  who  know  the  actual  conditions 
that  obtain  recognize  that  such  unity  is  impossible,  because  so  many 
within  the  Church  hold  their  capital  and  derive  their  income  from  the 
traffic  or  by  their  use  of  strong  drink  directly  support  it.  Until  the 
Church  separates  herself  from  that  system  of  iniquity  it  will  never  be 
abolished.  The  same  is  true  with  reference  to  the  inequitable  and  cor- 
rupt life  of  our  commerce  and  the  administration  of  the  civil  life  of  the 
country.  Greed  may  be  condemned,  but  so  long  as  those  who  condemn 
it  sanction  the  liquor  traffic  for  the  sake  of  revenue,  or  in  their  pursuit  of 
business  and  pleasure  embody  this  spirit  in  their  own  lives,  their  utterances 
will  be  utterly  ineffectual.  We  may  denounce  drunkenness,  but  if  our 
capital  and  interests  are  involved  with  the  liquor  traffic,  what  can  be  the 
effect  of  our  denunciation?  We  may  speak  strongly  in  favor  of  Sabbath 
observance  and  condemn  Sabbath  desecration,  and  personally,  perhaps, 
observe  the  Lord's  day,  but  if,  while  we  have  been  quiet  in  our  homes 
and  at  the  house  of  God  our  liquor  bar  has  been  open,  our  railroad  or 
other  company  of  which  we  are  shareholders  has  been  carrying  on  its 
traffic,  requiring  the  work  of  vast  numbers  of  laborers,  for  the  sake  of  the 
dividend,  what  are  our  scriptural  views  of  the  Sabbath  worth? 

The  Church,  in  order  to  effectually  fulfill  her  mission,  must  separate 
herself  in  personal  life  and  in  material  resources  from  all  of  these  various 
works  of  darkness,  out  of  which  come  the  awful  social  conditions  which 
we  deplore.  But  there  must  be  the  direct  employment  of  all  means  to 
secure  wholesome  conditions  to  the  people.  Love,  Christlike  and  prac- 
tical, will  work  effectually  in  these  ways.  Owners  of  property  will  regard 
it  as  their  first  privilege  to  contribute  to  the  utmost  extent  to  the  well- 
being  of  their  tenants.  The  Christian  employer  will  find  his  chief  solici- 
tude in  seeing  that  his  working-people  have  the  proper  conditions  of 
pure  life.  The  Christian  statesman  will  devote  himself,  without  any  self- 
ish thought,  to  the  creation  and  maintenance  of  those  laws  and  adminis- 
trations which  will  secure  the  highest  good  to  all  citizens.  It  may  be 
said  that  it  is  not  the  Church's  function  to  discuss  the  licensing  question, 
the  land  laws,  the  labor  jiroblems.  But  what  if  incest  and  unnamable  im' 
moralities  are  to  be  traced  to  overcrowding,  and  inquiry  into  the  cause  of 
overcrowding  should  lead  us  at  last  right  up  to  the  land  question?  What 
if,  in  our  intercourse  with  the  people  and  the  vast  mass  of  lowest  class 
laborers,  we  find  that  their  earnings  are  utterly  inadequate  for  decent  life, 
and  we  are  brought  face  to  face  with  the  injunction  of  God's  word, 
"Masters,  give  unto  your  servants  that  which  is  just  and  equal?  "  Shall 
the  Christian  people  of  a  country  demand  for  dumb  animals  adequate 
supply  and  humane  treatment,  and  shall  that  country  sanction  the  grind- 
ing of  the  faces  of  the  poor  in  commercial  life,  and  in  the  labor  world 
consent  to  deprive  a  man  of  food — of  necessary  food — and  of  the  most 
meager  comfort  ?     It  may  be  said  that  the  Church  has  no  right  to  deal 


ESSAY    OF    REV.    PETER    THOMPSON.  407 

with  matters  affecting  property  and  the  duties  and  obligations  of  citizen- 
ship as  represented  by  land-owners,  public-house  property,  railway  com- 
panies, and  the  existence  and  the  entire  management  of  these  interests. 
But  what  if  in  the  study  of  the  interests  and  welfare  of  the  people  we 
find  that  the  liquor  traffic  has  worked  untold  ruin  to  men  and  women  and 
children,  both  for  this  life  and  the  life  to  come ;  that  Sabbath  labor  is  de- 
moralizing life  within  the  community,  and  Sabbath  desecration  and  drink- 
ing together  are  paralyzing  the  entire  ministry  of  the  Church?  Must  not 
the  Church,  for  the  salvation  of  the  community,  study  thoroughly  that 
which  works  both  directly  and  remotely  against  the  welfare  of  the  people 
and  affects  vitally  their  moral  and  spiritual  condition?  Whatever  answer 
we  may  give  to  this  question  when  presented  as  affecting  the  Church  as  a 
whole,  no  one  can  have  any  doubt  .as  to  the  answer  that  must  be  given 
when  these  questions  apply  to  any  and  every  follower  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

How  can  any  man  pray,  except  as  a  hypocrite  and  a  mocker  of  God, 
who  could  from  his  ample  resources  easily  relieve  the  poor  and  succor  the 
oppressed  and  rescue  the  fallen,  when  he  not  only  refuses  to  do  these 
things,  but,  indeed,  by  his  personal  influence  supports  those  very  things 
which  are  creating  poverty  and  forcing  and  extending  oppression  and 
bringing  degradation  and  want  to  the  people  ?  How  can  a  man  worship 
conscientiously  on  the  Sabbath  and  pray  for  the  help  and  protection  of 
his  fellow-citizens,  and  yet  by  his  capital  and  energy  give  credit  and  in- 
fluence to  the  liquor  traffic,  by  which  more  of  his  fellow-citizens  are  en- 
snared and  destroyed  than  by  any  other  evil?  How  can  a  man  pray  that 
the  Sabbath  may  be  revered  and  observed,  that  God's  house  may  be  filled, 
that  men  and  women  may  every-where  become  divine  worshipers,  when 
the  railway  companies,  omnibus  companies,  car  companies,  and  others  of 
which  he  is  a  shareholder  are  contributing  by  skillful  arrangements  and 
attractive  announcements  to  the  enormous  Sunday  traffic  of  pleasure- 
seekers,  etc.,  by  which  large  multitudes  are  involved  in  Sunday  labor, 
and  their  families  deprived  of  every  thing  that  belongs  to  the  purifying 
influences  of  divine  worship  and  home  fellowship?  They  serve  God  only 
whose  sum  total  of  influence,  through  personal  character  and  gifts  and 
work,  is  for  God  and  human  well-being.  He  is  not  a  servant  of  God 
whose  hollow  prayers  and  formal  allegiance  may  apparently  be  given  to 
God,  but  whose  whole  week-day  interests  are  antagonistic  to  the  ministry 
of  Christ  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  Church  cannot  be  indifferent  to  these  questions  and  issues.  The 
Church  cannot  be  hard  and  grasping,  ignoring  mercy  and  pity.  The 
Church  must  look  upon  the  undeserving,  the  guilty,  in  the  persons  of 
the  most  abandoned  and  culpable,  and  the  spirit  of  Christ  must  express 
itself  in  the  compassion  and  ministry  of  love.  Our  entire  study  of  this 
question  must  be  sympathetic,  in  our  life  we  must  come  close  to  the 
needy  for  saving  ends,  inspired  by  the  love  of  God.  The  secular  and  so- 
cial and  economic  life  of  each  member  of  the  Churcl)  must  represent  the 
righteousness  and  love  of  Christ  as  truly  as  when  he  bows  in  the  presence 
of  God  alone  or  partakes  of  the  supper  of  the  Lord.     We  must  represent 


468  SOCIAL    PROBLEMS. 

Christ  truly  in  our  home  life.  Christ's  spirit  must  be  the  life  of  the 
Church,  and  must  become  her  inspiration  and  her  strength,  that  she  may 
minister  to  men  as  he  did.  The  Church  must  also  emphasize  the  prac- 
tical duties  and  responsibilities  of  those  who  have  civil  positions  and  con- 
trol commerce  and  material  interests.  The  workings  of  competition 
which  are  unjust  and  iniquitous  must  be  vigorously  and  persistently 
condemned. 

If  we  may  be  allowed  to  gather  in  a  brief  summary  our  recommen- 
dations, they  are  these:  1.  Every  youth  should  be  taught  a  trade,  so  that 
he  may  become  disciplined  and  earn  an  honest  living,  and  every  girl 
trained  well  for  life.  2.  The  poor  should  be  housed  in  dwellings  which 
are  healthy  and  allow  the  conditions  of  a  decent  and  pure  life.  3.  The 
excesses  of  competition  should  be  corrected  and  the  sweating  system 
abolished.  4.  Every  effort  should  be  made  to  implant  and  foster  habits 
of  thrift  among  the  laboring  poor.  5.  The  Sabbath  should  be  vigilantly 
guarded  as  a  day  of  rest  and  worship  for  the  toilers.  6.  The  liquor  traf- 
fic should  be  destroyed. 

The  Rev.  William  McKee,  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ, 
gave  the  following  invited  address  on  "  Christian  Work  Among 
the  Poor : " 

Mr.  President:  "The  poor  ye  have  always  with  you."  They  have  al- 
ways been  with  us.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  our  poor  race  are 
homeless,  naked,  starving.  There  are  thousands  in  Western  villages  and 
on  "Western  farms  in  destitution.  But  it  is  in  our  great  cities,  where 
dwell  numbers  of  wealthy  Christians  and  a  few  millionaires,  that  the 
multitudes  of  neglected,  suffering  poor  are  to  be  found.  Down  in  the 
cellars,  up  in  the  garrets,  or  crowded  into  meanly  contrived,  ill-ventilated 
tenement-houses  reeking  with  filth  and  disease  are  millions  who  are  in 
want,  even  in  plentiful  America.  Lazarus  is  at  our  gate.  We  must  not 
fail  to  see  him.  If  the  angels  wait  to  bear  his  deathless  spirit  to  paradise, 
we  must  strive  to  make  this  world  for  him  as  nearly  like  paradise  as  it  is  pos- 
sible to  do.  But  it  is  not  enough  that  we  know  of  the  presence  and  wants 
of  the  poor — we  must  relieve  them.  Whenever  we  will,  we  may  do  them 
good.  And  this  is  the  most  essential  thing— to  have  a  will  to  help  the 
poor.  It  is  not  enough  that  we  render  them  aid  in  their  life-struggles — 
it  must  be  done  cheerfully,  heartily.  In  order  to  do  this  we  must  have 
the  mind  that  was  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  We  cannot  sympathize  with 
the  helpless,  suffering  poor,  and  render  them  the  relief  they  need,  unless, 
like  our  divine  Lord,  we  be  ' '  touched  with  the  feeling  of  their  infirmi- 
ties." Jesus,  as  the  Captain  of  our  salvation,  was  made  perfect  by  the 
things  which  he  suffered ;  and  we  must  be  brought  into  hearty  accord  and 
sympathy  with  the  poor  if  we  would  help  them  to  the  extent  of  our  re- 
quirements. 

Help  them  to  help  themselves.  Robert  Raikes  gathered  about  him  on  the 
Sabbath  day  the  poor,  neglected  children  of  Gloucester,  and  taught  them 


ADDKESS    OF    REV.    WILLIAM    m'kEE.  469 

manners,  letters,  religion.  What  a  boon  to  these  children !  How  it  must 
have  helped  them  in  their  life-work,  no  matter  what  the  sphere  of  their 
endeavors !  And  what  an  institution  for  the  spiritual  ediiication  of  mill- 
ions of  children  and  adults,  in  all  lands,  has  resulted  from  these  endeav- 
ors of  Mr.  Raikes!  Teach  the  poor  trades  and  send  their  children  to 
■school.  In  America  give  the  poor  children  bread  and  clothing,  and  let 
them  go  to  school.  Let  Christians  and  Christian  Churches  combine 
their  efforts,  and  build  cheap  but  comfortable  homes,  and  rent  them  to  the 
poor,  or  give  them  a  chance  to  buy  their  homes,  and  so  encourage  self- 
reliance.  A  few  dollars  of  timely  aid  would  start  many  a  young  man  on 
the  road  to  independence  and  prosperity,  who  might  otherwise,  ere  mid- 
dle age  arrives,  land  in  the  almshouse  or  the  jail.  But  these  endeavors  to 
better  the  temporal  condition  of  the  poor  must  not  go  alone — they  must 
be  accompanied  by  well-directed  efforts  to  reach  and  save  tlie  souls  of  the 
needy.  Encourage  them  to  go  to  the  Sabbath-school  and  to  church,  to 
observe  in  a  becoming  manner  the  Lord's  day,  and  to  look  to  God  for  his 
saving  grace.  But  a  part  of  our  work  is  done,  and  much  the  lighter  part, 
when  we  have  cared  for  the  bodies  of  the  poor.  The  soul  is  invaluable, 
immortal.  Teach  them  its  worth,  its  need,  and  bring  them  to  Jesus  Christ 
for  relief. 

But  systematic  and  combined  exertions  are  needful.  A  Christian 
church  should  have  its  committee  to  search  out  the  poor,  the  sick  and 
suffering;  a  fund  should  be  provided  from  which  these  committees  may 
draw  at  will  for  the  relief  of  the  needy,  and  these  efforts  should  go  out 
beyond  the  horizon  of  the  immediate  congregation.  True,  care  should  be 
exercised  so  as  not  to  encourage  beggary  on  the  one  hand  and  discourage 
benevolence  on  the  other;  but  a  little  painstaking  will  avoid  these  ex- 
tremes, and  cause  the  congregation  to  be  the  ministering  angels  to  the 
multitudes  for  whom  no  man  will  care,  except  the  Church  help  them. 
Much  good  may  be  accomplished  by  providing  Christian  homes  for  orphan, 
and  worse  than  orphan,  children.  I  do  not  mean  almshouses,  or  reform 
schools,  about  which  the  best  thing  that  can  he  said  is  that  they  are 
better  than  no  home  at  all,  but  homes  in  Christian  families,  where  they 
may  find  the  shelter,  instruction,  correction,  sympathy  of  the  family  re- 
lation, ennobled  and  purified  as  it  is  by  the  sanction  and  teachings  of  the 
Lord  and  Saviour  of  mankind.  Mr.  Van  Meter  taught  the  Christian 
world  a  great  lesson  by  collecting  poor,  neglected  children  in  New  York 
and  conveying  them  to  inland  villages  and  cities  and  country  places,  and 
placing  them  in  Christian  families. 

As  illustrating  how  Christian  people  sometimes  can  but  do  not  help 
the  poor,  let  me  relate  an  incident.  Years  ago  Mr.  Van  Meter  arrived 
in  a  beautiful  county-seat  in  western  Ohio  on  a  Friday  evening  with 
twenty  or  more  orphan  children.  He  requested  the  good  people  to  en- 
tertain these  children  till  the  following  Tuesday.  Then,  if  any  wished, 
they  could  have  the  privilege  of  retaining  these  waifs;  if  not,  they  might 
be  returned  to  his  care.  Well,  among  others,  a  little  boy  named  Johnnie, 
•  of  ten  summers,  found  a  temporary  home  at  Mr.  M.'s.     Here  was  plenty 


470 


SOCIAL    PROBLEMS. 


and  comfort  and  luxury.  Johnnie  observed  he  was  the  only  child  in  the 
house,, and  at  once  began  to  call  the  proprietors  " pa "  and  "ma,"  and  to 
show  his  good-will  and  skill  by  doing  a  number  of  little  chores.  A  half 
day  had  not  passed  before  he  had  won  the  heart  of  the  good  woman  of  the 
house.  She  was  willing  and  anxious  to  devote  a  portion  of  her  time  and 
care  and  luxury  to  Johnnie's  welfare.  But  Mr.  M.  was  afraid  of  some 
misfortune.  Johnnie  might  sicken  and  die,  or  Johnnie  might  become  a 
wicked  man,  and  the  neighbors  take  occasion  to  criticise  them  for  not 
doing  their  duty ;  and  so,  on  Tuesday,  in  spite  of  the  pleadings  of  Johnnie 
and  the  tears  of  Mrs.  M.,  Mr.  Van  Meter  was  obliged  to  take  Johnnie 
away,  and  they  never  heard  from  him  afterward.  Relating  the  circum- 
stance to  me  a  few  weeks  later,  Mrs.  M.  wept  in  the  presence  of  her  hus- 
band, saying  she  felt  condemned  for  not  doing  their  duty  toward  this 
little  homeless  wanderer.  Comment  is  unnecessary.  The  story  shows 
one  way  in  which  Christians  in  numberless  instances  could  do  poor  little 
children  an  incalculable  good,  but  do  not  because  they  lack  the  heart, 
and  so  make  trivial  excuses  to  avoid  their  plain  duty.  There  are  thou- 
sands of  Christian  homes  that  would  be  thrice  blessed  by  the  presence  of 
some  little  waif  needing  nothing  so  much  as  a  Christian  home,  with  all 
that  the  name  implies. 

Without  attempting  further  to  lay  down  specific  rules  in  this  brief 
address,  allow  me  to  say  that  all  Christians  ought  to  give  this  subject  at- 
tention. The  poor  are  all  about  us,  and  their  wants  are  many  and  press- 
ing. They  are  helpless.  The  strong  ought  to  bear  the  infirmities  of  the 
weak.  Light  may  be  made  to  spring  up  in  homes  where  darkness  has 
long  reigned  supreme.  They  want  bread,  and  know  not  how  to  get  it ; 
they  shiver  in  the  cold,  and  know  not  how  to  procure  clothing;  they  pine 
away  in  ignorance,  and  die  without  hope.  Their  very  helplessness  ought 
to  excite  our  compassion.  We  are  not  beasts,  nor  even  heathen — we  are 
Christians.  The  destitution  of  the  poor,  therefore,  ought  to  excite  our 
compassion  and  call  forth  our  best  exertions  to  relieve  their  distresses. 
"  But  whoso  hath  this  world's  good,  and  seeth  his  brother  have  need,  and 
shutteth  up  his  bowels  of  compassion  from  him,  how  dwelleth  the  love  of 
God  in  him?" 

Such  work  has  a  valuable  reflex  influence.  Many  a  Christian  has  been 
quickened  into  new  life  and  love  by  his  efforts  to  relieve  the  distresses  of 
others.  While  he  blesses  the  poor  God  blesses  him.  Said  a  speaker  at 
the  dedication  of  the  great  Bethel  for  Children  in  Cincinnati,  a  few  years 
ago:  "The  happiest  hour  of  my  life  was  when  with  my  own  hands  I  put 
a  pair  of  new  shoes  on  the  feet  of  a  poor  orphan  boy  in  an  old  wharf -boat, 
then  used  for  a  temporary  school-house,  Sunday-school-room,  lunch-room, 
and  lodging-house  for  poor  children.  Till  then  I  never  knew  the  luxury 
of  helping  the  poor ;  but  since  I  have  enjoyed  many  such  seasons  of  grace." 
Some  Christians  are  not  gifted  in  prayer  or  exhortation,  and  wonder 
what  they  may  do  for  the  Lord's  cause.  Here  is  a  field  for  all.  Let 
Christians  who  are  pining  for  a  career  give  themselves  to  the  care  of  the 
poor,  bestowing  upon  them  thought,  time,  labor,  money,  and  they  will 


ADDRESS    OF   KEV.    THOMAS    ALLEN.  471 

learn  what  the  Master  meant  when  he  said,  "  It  is  more  blessed  to  give 
than  to  receive.  "  And  those  churches  that  think  keeping  their  houses 
of  worship  in  order,  paying  the  pastor  his  salary,  and'  giving  a  few  dollars 
a  year  to  send  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen  is  all  they  have  to  do  ought  to 
turn  their  attention  to  relieving  the  poor  of  their  own  neighborhood,  and 
see  how  they  will  call  down  blessings  on  the  work  of  the  pastor  and  on 
their  own  souls.  Many  of  the  churches  are  dying  out  spiritually  because 
they  don't  want  to  do  any  thing.  They  are  too  self-complacent  and  too 
respectable  to  enjoy  religion.  If  they  will  imitate  the  Master  enough  to 
go  about  among  the  poor  for  awhile  and  set  themselves  for  their  relief 
they  will  find  their  souls  prospering  under  the  discipline. 

Such  work  not  only  confers  inestimable  blessings  on  the  poor  by  relieving 
their  physical  wants,  drawing  them  to  the  Church,  and  helping  them  to 
walk  in  the  ways  of  virtue  and  righteousness,  but  it  draws  the  attention  and 
commands  the  respect  and  compels  the  commendation  of  the  outside 
world.  In  a  general  sense  our  State  asylums  for  the  deaf,  blind,  insane,  and 
other  unfortunates  command  the  respect  of  the  heathen  nations  which 
know  nothing  of  such  institutions  of  mercy.  They  are  a  fruit  of  our  holy 
religion,  and  they  accomplish  great  good  and  bring  untold  relief  to  mill- 
ions of  sufferers ;  but  it  is  to  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  that  the  world 
looks  for  light ;  and  to  individual  Christian  endeavor  that  the  multitudes 
of  poor  in  all  the  cities  of  Christendom  look  for  help.  They  have  no  hope 
in  the  wars  of  mankind  or  the  philosophy  or  the  legislation  or  the  cult- 
ure of  the  race  apart  from  the  religion  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  In  him 
they  have  hope  •,  and  this  hope  is  made  real  and  concrete  by  the  exer- 
tions in  behalf  of  the  poor  by  God's  own  people,  who  are  the  light  of  the 
world  and  the  salt  of  the  earth. 

But  it  is  a  pitiful,  a  disgusting  sight  to  behold  men  and  women  pro- 
fessing godliness  racking  their  brains  to  contrive  how  to  spend  money  in 
the  gratification  of  their  lusts  while  the  poor  are  perishing  all  about  them. 
No  wonder  the  heathen,  and  even  the  sinful  and  lost  in  Christian  lands, 
lose  heart  and  logic  too,  and  judge  the  whole  Church  by  these  prominent 
few  who  follow  after  Christ  either  for  the  loaves  and  fishes  or  the  praise 
of  men,  and  conclude  they  are  fair  exponents  of  the  whole  Church !  Xo ; 
let  the  Church  declare  as  one  of  her  cardinal  doctrines,  at  least  by  her  Christ- 
like endeavors  to  better  the  condition  of  the  poor  both  temporally  and 
spiritually,  that  it  is  her  mission  in  the  world  to  feed  the  hungry,  clothe 
the  naked,  visit  the  sick,  and  save  the  lost ;  and  untold  millions  of  the 
now  neglected,  suffering  poor  will  rise  up  and  call  her  blessed.  The  an- 
gels in  heaven  will  rejoice;  and  in  his  own  good  time  the  Master  will  say 
to  every  member  of  the  Church  so  engaged,  "Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done 
it  unto  these,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me;  enter  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord." 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Allen,  of  the  Weslejan  Methodist  Church, 
gave  the  second  invited  address  of  the  afternoon,  on  "  Christian 
Work  Among  the  Rich,"  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :    Our  thoughts  have  been  turned  to-day  to  the  condition 


472  SOCIAL    PROBLEMS. 

of  the  poor,  and  to  the  best  methods  to  adopt  in  order  to  secure  their  con- 
version to  God.  The  rich  need  to  pass  through  the  same  process  of  divine 
grace,  and  it  is  important  to  consider  the  best  means  to  influence  them 
and  to  bring  them  to  realize  their  privileges  and  their  responsibilities  in 
the  kingdom  of  the  Son  of  God. 

If  you  take  British  Methodism  as  a  whole,  you  will  find  that  the  poor 
constitute  the  majority  and  the  rich  the  minority.  Twenty-five  years  ago 
Wesleyau  Methodism  was  in  some  danger  of  becoming  a  middle  class 
Church,  but  by  means  of  modern  evangelism  we  are  renewing  our  hold 
upon  the  industrial  life  of  the  country.  But  agencies  which  are  ada2)ted 
to  the  masses  do  not  suit  the  classes.  One  of  the  problems  which  we  need 
to  consider  is  this:  How  can  we  enlarge  and  adapt  our  policy  so  as  to 
enable  us  to  extend  our  influence  in  the  direction  of  the  wealthy  and  the 
cultured  ?  For  we  are  not  content  to  represent  any  one  grade  of  society. 
A  Church  should  draw  proportionately  from  all  classes,  and  in  the  fellow- 
ship and  service  of  the  kingdom  of  God  the  rich  and  the  poor  should  be 
united.  The  evangelical  revival  touched  the  aristocracy  at  the  outset. 
For  example,  Selina,  Countess  of  Huntingdon,  came  under  the  influence 
of  the  movement,  and  she  induced  many  of  her  own  rank  to  listen  to 
Wesley  and  Whitefield.  The  attitude  of  the  classes  toward  Methodism 
to-day  is  one  of  superior  indifference.  England  is  an  old  country,  and 
consequently  it  is  full  of  traditional  life.  In  such  lands  church  relation- 
ships are  determined  very  largely  by  social  considerations. 

But  we  have  failed  not  only  to  attract  the  rich,  but  also  to  retain  many 
of  this  class  who  were  born  and  educated  in  Methodist  associations. 
Several  reasons  may  be  assigned  for  this  fact.  Methodism  has  never 
covered  the  whole  of  the  national  ground,  and  consequently  it  has  been 
easy  to  get  beyond  the  scope  of  our  organization.  Our  form  of  Chris- 
tianity is  severely  spiritual  and  deeply  experimental,  and  people  of  an  ec- 
clesiastical tyjie  of  mind  have  often  escaped  into  a  Church  which  attaches 
great  importance  to  the  institutional  forms  and  to  the  ceremonial  expres- 
sions of  Christianity.  Some  have  been  allured  from  their  Christian 
simplicity  by  the  attractions  of  good  society,  and  others  have  been  obliged 
to  withdraw  from  us  in  order  to  insure  their  professional  advancement. 
We  have  produced  thousands  of  preachers  and  teachers  for  whom  we  could 
not  find  spheres  of  work,  and  consequently  they  have  left  us  to  enrich 
other  Churches.  But  when  rich  people  get  converted,  and  when  they 
retain  the  experimental  life  of  Chi-istiauity,  as  a  rule  they  abide  in  our  fel- 
lowship ;  and  they  have  splendid  scope  for  Christian  service.  When  Jesus 
Christ  -was  on  the  earth  he  gathered  around  him  a  number  of  men  who 
were  narrow  and  ignorant  and  full  of  prejudice,  and  he  trained  them,  and 
bore  with  them,  and  made  them  wider  and  better.  It  is  to  similar  service 
that  the  rich  and  the  cultured  are  called.  By  entering  heartily  into  the 
social  life  of  the  Christian  Church  they  may  contribute  most  effectively  to 
the  spiritual  education  of  their  humbler  brethren.  The  people  to-day  are 
conscious  of  their  j)ower,  and  hence  they  object  to  be  handled  by  the  old 
methods  of  authority.     But,   on  the  other  hand,  they  never  responded  to 


ADDRESS    OF    KEV.    THOMAS    ALLEN.  473 

the  brotherliness  of  Jesus  Christ  as  they  do  now.  If  the  rich  will  meet 
the  poor  on  terms  of  Christian  equality  they  may  reckon  on  affection  and 
loyalty  and  on  all  those  qualities  which  dependent  individuals  may  be 
expected  to  manifest  toward  those  who  are  stronger  than  themselves. 

But  British  Methodism,  notwithstanding  her  losses,  has  gained  distinctly 
in  reputation,  in  social  importance,  and  in  public  influence.  We  have 
been  slow  to  transform  ourselves  out  of  a  mere  society  into  a  Church.  Our 
spiritual  theory  has  been  hardly  wide  enough  to  include  the  various  types 
of  human  nature.  We  have  carried  political  neutrality  to  its  utmost  limit. 
Our  literature  has  been  limited  to  our  own  people.  Our  itinerancj^  has 
jjreveuted  the  development  of  representative  qualities  in  our  ministers. 
Instead  of  jiarticipating  in  the  larger  life  of  the  community  we  have  been 
self-contained  and  absorbed  in  our  own  affairs.  But  a  change  is  coming 
over  our  church  policy.  We  are  aspiring  to  fulfill  the  functions  of  a  great 
Church.  We  are  bringing  our  sanctuaries  out  of  back  streets  into  public 
places.  We  are  increasing  our  schools  and  colleges.  We  are  taking  our 
part  in  the  councils  of  the  nation.  We  are  becoming  used  to  freedom  and 
publicity.  The  contemplative  piety  of  past  generations  is  not  courageous 
enough  for  our  day.  We  need  a  type  of  devotion  which  is  strong  enough 
to  face  criticism,  to  manipulate  knowledge,  and  to  bear  the  strain  of 
public  life.  And  sectarianism  is  not  broad  enough  for  the  present  time. 
If  we  are  to  grow  we  must  expand  our  policy  so  as  to  enable  us  to  meet 
the  manifold  needs  of  the  nation.  Speaking  as  a  Weslej-an  Methodist,  I 
may  say  that  the  establishment  of  the  Leys  School  at  Cambridge,  the  suc- 
cess of  the  London  Mission,  and  the  spiritual  work  which  we  have  done 
for  the  benefit  of  the  army  and  royal  navy  have  added  distinctly  to  our 
reputation  and  influence.  By  all  means  we  must  avoid  the  contracted  life 
of  a  mere  sect,  and  then  we  shall  perhaps  attract  into  our  organization 
and  fellowship  a  wider  representation  of  the  various  classes  of  society. 

And  the  opportunity  to  enlarge  and  to  adapt  our  church  policy  was 
never  so  great  as  it  is  to-day.  The  rich  and  the  poor  are  separated,  so  far  as 
residence  is  concerned.  In  every  large  town  of  Great  Britain  there  are  ex- 
tensive suburbs  from  which  the  poor  are  practically  excluded,  and  there  are 
industrial  neighborhoods  in  which  the  wealthy  are  conspicuous  by  their 
absence.  Suburban  Christianity  is  a  nineteenth  century  development 
which  is  by  no  means  an  illustration  of  the  Christian  ideal.  And  the  same 
thing  may  be  said  of  working-class  Christianity.  We  should  all  prefer 
the  intermixture  of  the  classes,  especially  for  spiritual  purposes.  The  rich 
need  the  poor,  and  the  poor  need  the  rich.  But  the  topographical  distri- 
bution of  the  population  is  a  fact  which  we  are  obliged  to  accept  ;  and 
there  is  this  advantage  in  it,  that  it  enables  us  to  practice  a  comprehension 
which  otherwise  would  hardly  be  possible.  Our  worship  and  our  religious 
habits  have  conformed  in  the  past  to  a  somewhat  limited  type  of  middle- 
class  culture,  but  in  the  future  we  shall  have  to  accustom  ourselves  to  a 
greater  variety  of  ecclesiastical  sentiment  and  of  Christian  life.  The 
Anglo-Catholic  revival  has  harmonized  exactly  with  the  advancement  of 
the  nation  in  the  general  elements  of  civilization,  and,  humanly  speaking, 
33 


474  SOCIAL    PKOBLEMS. 

this  is  the  reason  of  the  remarkable  progress  which  it  has  made.  Meth- 
odism is  an  integral  part  of  the  nation,  and  consequently  it  is  susceptible 
to  all  changes  of  national  taste  and  conviction.  If  we  are  to  retain  our 
cultured  young  people,  and  if  we  are  to  attract  the  rich  and  the  cultured 
who  are  outside  our  church  architecture,  our  worship,  our  educational  in- 
stitutions, and  our  ministry  must  be  up  to  date.  Culture  is  a  part  of  the 
resources  of  the  human  soul,  and  it  is  a  part  of  the  manifold  life  of  the 
Christian  Church. 

But  while  we  conciliate  the  culture  of  the  rich  we  must  be  careful  not 
to  substitute  culture  for  conversion  to  God.  The  evil  life  which  exists  in 
the  souls  of  the  educated  does  not  express  itself  in  bad  manners.  It  is 
actually  chastened  by  the  observance  of  the  rules  of  courtesy,  and  under 
these  circumstances  we  are  apt  to  lose  our  acute  sense  of  the  need  of 
spiritual  renewal.  Instinctively  we  feel  that  boisterous  youths  who  sing 
indecent  songs  need  to  be  evangelized ;  but  we  have  hardly  the  same  feel- 
ing toward  the  sons  and  daughters  of  tlie  rich  when  we  meet  them  in 
the  drawing-room  and  when  we  observe  how  charming  they  are  in  manner 
and  in  expression.  But  civilized  propriety  may  conceal  quite  as  much 
depravity  as  rudeness  of  behavior  may  display.  Our  forefathers  preached 
the  doctrine  of  personal  conversion  with  astonishing  results.  Crowds 
were  converted  openly  in  the  public  congregation,  and  the  jDrocess  of  ex- 
perience through  which  they  passed  was  very  definite  indeed.  In  times  of 
overwhelming  power  and  penitence  people  will  submit  themselves  to 
almost  any  kind  of  spiritual  drill,  but  such  times  are  exceptional.  Pub- 
licity and  mode  are  only  accidental.  They  are  not  essential.  The  inner 
process  of  conversion  is  the  same  in  all  cases,  but  the  outward  accessories  of 
it  vary  according  to  circumstances  and  education  and  temperament.  We 
must  not  stereotype  forms,  however  sacred  and  spiritual  they  may  be.  A 
public  conversion  is  most  valuable  as  a  testimony  in  favor  of  divine  grace, 
but  if  cultured  young  people  shrink  from  publicity  we  must  respect  their 
delicacy,  and  we  must  help  them  in  private.  Our  early  traditions  are  in 
favor  of  sweeping  people  into  the  kingdom  of  God  in  flocks,  and  even  in 
crowds.  We  have  never  excelled,  I  am  afraid,  in  dealing  with  individuals. 
To  secure  the  conversion  of  the  rich  there  is  much  to  be  done  apart  from 
the  pulpit  and  apart  from  the  sanctuary.  One  of  the  great  needs  of  the 
time  is  the  patient  application  of  Christianity  by  the  individual  to  the  indi- 
vidual. Such  efforts  are  voluntary  and  unofiicial,  and  they  impress  men 
with  the  reality  of  the  religion  of  those  who  make  them. 

But  conversion  needs  to  be  followed  by  Christian  culture,  and  that  is  a 
lifelong  process.  The  establishment  of  free  trade  in  England  and  the 
application  of  machinery  to  manufactures  prepared  the  way  for  a  great 
period  of  industrial  progress.  We  have  to-day  not  only  a  landed  aris- 
tocracy, but  a  commercial  aristocracy.  The  kings  of  commerce  are  more 
wealthy  than  many  of  the  territorial  chiefs  of  the  country,  and  the  middle 
classes,  embracing  both  producers  and  distributors,  have  amassed  very 
considerable  wealth.  The  Christian  Church  has  inspired  the  mutual 
progress  of  the  nation,  as  well  as  its  intellectual  and  its  spiritual  advance- 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    J,    C.    HARTZELL.  475 

ment.  Methodism  has  assisted  to  build  up  families  by  the  score  and  by 
the  hundred.  Many  of  these  men  have  prospered  in  their  circumstances 
more  than  they  have  prospered  in  their  souls.  Self-made  men,  as  a  rule, 
are  characterized  by  noble  qualities,  but  these  qualities  are  often  combined 
with  great  defects.  Wealth  is  power,  and  the  sense  of  that  power  is  apt 
to  make  men  independent  and  willful  and  impracticable.  The  Christian 
Church  has  a  very  important  duty  to  perform  in  relation  to  men  of  this 
class.  They  need  to  be  illuminated  by  spiritual  intelligence  and  chastened 
by  Christian  discipline.  They  need  to  have  developed  within  them  the 
passive  graces  of  Christianity,  and  particularly  the  virtues  of  simplicity 
and  patience  and  humility  and  self-renunciation.  Work  of  this  kind  is 
difficult,  and  consequently  it  is  often  neglected.  It  is  easy  to  approach 
inferiors  and  to  influence  them.  The  practice  of  condescension  is  delight- 
ful. It  fills  you  with  the  sense  of  power  and  of  usefulness,  and  it  brings 
a  return  of  gratitude  from  those  whom  you  have  delivered  and  helped 
and  comforted.  But  when  we  approach  a  superior  or  an  equal  we  have 
to  bring  into  play  a  somewhat  different  set  of  faculties  and  qualities.  We 
are  in  contact  with  one  who  is  as  rich  and  clever  as  ourselves.  It  becomes 
a  trial  of  strength  on  terms  which,  humanly  speaking,  are  equal.  Under 
these  circumstances  we  become  conscious  of  our  weakness,  and  we  dread 
the  humiliation  of  defeat.  Such  work,  however,  forms  the  truest  test  of 
character  and  of  love  toward  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Rev.  J.  C.  Hartzell,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  gave  the  third  invited  address  of  the  afternoon,  on 
"  Christian  Work  in  Agricultural  Districts,"  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  What  I  shall  say  will  have  special  reference  to  the  agri- 
cultural districts  and  population  of  the  United  States.  It  is  the  old  prob- 
lem of  the  country  church — how  to  plant  it,  and  how  to  hold  and  main- 
tain it  as  a  fortress  of  social  and  moral  power  in  the  midst  of  villages 
and  less  thickly  settled  portions  of  our  country. 

Every  third  person  in  the  United  States  lives  in  a  city  of  eight  thousand 
or  more  inhabitants.  New  York,  with  its  suburbs,  numbers  three  mill- 
ions, so  that  this  young  American  metropolis,  next  to  London,  is  the 
largest  center  of  population  in  the  world.  Chicago,  one  thousand  miles 
from  the  seaboard,  in  two  generations  has  leaped  from  a  village  hamlet  to 
a  metropolis  of  one  and  one  quarter  millions  of  people;  and  when  the 
World's  Columbian  Fair  begins  in  1893  it  will  have  at  least  one  and  one 
half  millions.  This  growth  of  cities  will  continue.  Improvements  in  the 
methods  of  communication  between  continents  and  nations,  and  the 
achievements  of  science  and  invention,  are  scarcely  begun.  The  social 
and  commercial  forces  which  are  now  building  our  cities  will  continue  to 
operate. 

But  if  one  out  of  every  three  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  lives  in 
large  towns  and  cities,  then  two  out  of  every  three,  or  twice  as  many,  live 
in  the  smaller  towns  and  the  rural  districts.  Let  us  take  our  most  densely 
settled  territory,  that  lying  east  of  the  Mississippi  and  north  of  the  Ohio 


476  SOCIAL    PKOBLEMS. 

Rivers,  which  contains  two  thirds  of  our  city  population.  Even  here  fully 
one  half  of  the  people  dwell  in  country  townships  of  less  than  two  thou- 
sand inhabitants.  In  our  Southern  States,  which  include  one  third  of  the 
national  domain,  only  seven  persons  out  of  a  hundred  live  in  cities,  while 
in  the  farther  West  ninety-live  per  cent,  live  in  rural  districts.  Taking 
our  nation  as  a  whole,  fully  one  third,  or  twenty-one  millions,  live  in  vil- 
lages and  farming  districts,  or  still  more  sparsely  settled  regions. 

Our  cities  must  be  evangelized.  All  the  thought,  prayer,  and  leader- 
ship necessary  to  accomjDlish  that  work  must  be  given.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  permanent  maintenance  of  the  institutions  of  the  Gospel  in  our 
rural  districts  is  a  question  of  equally  vital  importance.  The  mutual  re- 
lations between  cities  and  country  districts  are  such  that  the  salvation  of 
either  is  impossible  without  the  combined  moral  forces  of  both.  Ameri- 
can leaders  in  education  are  giving  larger  attention  to  the  country  school- 
house.  Dr.  Harris,  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education,  has  lately 
said  that  one  of  the  dangers  to  the  efficiency  of  the  American  school 
system  centers  in  our  rural  regions.  The  planning  of  daily  United  States 
mails  in  country  sections  by  the  postmaster-general  shows  a  wise  tendency 
in  administration.  In  politics,  the  Farmers'  Alliance  has  come  to  be  a 
powerful  factor. 

The  majority  of  the  world's  population  must  always  live  in  rural  dis- 
tricts. The  tide  toward  the  cities  may  not  end,  but  must  be  greatly  modi- 
fied. The  reflex  waves  are  already  setting  toward  the  mountain  villages 
and  farms  of  New  England.  Machinery  cannot  do  for  agriculture  what 
it  does  for  manufactories.  The  demand  for  laborers  for  the  farm  will  in- 
crease as  agricultural  conditions  improve.  The  plow  will  always  be  the 
emblem  of  man's  greatest  wealth.  The  muscle  and  brain  and  moral  stami- 
na, which  build  our  cities  and  lead  the  thought  of  the  world  and  give  to 
commerce  its  stability  and  strength,  come  chiefly  from  the  rural  districts. 
How  long  could  our  missionary  and  other  benevolent  movements  be  main- 
tained if  they  were  compelled  to  rely  upon  the  city  churches  for  workers? 
Only  a  small  per  cent,  of  the  advanced  students  in  our  Christian  colleges 
are  from  cities.  In  1888,  outside  of  the  city  where  the  institution  is  lo- 
cated, only  four  per  cent,  of  the  graduates  of  Rochester  University  were 
from  large  towns  or  cities. 

The  Christian  ministry  receives  its  chief  supply  from  the  country.  In 
a  sermon  some  years  since.  Dr.  Herrick  Johnson  said  that  the  great  city 
churches  of  Presbyteriauism  furnish  very  few  candidates  for  the  ministry. 
Our  metrojiolitan  congregations  are  supplied  very  largely  with  pastors, 
and  pastors'  wives  and  effective  laymen  and  workers  in  city  evangeliza- 
tion, from  the  ranks  of  young  men  and  women  who  were  born  and  re- 
ceived their  early  training  in  rural  sections.  The  little  town  of  Boscowan, 
in  New  Hampshire,  under  its  faithful  pastor,  Dr.  Woods,  prepared  100 
youths  for  college.  Dr.  Josiah  Strong  says  that  the  collegiate  and  pro- 
fessional record  of  that  town  contains  more  than  130  names,  and  that 
among  them  were  3  missionaries,  6  journalists,  23  lawyers,  35  physicians, 
and  43  ministers.      Of  the  1,571   Congregational  ministers  born  in  100 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    J.    C.    HARTZELL.  477 

years,  up  to  1885,  twenty  per  cent,  came  from  country  places  of  1,000 
inhabitants  or  less.  Seven  towns,  with  an  aggregate  population  of  about 
5,000,  gave  154  ministers.  The  students  of  Andover  Seminary  are  nearly 
all  from  the  country.  Taking  the  churches  which  send  them,  those 
with  less  than  100  members  furnish  two  students  to  each  300  communi- 
cants; while  from  churches  of  300  and  over  it  took  4,000  members  to 
furnish  one  candidate  for  the  ministry.  These  illustrations  from  Con- 
gregational and  Presbyterian  Churches  are  the  more  remarkable  because 
the  chief  strength  of  these  divisions  of  Christ's  army  is  in  cities.  In 
all  ages  the  Church  has  depended  chiefly  for  her  leadership  on  the  strength. 
and  moral  force  of  her  young  men  and  women  who  were  physically  and 
morally  prepared  for  their  work,  away  from  the  intense  and  absorbing 
activities  of  large  centers  of  population. 

There  is  great  need  of  a  forward  movement  of  consecrated  church  ac- 
tivity among  the  rural  populations  of  America.  The  difficulties  are  many, 
and  as  various  as  different  sections,  but  if  the  Church  has  the  spirit  and 
faith  of  her  Master,  difficulties  arc  but  the  shadows  of  angel  hands  beck- 
oning her  on  to  victory.  The  farm-neighborhood  church  is  being  weak- 
ened by  removals  to  the  larger  villages,  and  these  again  are  giving  of 
their  best  life  to  the  churches  in  the  larger  towns  and  cities.  Eighty 
Congregational  village  and  country  churches  became  extinct  in  Illinois 
in  twenty  years.  I  heard  a  Methodist  presiding  elder  say  in  Ohio,  a  few 
weeks  since,  that  two  or  three  of  his  country  churches  would  probably 
die.  Another  difficulty  is  in  securing,  not  only  prominent  ministerial 
supplies,  but  supplies  of  sufficient  intellectual  and  moral  force  to  direct 
and  spiritually  feed  the  intelligent  minds  and  souls  of  country  people.  A 
distinguished  minister,  in  giving  advice  to  the  young  men,  said:  "Wheu 
you  fill  a  city  pulpit  wear  your  best  clothes,  but  when  you  preach  in  the 
country  preach  your  best  sermon." 

An  expert  has  shown  by  statistics  that  of  the  non-church-going  popu- 
lation in  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States,  fifty  per  cent,  live  two  miles 
from  any  church.  How  shall  these  outlying  populations  be  reached?  In 
many  places  American  populations  are  being  supplanted  by  foreigners 
who  are  Roman  Catholics  or  infidels.  I  have  seen  scores  of  such  places, 
in  various  parts  of  the  North  and  "West,  practically  abandoned  by  Protest- 
ants. In  the  Southern  States,  where  ninety-three  per  cent,  of  the  peo- 
ple live  in  rural  villages  and  districts,  the  call  for  larger  planning  and 
more  consecrated  work  is  great.  There  are  sections  among  white  people, 
especially  among  the  mountain  regions  of  the  central  South,  where  many 
thousands  scarcely  ever  attend  an  intelligently  conducted  Christian  serv- 
ice. And  as  for  the  seven  millions  of  Negro  population  who  live  outside 
of  cities,  the  demand  for  increased  intelligent  Christian  activity  is  still 
greater.  The  ministry  of  that  people  is  much  better  than  could  reason- 
ably have  been  expected  within  so  few  years  after  slavery.  Many  of  her 
Christian  ministers  and  leaders  are  doing  noble  work,  and  they  long  and 
are  waiting  for  the  incoming  tide  of  Christian  sentiment  and  activity  to 
touch  and  uplift  their  less  favored  people  in  the  villages  and  agricultural 


478  SOCIAL   PROBLEMS. 

districts.  The  Negro-cabin  church  iu  rural  sections  is  often  a  burlesque 
on  Christianity.  I  speak  from  personal  observation,  and  express  the  sen- 
timent of  our  best  Negro  ministers  and  people. 

How  shall  Christian  work  in  these  districts  of  our  country  be  so  increased 
in  efficiency  and  extent  as  to  reach  all  ?  I  have  no  faith  in  aggressive 
Christian  work  among  any  people  except  under  the  direction  of  some 
organized  and  aggressive  branch  of  Christ's  Church.  So-called  union 
Churches  which  ignore  all  creeds  and  denominational  lines  have  proved  to 
be  inefficient  and  ephemeral.  Co-operative  movements,  by  which  various 
denominations  have  sought  to  blend  methods,  have  failed  when  tried  un- 
der the  most  favorable  circumstances.  Sectarianism  is  a  fixed  factor  in 
Protestantism.  Among  families  there  is  great  practical  wisdom  in  the 
saying  that  high  fences  make  good  neighbors.  The  same  is  true  of  de- 
nominations. Unity  of  spirit  with  diversity  of  method,  each  Church  fol- 
lowing its  own  traditions  and  plans  as  God  may  lead  her,  will  bring  the 
largest  results.  Every  branch  of  the  Church  militant  must  build  the  wall 
over  against  her  own  house. 

The  spirit  and  genius  of  Methodism  have  had  many  of  their  most  signal 
triumphs  in  reaching  and  saving  the  people  in  agricultural  districts.  The 
Methodist  circuit-rider,  threading  his  way  through  mountain  passes  or  over 
the  Western  and  Southern  plains,  has  gone  into  history  as  the  permanent 
type  of  much  that  is  heroic  and  successful  in  Christian  endeavor.  Method- 
ism needs  no  new  methods  in  planting  and  maintaining  the  country  church, 
wherever  needed.  There  is  great  need  that  she  return  more  fully  to  the 
old  circuit  system.  Our  Bishop  Foster  a  few  weeks  ago  told  the  Cincin- 
nati Conference  of  the  marvelous  outpouring  of  the  Divine  Spirit  which 
resulted  in  the  ingathering  of  thousands  of  souls  on  the  great  circuits  of 
Ohio  Methodism  fifty  years  ago.  This  system  means  one  man  of  age  and 
experience  and  power  in  the  pulpit,  and  one  or  two  young  men  associated 
with  him,  with  as  much  territory  as  is  needed  to  support  them.  This  se- 
cures exjierienced  direction  in  the  work  of  the  Church,  and  as  acceptable 
preaching,  at  least  a  part  of  the  time,  to  the  thoughtful  people  of  the 
country  as  is  given  to  the  churches  in  the  city.  It  is  a  fact  that  Methodism 
is  losing  many  of  her  best  families  throughout  the  agricultural  districts 
simply  because  they  become  weary  of  being  forced  to  have  as  pastors  men 
who  cannot  feed  them  intellectually  and  morally  Then  again,  there  is  need 
that  the  local-preacher  arm  of  power  in  the  Church  be  rehabilitated  with 
efficiency  and  strength.  With  wise  management  the  Ejjworth  League  can 
utilize  the  country  church,  the  school-house  and  neighborhood  social 
gatherings  for  Christ  and  his  kingdom.  No  new  methods  are  needed. 
What  is  wanted  is  a  revival  of  the  spirit  of  aggressiveness  in  the  Church. 
The  country  church  must  be  dignified  more  than  it  is.  The  work  of  the 
country  pastor  must  be  more  appreciated  than  it  is.  The  question  pf  qual- 
ity must  be  emphasized  as  well  as  that  of  quantity,  and  the  man  who  in 
the  country  districts  preaches  the  Gospel  to  the  smaller  company,  and  be- 
cause of  the  peculiarly  favorable  conditions  gets  nearer  and  directs  the 
rising  tide  of  intellectual  and  moral  power  in  the  growing  youth  about 


GENERAL    KEMABKS.  479 

him,  is  certainly  doing  a  work  equal  to  that  of  the  citj^  pastor.  A  large 
proportion  of  the  time  of  tlie  latter  must  be  spent  in  simply  holding  his 
church  from  disorganization  in  the  midst  of  the  tremendous  currents  of 
evil  about  it. 

Especially  among  the  different  Methodisms  of  America  operating  on  the 
same  territory  there  should  be  a  spirit  of  unity  unquestioned  and  Christ- 
like, and  a  perfect  willingness  to  go  wherever  the  Spirit  of  Christ  in  the 
midst  of  that  unity  may  lead.  Our  Canadian  brethren  have  done  well  to 
unite  the  two  white  Methodisms  of  Canada  into  one  body.  If  now  they 
will  gather  up  the  three  or  four  fragments  of  African  Methodism  in  their 
midst  and  unite  all,  white  and  black,  in  one  greater  Methodism  of  Canada, 
they  will  continue  to  lead  the  Methodist  world  in  the  matter  of  organic 
union. 

The  final  test  of  the  triumphant  Church  on  earth  will  be  in  its  ability  to 
reach  the  last  man  on  the  outer  rim  of  the  world's  populations.  We  have 
an  illustration  in  national  life.  The  strength  of  the  nation  is  measured 
by  its  jjower  to  protect  its  poorest  citizen  on  the  farthest  border  of  its  do- 
main. The  English  statesman  voiced  this  sentiment  when  he  said,  ' '  The 
rights  of  the  proudest  Englishman  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames  are  not  as- 
sured until  the  rights  of  the  poorest  Indian  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges 
are  made  secure."  So  with  the  Church.  Her  highest  test  of  power  for 
good  is  in  her  ability  to  give  spiritual  food  to  the  soul  that  is  farthest  from 
God;  to  touch  and  lift  the  lowest  in  the  social  scale;  and  to  give  the 
blessing  of  the  sanctuary  to  those  most  removed  from  the  centers  of  popu- 
lation. 

The  Rev.  E.  J.  Brailsford,  of  the  "Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  introduced  the  discussion  of  the  afternoon,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President  and  Brethren :  It  is  scarcely  possible  to  exaggerate  the 
needs  of  our  great  cities,  but  it  is  very  easy  to  forget  the  claims  of  our  vil- 
lages. The  rural  population  of  Britain  have  always  been  an  important 
element.  By  their  genius,  bravery,  and  piety  the  greatness  of  old  England 
was  built  up.  Their  influence  is  equally  powerful  now.  In  the  first  place, 
the  large  cities  of  our  population  are  fed  from  our  rural  districts.  One  of 
the  problems  of  the  day  is  how  to  j^urify  these  great  cities.  Hercules 
cleansed  the  Augean  stable  by  leading  a  stream  of  water  to  flow  through 
it.  If  it  were  possible  to  make  the  streams  of  population  that  night  and 
day  empty  themselves  into  these  cities  pure,  it  would  help  to  cleanse  the 
moral  cess-pools  that  lie  within  them.  Again,  the  largest  proportion  of 
emigrants  is  drawn  from  our  agricultural  districts.  It  is  not  to  White- 
chapel  or  to  the  manufacturing  towns  of  Lancashire  that  the  emigration 
agent  goes,  but  to  the  rural  neighborhoods,  where  strong-sinewed,  broad- 
chested,  and  rosy-cheeked  men  and  women  are  found.  It  is  therefore  of 
the  highest  importance  that  those  who  are  the  seed  which  fill  the  seed- 
basket  of  emigration  out  of  which  future  nations  are  to  spring  should  fear 
God  and  love  one  another.  Once  more  the  rural  population  play  an  im- 
portant part  in  political  life.  The  time  is  fast  approaching,  and  the  sooner 
the  better,  when  every  man  who  wields  the  plow  or  the  spade  shall  not 
only,  as  now,  vote  for  the  school-board  and  the  county  council,  but  also  in 
the  parliamentary  election.     If  this  be  so,  it  is  essential  that  we  should 


480  SOCIAL    PROBLEMS. 

inspire  them  with  the  principles  of  true  religion  so  that  the  voice  of  the 
people  may  be  indeed  the  voice  of  God. 

The  Rev.  J.  A.  Anderson,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  Soutli,  made  the  following  remarks  upon  the  subject 
of  discussion : 

Mr.  Chairman :  This  social  question  is  a  very  important  one,  one  that  is 
very  much  discussed ;  and  I  feel  to-day  that  it  is  the  mission  of  the  Church 
as  a  whole  to  look  at  it  as  it  is  and  act  upon  it.  If  to-day  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  would  unite  as  a  whole  and  go  to  every  person — let 
that  person  be  white  or  Chinese,  Indian  or  Negro — and  teach  him  the 
truths  of  our  religion,  he  could  be  brought  to  God.  The  question  to-day 
is,  How  shall  we  bring  these  people  into  our  churches?  If  we  stand  aloof 
as  ministers — stand  away  off  and  say  we  do  not  want  to  go  to  them — then 
we  fail  to  do  our  duty  toward  God.  I  feel  it  is  the  duty  of  our  ministers 
— whether  they  want  to  go  any  further  than  that  or  not — to  go  to  every 
person,  take  hold  of  his  hand,  and  lift  him  up.  The  trouble  is  our  minis- 
ters are  afraid  to  venture. 

Tliis  question  of  social  equality  will  take  care  of  itself.  I  was  born  a 
slave,  and  am  one  of  the  few  members  of  this  Conference  who  were  born 
slaves ;  and  I  take  it  that  the  Negro  does  not  look  for  social  equality  in 
the  sense  that  a  great  many  think  he  does.  But  he  does  think  that  Chris- 
tian men  should  come  to  his  assistance  and  help  him  in  his  ignorance  and 
immorality.  I  live  in  the  South,  and  know  what  I  speak  concerning  the 
people  there. 

We  have  some  ministers  in  the  South,  especially  of  the  creed  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  who  are  not  afraid  to  go  and  help  the 
Negro.  I  win  refer  to  one  man  who  is  known  in  every  vale,  every  cabin, 
and  every  swamp — Bishop  Galloway.  That  man  goes  every -where,  and 
every  Negro  around  there  prays  for  that  man,  because  he  is  not  afraid  to 
go  into  their  churches  and  pray  for  them.  And  I  am  told  that  Bishop 
Fitzgerald  is  something  of  the  same  sort  of  man.  Would  that  every  man 
would  extend  his  hand  and  not  shut  us  off  from  his  ministers'  meetings  1 
Why,  I  have  gone  into  places  where  there  were  ministers'  meetings — possi- 
bly only  eight  ministers  there — and  they  have  been  afraid  to  let  me  come 
in,  and  I  wanted  to  go  there  for  the  purpose  of  learning  something,  to  ask 
them  to  help  me,  to  get  them  to  tell  me  how  to  help  my  people.  I  have 
always  said  if  I  should  ever  get  near  to  Bishop  Galloway  and  Bishop 
Fitzgerald  I  would  be  sure  to  get  in. 

I  hope  that  this  meeting  will  bring  us  together.  I  am  not  speaking  of 
social  relations.  Social  relations  are  not  requested  on  one  side  more  than 
they  are  on  the  other-,  that  is,  so  far  as  the  people  are  concerned.  But 
this  thing  we  want :  we  want  to  be  brought  together,  because  there  are 
many  young  men  going  to  the  colleges,  and  the  Methodist  Church  is  los- 
ing the  young  men,  from  the  fact  that  they  believe  if  the  ministers  of  to- 
day are  the  representatives  of  Christ  there  is  nothing  in  religion.  Tliey 
say  that  Christ  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  ministers 
to  go  to  every  person,  white,  black,  Chinese,  or  Indian,  and  tell  him  to 
come  to  Christ.  If  that  could  be  done  a  good  deal  of  good  would  be  ac- 
complished. 

The  Hon.  H.  L.  Sibley,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 

spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  Chairman :  A  word  as  to  the  remark  of  the  brother  who  has  just 
left  the  floor.     I  do  not  know  how  it  is  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Churchy 


GENERAL   KEMAEKS.  481 

South,  but  in  the  North  every  minister,  black  or  white,  who  represents 
evangelical  truth  in  his  teaching  can  have  association  v/ith  us.  I  rejoice 
in  the  topics  of  this  morning  and  afternoon.  I  am  glad  that  they  are  on 
the  programme  of  the  Conference.  The  fact  is  significant.  It  shows  that 
the  Church  is  awaking  to  her  full  duty ;  is  finding  that  teaching  theology 
from  the  pulpit — the  necessity  of  a  new  spiritual  life — is  not  her  only 
function ;  that  she  also  is  to  reach  out  into  the  whole  field  of  human  ac- 
tivity, and  be  in  that  field,  as  she  is  in  regard  to  theological  truth,  the 
leader.  That,  I  maintain,  is  the  true  relation  of  the  Church  to  the  jieople 
— teacher  and  leader  on  the  great  social  and  economic  prol)lems  of  the 
day.  Until  she  reaches  that  height  and  breadth  the  Church  has  failed 
to  take  the  full  measure  of  her  duty.  A  distinguished  economic  writer  of 
this  country.  Professor  Ely,  of  Johns  Hopkins  University,  speaking  with 
reference  to  his  own  Church,  remarks  that  in  the  history  of  the  past  it 
has  emphasized  the  first  of  the  two  great  commandments — man's  duty  to 
love  God — but  has  said  comparatively  little  on  the  second,  which  directs 
us  to  love  our  neighbors  as  ourselves.  I  think  it  is  ])ertinent  to  the  hour 
and  the  times.  We  should  take  hold  upon  this  field  of  the  relations  of 
men,  one  toward  another,  in  all  the  work  and  activities  of  life. 

Now,  Mr.  President,  a  word  in  respect  to  the  relation  of  the  Church  to 
the  rich  and  intelligent,  and  to  the  poor  and  unfortunate.  The  result  of 
the  little  thought  and  study  I  have  been  able  to  give  to  the  subject  is 
that  the  poor  do  not  need  the  money  of  the  rich  and  educated  so  much  as 
they  need  their  personal  help  and  direction.  The  aid  of  the  cultivated, 
wealthy  Christians  to  the  poor,  in  their  ignorance  and  want  of  ability 
properly  to  use  what  labor  and  toil  put  intotheir  hands— the  help  of  that 
intelligence  is  more  than  a  gift  of  money.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Church 
to  enforce,  not  by  glittering  generalities,  but  specifically,  on  the  fortunate 
classes  that  they  give  personal  help  and  the  aid  of  their  intelligence  to 
those  who  have  been  less  fortunate  than  themselves. 

The  Rev,  Nehemiah  Curnock,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  said : 

Mr.  President :  There  is  no  minister  from  England  who  has  a  wider 
knowledge  on  this  subject  than  my  friend  Mr.  Clai^ham ;  but  unhappily 
America  has  had  .such  an  effect  upon  him  that  he  is  overwhelmed,  fettered, 
and  chained  to  his  seat  by  a  modesty  which  requires  very  special  meas- 
ures to  conquer.  Will  you  permit  me  to  give  the  four  and  a  half  minutes 
that  remain  of  my  time  to  Mr.  Clapliam,  in  order  that  he  may  speak  about 
village  Methodism  ? 

The  Rev.  J.  Ernest  Clapham,  of  the  "Wesleyan  Methodist 

Church,  continued  the  discussion,  as  follows: 

Mr.  President :  I  have  observed  that  a  large  number  of  brethren  have 
found  it  so  hard  to  speak  good  sense  in  five  minutes  that  I  have  desired 
to  keep  my  reputation.  The  problems  before  us  to-day  are  some  of  the 
most  important  that  have  occupied  the  attention  of  this  Conference.  I 
venture  to  say  that  I  think  they  are  the  most  important,  because  the  most 
practical,  having  to  do  with  the  present  well-being  and  eternal  future  of 
the  people  to  whom  we  are  called  to  minister.  The  first  question  is  gigan- 
tic. I  do  not  know  that  I  can  touch  upon  it  this  afternoon.  I  despair  of 
the  Church  overtaking  that  great  problem.  I  believe  that  the  State  must 
step  in — probably  moved  by  the  Church— and  the  State  will  never  move 
until  the  Church  moves.  The  cause  of  the  people  is  hopeless  imtil  you 
give  them  decent  homes  to  live  in.     Why  should  the  land  monopolist  put 


482  SOCIAL    PROBLEMS. 

into  his  pocket  the  increment  on  the  value  of  land  which  he  has  never 
owned,  when  the  people  want  the  land  to  live  on  ?  I  believe,  sir,  that 
that  is  a  gigantic  fraud.  You  will  never  shut  up  the  saloon  effectu'ally 
uutil  you  give  the  people  their  homes.  You  may  say  the  two  problems 
are  interlaced,  because  they  are  closely  involved.  I  am  hopeless  for  the 
people,  that  is,  for  the  adult  portion  of  the  residuum.  You  may  do  some- 
thing for  them,  as  the  Germans  are  doing,  with  success ;  not  in  the  work- 
houses, because  the  work-house  carries  a  stigma  which  it  is  hard  to  over- 
come, but  in  colonies  where  the  people  may  get  back  to  decency,  and 
where  work  will  be  found  for  them.  I  hope  the  Christian  public  will 
solve  this  problem  of  finding  work  for  the  people  who  want  work.  The 
large  residuum  have  lapsed  and  they  are  hopeless.  The  hope  of  that  class 
is  in  the  children.  I  am  strongly  of  the  conviction  that  Christianity  will 
help  the  little  children  who  are  handicapped.  The  chapels  and  churches 
where  the  working-classes  most  do  live  are  empty.  I  have  gone  from 
chapel  to  chapel,  and  church  to  church,  and  have  seen  where  there  was 
once  a  thousand  in  the  congregation  but  one  hundred  or  one  hundred  and 
fifty.  The  Methodist  Church  is  waking  up.  We  are  filling  our  old 
chapels;  we  are  teaching  the  people  now  as  we  have  not  been  doing  for 
the  last  two  generations ;  and  one  of  the  things  that  the  Christian  people 
want  to  know  is  that  the  Church  loves  them. 

The  Rev.  E.  Lloyd  Jones,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  made  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  Chairman :  When  I  came  to  America  there  was  one  verse  of  Script- 
ure that  I  thought  would  not  apply  to  America.  Theoretically  it  did  not 
apply.  The  lines  I  refer  to  are,  "The  poor  always  ye  have  with  you."  I 
expected  that  in  a  country  where  such  high  wages  are  given  poverty 
would  be  comparativel}^  unknown.  I  have  been  reading  a  first-rate  book, 
and  I  call  the  attention  of  the  audience  to  it — a  book  written  by  Dr. 
Banks,  of  Boston,  on  the  White  Slave ;  or,  The  Woi'Jc  of  the  Church  toward 
the  Poor,  and  as  to  the  prevalence  of  poverty  even  in  America.  If  you 
will  read  this  book  it  will  help  you  to  solve  the  question  we  are  discussing 
to-day.  Now,  sir,  we  call  ourselves  a  Christian  country.  That  is  really 
not  the  true  description  of  it.  There  are  certain  areas  in  it  which  have 
not  yet  been  touched  by  Christianity ;  there  are  certain  parts  which  Chris- 
tianity has  not  yet  begun  to  touch.  First  of  all,  in  the  making  of  money 
Christianity  does  not  come  into  existence  at  all.  It  does  sometimes  in  the 
distribution  of  it ;  but  every  Christian  man  makes  his  money  with  aids 
and  processes  not  Christian. 

Several  Voices  :  O,  jio ;   O,  no. 

Rev.  Mr.  Jones  :  It  will  be  time  enough  for  you  to  say  "  no  "  when  you 
understand  what  I  mean.  What  is  the  theory  of  wealth-making — the  get- 
ting of  as  much  money  as  possible  for  as  little  work  as  possible  ? 

Several  Voices  :  O,  no ;  O,  no. 

Rev.  Mr.  Jones:  I  will  put  it  in  another  way:  "  Buying  at  the  cheapest 
rate  and  selling  at  the  dearest  rate."  I  have  not  seen  a  cotton  mill  that 
was  not  started  on  that  principle,  or  a  grocery  shop  which  was  started  on 
any  other  principle.  Men  in  England  and  in  every  other  country  make 
the  most  money  they  can  by  underpaying  labor. 

Several  Voices  :    O,  no ;    O,  no. 

Rev.  Mr.  Jones  :  It  takes  five  years  for  people  to  come  up  to  my  point, 
and  the  day  will  come  when  the  political  theory  will  prevail  that  the 
making  of  money  is  by  paying  as  little  as  you  can  and  getting  as  much  as 
you  can.     My  difficulty  is  not  with  the  poor;  it  is  with  the  rich.     There 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  483 

is  no  difficulty  in  preaching  the  Gosjiel  to  the  poor.  There  are  scores  of 
churches,  we  are  told,  iu  America  where  if  you  were  to  preach  from  the 
Epistle  of  .Tames  the  men  of  wealth  would  not  be  there  the  next  Sunday. 
Do  you  know,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  while  England  is,  according  to  its  num- 
bers, practically  the  richest  country  in  the  world,  yet  it  has  given  from 
royalty  down  to  the  smallest  member  of  the  aristocracy  very  little  for  the 
conversion  of  the  world — not  enough  to  buy  the  leg  of  a  race-horse  ?  There 
are  men  in  England  to-day  who  have  given  twenty  thousand  dollars  for  a 
race-horse ;  and  the  whole  of  the  aristocracy  of  England  has  given  for  the 
conversion  of  the  world  only  one  thousand  and  forty  pounds.  There  are 
seven  counties  in  England  where  not  a  landlord  gave  a  ha'-penuy  for  the 
conversion  of  the  world. 

The  Eev.  D.  H,  Tribou,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
concluded  the  discussion  of  the  afternoon  as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  This  is  the  only  subject  on  which  I  have  had  any  desire 
to  speak.  There  is  one  thing  that  I  think  ought  to  be  emphasized,  and 
that  one  thing  no  one  has  mentioned.  It  is  the  fact  that  we,  followers  of 
the  Master,  disciples  in  a  certain  sense  of  John  Wesley,  do  not  know  how 
to  reach  the  poor!  We  are  talking  about  it,  and  discussing  various 
schemes,  and  confessing  by  every  word  we  saj'  that  we  do  not  know  how 
to  do  it.  How  and  when  did  we  ever  get  out  of  touch  with  the  poor  ? 
If  we  go  back  to  that  point,  we  shall  learn  how  to  accomplish  this  most 
desirable  result. 

Then,  in  the  name  of  the  poor  man  and  the  working-man,  who  are  not 
here  to  speak  for  themselves,  I  object  to  the  consideration  of  this  matter 
from  the  point  of  view  that  so  many  hold.  We  think  of  the  poor  as  off 
at  one  side  out  of  the  way,  and  Christian  people  discuss  methods  of  getting 
over  to  them  as  if  they  were  wild  animals.  The  poor  are  exactly  where 
they  have  always  been ;  if  we  are  not  with  them  and  alongside  of  them, 
it  is  time  we  were.  Let  us  go  to  the  poor  with  the  Gospel,  in  word  and 
deed.  That  will  reach  them.  And  as  for  the  rich,  let  us  go  to  them  with 
the  same  Gospel.  When  they  get  the  Gospel  we'll  get  their  money.  The 
most  disgraceful  thing  in  Methodism  in  America  is  that  a  Methodist 
church  should  ever  move  up  town.  Are  there  not  just  as  many  people 
down  town  as  there  ever  were?  Are  there  not  as  many  people  at  the 
North  End,  in  Boston,  for  instance?  Are  the  Catholics  moving  up  town? 
That  church  has  the  finest  organization  in  the  whole  world,  and  we  had  a 
great  deal  better  be  learning  some  things  from  it  than  to  be  decrying  it. 

We  have  in  the  twenty-fifth  chapter  of  Matthew  a  graphic  picture  of 
the  last  great  day.  There  the  King  is  represented  as  saying:  "  I  was  an 
hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  meat ;  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  drink ;  I 
was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  in ;  naked,  and  ye  clothed  me ;  I  was  sick, 
and  ye  visited  me;  I  was  in  prison,  and  ye  came  unto  me."  To-day  he 
is  crying  in  our  streets,  in  the  person  of  the  poor  and  the  distressed :  "I 
am  hungry ;  I  am  thirsty ;  I  am  sick ;  I  am  in  prison. "  Where  is  the 
Church  that  it  cannot  hear,  and,  hearing,  find  a  way  to  minister  to  the 
Master's  needs  ?  I  do  not  find  any  fault  with  the  Church.  It  would  reach 
the  poor  if  it  knew  how  to  do  it.  Where  is  the  Moses  to  lead  the  Church 
to  the  poor? 

And  then  a  word  as  to  the  preaching.  In  this  country— I  did  not  hear 
it  in  England — when  we  want  to  compliment  a  man  on  his  sermon,  and  it 
isn't  a  very  good  sermon,  we  tell  him  it  is  a  "gospel  sermon."  Heaven 
keep  us  from  preaching  any  thing  except  gospel  sermons!  That's  our 
business.     But  just  think  how  hard  it  is  to  do  it  in  a  splendid  church  in 


484  SOCIAL    PROBLEMS. 

some  wealthy  suburb,  built  almost  wholly  from  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of 
an  older  church  down  town — proceeds  which  belong  only  to  God's  people 
who  still  live  in  the  neighborhood,  no  matter  whether  they  are  members 
of  the  church  or  not.  I  say,  how  hard  it  must  be  under  such  circum- 
stances to  preach  a  gospel  sermon  from  the  text,  "  Will  a  man  rob  God  ?  " 
Let  political  economists  talk  about  ' '  natural  increment "  as  much  as 
they  will,  but  let  us  accept  the  fact  that  when  a  church  is  dedicated  to 
God,  and  the  land  afterward  comes  to  be  of  great  value,  that  the  increase 
is  his,  for  work  right  there,  just  as  much  as  the  original  church  was  his. 

The  doxology  was  sung,  and  the  afternoon  session  of  Con- 
ference adjourned  with  the  benediction  by  the  presiding  officer, 
Bishop  W.  W.  Duncan,  D.D. 


ESSAY    OF   KEV.    W.    J.    TOWNSEND.  485 


THIRD    SESSION. 


TOPIC  :  MISSIONS. 


The  Conference  met  at  7:30  P.  M.,  the  Rev.  William  Mor- 
LEY,  of  the  Australasian  Methodist  Church,  in  the  chair.  Prayer 
was  offered  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Spence,  of  the  Australasian 
Methodist  Church,  and  the  Scriptures  were  read  by  the  Rev.  J. 
C.  Hill,  of  the  same  Church. 

The  programme  of  the  evening  was  taken  up,  and  the  Rev. 
"W.  J.  Townsend,  of  the  Methodist  New  Connexion,  read  the 
following  appointed  essay,  on  "  Missions  in  Heathen  Lands  :  " 

Mr.  President :  Methodism  was  a  system  of  evangelistic  aggression  from 
the  first.  "With  the  dew  of  its  youth  fresh  upon  it,  it  was  vigorous  and  enthu- 
siastic. It  could  not  rest.  Its  genius  was  to  move  outward ;  its  essential 
spirit  was  to  win  souls  from  the  surrounding  darkness.  In  doing  this  it 
recognized  no  local  bounds ;  it  was  restrained  by  no  formal  or  traditional 
withes ;  or  if  for  a  short  time  it  was,  it  quickly  burst  them,  as  Samson  burst 
those  of  the  Philistines,  and,  like  the  Gospel  in  its  early  days  after  it  shook 
oflE  the  shackles  of  Judaism,  it  ran  out  from  one  country  to  another  until  its 
fame  and  influence  became  world-wide.  The  comprehensive  sweep  and  uni- 
versal range  of  Methodism  were  gathered  up  by  its  apostolic  founder  in  the 
pregnant  aphorism  which  has  become  the  inheritance  of  all  his  followers, 
"The  world  is  my  parish."  That  brief  sentence  was  the  germ-seed  of 
the  missionary  movement  of  Methodism.  Such  words,  when  once  enter- 
ing into  the  history  of  such  a  movement,  could  not  but  germinate  into  a 
great  enterprise  which  in  days  to  come  would  be  one  of  the  mightiest  in- 
strumentalities in  the  hand  of  Providence  for  the  conversion  of  the  world. 

When  Methodism  arose  a  century  and  a  half  ago  to  pour  the  undying 
truth  of  the  Gospel  into  new  molds,  to  quicken  latent  energies,  and  to 
arouse  the  lost  masses  into  earnest  concern  for  their  salvation,  there  was 
scarcely  a  Protestant  mission  to  the  heathen  in  existence.  But  as  soon  as 
Methodism  had  made  good  its  foot-hold,  had  assumed  self-government, 
and  gathered  a  huge  constituency,  it  prepared  to  manifest  what  its  great 
Western  historian  has  declared  to  be  its  essential  character :  "A  revival 
Church  in  its  spirit,  a  missionary  Church  in  its  organization."  And  from 
that  time  wherever  Methodism  has  spread,  and  whatever  varieties  of  polity 
have  crept  into  it,  it  has  been  true  to  its  calling  in  this  respect.  It  has 
looked  with  compassion  on  the  perishing  millions  of  heathendom,  and 
with  greater  or  less  avidity  it  has  gone  out  to  offer  to  them  the  bread  of 
eternal  life. 

The  first  visible  vibration  of  this  spirit  was  seen  in  the  Conference  of 
1778,  when  an  important  discussion  took  place  on  a  proposal  to  send  mis- 


486  MISSIONS. 

sionaries  to  Africa.  It  lasted  several  hours,  and  was  characterized  by 
powerful  eloquence  and  consecrated  enthusiasm,  the  feeling  rising  highest 
when  Duncan  McCallum,  a  young  man  even  then  far  gone  in  consump- 
tion, rose  up  and  offered  himself  for  the  work.  His  offer  was  not  ac- 
cepted, but  from  that  time  the  life  and  energies  of  Dr.  Thomas  Coke  were 
devoted  to  this  absorbing  theme.  In  1786  a  programme  of  a  society  for 
the  establishment  of  a  mission  to  the  heathen,  with  a  list  of  subscrijjtions, 
was  issued,  which  is  stamped  with  the  devotion  and  zeal  of  Dr.  Coke. 
His  eagle  eye  had  been  turned  to  India.  He  had  written  to  the  governor- 
general,  the  Hon.  Warren  Hastings,  on  the  project,  who  had  sympathet- 
ically replied,  saying:  "The  difficulties  are  great,  greater,  it  may  be,  in 
some  respects,  than  were  those  of  the  first  preachers  among  the  freer  and 
more  polished  peoi)le  of  the  Roman  Empire.  Nevertheless,  the  same  divine 
power  that  then  made  a  few  obscure  and  for  the  most  part  unlearned  men 
triumph  over  the  united  resistance  of  the  spiritual,  secular,  and  carnal 
powers  of  this  world  remains  unchanged." 

For  want  of  money  the  enterprise  lingered,  but  Dr.  Coke  had  India 
written  on  his  heart,  and  could  not  be  at  rest.  He  wrote  to  William 
Wilberforce,  seeking  help  from  the  government  for  the  enterprise.  He 
was  told  that  for  such  a  jDurpose  "  Parliament  was  set  against  granting  any 
help  to  Methodists  or  dissenters."  He  offered  at  once  to  resign  Methodism 
and  enter  the  Established  Church  if  his  project  could  be  entertained.  He 
wrote  :  ' '  India  cleaves  to  my  heart.  I  sincerely  believe  that  my  strong 
inclination  to  spend  the  remainder  of  my  life  there  originates  in  the 
divine  will." 

It  was  no  personal  ambition  which  led  Dr.  Coke  to  make  this  offer. 
His  position  in  Methodism  was  a  far  nobler  one  than  any  the  Church  of 
England  could  bestow.  He  was  moved  by  an  impulse,  transitory,  impru- 
dent, if  you  like,  but  rising  out  of  an  overwhelming  passion,  to  attack 
heathenism  in  its  strongest  citadel.  He  said:  "  Ihave a  fortune  of  £1,200 
a  year,  which  is  sufficient  to  bear  my  expenses  and  to  enable  me  to  make 
many  donations. "  In  1813,  when  he  was  sixty-seven  years  of  age,  he  won 
the  Irish  Conference  to  his  views,  and  he  brought  thence  to  the  English 
Conference  a  strong  resolution  in  support  of  his  scheme,  with  several  Irish 
preachers  who  volunteered  to  accompany  him,  among  them  being  the  ven- 
erable Gideon  Ouseley,  who  pleaded  to  go,  with  the  tears  running  over 
his  face.  Many  of  the  leading  preachers  opposed  the  enterprise.  Mr. 
Benson  vehemently  declared:  "It  would  ruin  Methodism."  After  a 
short  debate  the  subject  was  adjourned  over  night,  and  Dr.  Coke  went  to 
his  lodgings  leaning  on  the  arm  of  one  of  his  Irish  supporters,  in  an  agony 
of  mind  and  weeping  bitterly.  The  next  morning  he  was  missed  from 
the  early  session.  He  was  sought  out,  and  found  to  have  been  up  during 
the  whole  night,  the  hours  of  which  he  had  spent  prostrate  in  prayer  upon 
the  floor.  He  went  to  the  Conference,  and  if  ever  a  soul  animated  with  a 
sacred  enthusiasm  spoke  with  irresistible  power  he  did,  offering  £6,000 
toward  the  expenses  of  the  mission. 

The  Conference  could  not  resist  his  consecrated  eloquence  and  self- 


ESSAY   OF   REV.    W.    J.    TOWNSEND.  487 

sacrifice.  It  appointed  him,  with  seven  others,  to  go  to  Ceylon  and  lay 
the  foundations  of  Methodism  in  the  heathen  world.  When  he  was  leav- 
ing Portsmouth  he  said  in  a  farewell  sermon :  "It  is  of  little  consequence 
whether  we  take  our  flight  to  glory  from  the  land  of  our  nativity,  from 
the  trackless  ocean,  or  from  the  shores  of  Ceylon."  Prophetic  words  I 
As  the  ship  sailed  through  the  Indian  Ocean  his  health  suddenly  failed. 
One  morning  his  servant  knocked  at  his  door  at  half  past  five  o'clock. 
He  received  no  answer,  and  ventured  to  open  the  door,  and  saw  the  apos- 
tle of  Methodist  missions  lying  on  the  floor  with  a  sweet  smile  on  his  face, 
but  cold  and  dead.  He  was  gone  to  nobler  ministries  than  even  Meth- 
odism could  give;  but  meantime  Methodist  missions  to  the  heathen  were 
a  fact  beyond  recall.  A  great  forward  movement  had  been  taken.  The 
advance  troops  of  Methodism  were  marching  on  the  serried  ranks  of  hea- 
thendom with  an  ardent  spirit  which  was  destined  to  become  more  impas- 
sioned and  determined  until  the  idols  should  be  abolished  and  Christ 
should  be  all  and  in  all. 

Soon  the  mission  to  India  was  followed  by  one  to  Africa,  and  that  by 
others  to  the  islands  of  the  Southern  Ocean,  New  South  Wales,  Tasmania, 
New  Zealand,  the  Friendly  Islands  (where  the  king  was  converted  and 
became  the  first  royal  ]\Iethodist  preacher),  Fiji,  the  West  Indies,  the 
North  American  Indians,  spreading  from  the  South  to  beyond  the  Rocky 
Mountains  and  away  to  Alaska  in  the  British  Dominion.  Thus  Methodism 
has  proved  itself,  wherever  it  has  gone,  to  have  been  purely  and  essen- 
tially missionary  in  its  spirit.  Concerning  most  of  these  missions  we  need 
not  now  speak,  because  they  have  become  independent  Conferences  and 
Churches,  and  are  carrying  on  missionary  organizations  of  their  own.  In 
appraising  the  work  of  Methodism  in  the  heathen  world  this  must  be 
])orne  in  mind,  or  a  totally  inadequate  idea  of  its  fruits  and  influence  will 
be  reached. 

The  work  of  Methodism  in  the  heathen  world  to-day  comprises,  in  the 
East,  missions  in  China,  Japan,  India,  Ceylon,  and  the  hermit  nation  of 
Korea  ;  in  the  West,  the  West  Indies,  the  American  Indians,  South 
America,  Honduras,  and  the  Bahamas ;  and,  between  these.  West,  South, 
and  Central  Africa.  In  China  six  Methodist  communities  are  engaged, 
and  one  is  just  entering,  spreading  up  to  the  great  wall  on  the  North, 
down  to  Canton  and  Hong  Kong  in  the  south,  and  to  Hankow  in  the  in- 
terior, comprising  213  stations,  118  foreign  missionaries,  597  native  help- 
ers, 6,626  members,  5,035  scholars.  In  Japan  four  Methodist  missions  are 
established,  and  sustain  50  stations,  58  foreign  missionaries,  182  native 
helpers,  4,547  members,  4,875  scholars.  In  Korea  one  denomination  re- 
cently entered  has  five  missionaries  laboring  there.  In  India  two  Methodist 
bodies  are  at  work,  which  have  secured  189  stations,  182  foreign  mission- 
aries, 2,606  native  helpers,  10,065  members,  63,568  scholars.  In  Ceylon 
one  Methodist  Church  is  carrying  out  operations,  which  has  81  stations, 
17  missionaries,  1,585  native  helpers,  4,537  members,  20,785  scholars.  In 
Africa  seven  ^lethodist  societies  have  entered,  which  have  121  stations, 
52  missionaries,  2,319  native  helpers,  24,094  members,  14,492  scholars. 


488  MISSIONS. 

Amona  the  North  American  Indians  two  Methodist  denominations  are 
working,  with  128  stations,  61  foreign  missionaries,  139  native  helpers, 
8, 127  members,  2, 946  scholars.  In  the  West  Indies  there  are  two  Methodist 
bodies,  of  which  returns  only  from  one  are  to  hand,  comprising  10  sta- 
tions, 9  foreign  missionaries,  53  native  helpers,  3,403  members,  2,173 
scholars.  In  South  America  one  society  is  at  work,  which  has  67  sta- 
tions, 33  foreign  missionaries,  182  native  helpers,  1,165  members,  2,466 
scholars.  In  Honduras  and  the  Bahamas  there  is  one  society,  which  has 
13  stations,  17  foreign  missionaries,  694  native  helpers,  5,3G0  members, 
5,243  scholars.  These  numbers  present  totals  of  872  stations,  547  foreign 
missionaries,  8,347  native  ministers  and  helpers,  67,924  members,  133,580 
scholars  in  day  or  Sunday  scliools. 

The  agencies  in  constant  operation  on  these  various  fields,  in  addition 
to  the  usual  church  and  Sunday-school  02:)erations,  are  too  numerous  to 
be  detailed.  In  India  and  Ceylon  printing  and  publishing  institutions 
are  established  to  circulate  a  Christian  literature  with  the  utmost  facility. 
In  India,  Ceylon,  Japan,  and  many  parts  of  China  schools  for  imparting 
a  higher  education  on  a  Christian  basis  are  in  vigorous  work.  Medical 
hospitals  and  dispensaries  are  doing  a  noble  work  in  all  parts  of  China,  in 
connection  with  the  Methodist  missions  from  Shantung  to  Canton.  Boys'  and 
girls'  boarding  and  industrial  schools  are  established,  almost  without  num- 
ber, in  all  parts  of  the  heathen  world,  and  from  these  we  are  now  drawing 
mainly  our  native  preachers  and  teachers.  Colleges  for  the  training  of  a  na- 
tive ministry  in  China  and  elsewhere  are  established  at  Tientsin,  at  Foo- 
chow,  at  Shanghai,  and  elsewhere,  while  refuges  for  orphans  and  widows 
are  provided,  and  work  in  the  zenanas  is  faithfully  carried  out  in  the  em- 
pire of  India.  These  are  all  adjuncts  and  supplements  to  missionary 
work  in  the  more  strict  sense  of  the  term,  which  do  not  detract  from  its 
value,  but  give  a  higher  completeness  to  it. 

As  to  the  quality  and  value  of  the  work  which  is  being  accomplished, 
much  might  be  said,  but  little  time  is  available  to  speak  of  it.  The  great 
bodies  of  Methodism— Wesleyanism  in  the  East,  and  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  in  the  West — magnificently  lead  the  van  by  the  extent  of 
their  operations  and  the  generosity  of  their  gifts.  They  have  manifested 
noble  enterprise  and  a  profound  sagacity  in  selecting  for  their  great 
spheres  countries  which,  if  enormously  expensive  as  to  their  demands, 
have  yet  a  great  commercial  and  national  future  before  them,  such  as 
China,  India,  Japan,  and  Africa ;  and  this  may  be  said  as  to  some  of  the 
smaller  bodies  likewise,  which,  side  by  side  with  those  gigantic  societies, 
are  seeking  to  claim  the  great  empires  of  the  East  and  the  South  for  the 
Lord  Jesus,  and  to  secure  their  commanding  power  and  influence  in  tlie 
future  on  the  side  of  truth  and  righteousness.  The  Methodism  which  has 
Christianized  the  Friendly  Islands ;  which  has  redeemed  Fiji  from  its 
cannibalism  and  appalling  licentiousness ;  which  has  done  so  much  to  ban- 
ish sutteeism  and  infanticide  in  India ;  and  which  has  contributed  large- 
ly to  establish  a  Christian  nation  throughout  Australasia,  may  be  expected 
faithfully  and  successfully  to  overcome  the  united  forces  of  Buddhism, 


ESSAY    OF    KEY.    W.    J.    TOWNSEND.  489 

Brahmiiiism,  and  fetichism,  and  bring  the  ancient  realms  of  heathendom 
to  bow  before  the  crucified  One  of  Calvary. 

There  are  several  questions  of  vital  importance  and  of  imperative  char- 
acter which  this  Pan-Methodistic  Conference  ouglit  to  consider  with  far 
more  deliberation  and  fullness  than  it  is  likely  to  do : 

1.  Seeino-  that  the  rush  of  the  nineteenth  century  has  broken  into  the 
still  and  standstill  life  of  these  nations,  are  we  not  called  upon  by  our 
Master,  with  deepening  and  accumulating  emphasis,  to  attempt  a  huge 
extension  of  our  work,  especially  in  the  boundless  empire  of  China  and 
the  vast  moral  wastes  of  the  continent  of  Africa? 

2.  In  view  of  the  claims  upon  the  Christian  Church  for  such  a  large  ex- 
tension in  our  operations,  do  we  not  require  the  scale  of  giving  to  the 
missionary  cause  to  be  revised,  and  to  be  made  more  consonant  with  the 
wealth  of  the  Church,  so  that  mission  debts  may  be  forever  extinguished 
and  new  enterprises  made  possible? 

3.  As  in  this  Conference,  representing  twenty-nine  denominations  of 
Methodists,  East  and  West,  only  eleven  or  twelve  arc  sustaining  missions 
in  the  heathen  world,  is  it  not  incumbent  on  those  denominations  which 
have  no  such  missions  to  do  something  in  this  direction,  seeing  that  the 
command  of  the  Master  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature  belongs  as 
much  to  them  as  to  any  others? 

4.  If  some  Methodist  denominations  are  unable  to  sustain  a  mission  to 
the  heathen  themselves,  might  not  two  or  three,  or  more,  associate  them- 
selves for  this  purpose,  and  at  once  show  their  loyalty  to  the  Saviour's 
command  and  to  the  noble  spirit  of  Christian  union? 

5.  Is  it  not  possible  to  establish  a  first-class  Methodist  missionary  or- 
gan, in  which  mission  methods  could  be  discussed  and  general  mission 
news  circulated,  and  through  which  mutual  sympathy  and  help  might  be 
distributed  through  the  Methodist  world? 

6.  More  than  all,  cannot  Methodist  missions  in  heathen  lands  be  con- 
federated, for  the  economization  of  resources  and  the  better  promotion  of 
great  ends?  If  Methodism  in  China,  in  India,  in  Africa,  and  Japan  can 
be  saved  from  presenting  to  those  great  peoi^les  the  unedifying  spectacle 
of  several  rival  sects  of  Methodism,  it  will  be  an  enormous  gain  to  our 
common  Christianity.  This  can  be  done,  as  it  is  proposed  to  be  done  in 
China,  by  a  missionary  bureau  or  representative  body  in  each  of  those 
countries,  which  shall  arrange  for  no  overlapping  in  districts,  for  a  com- 
mon hymnal,  for  common  school  and  class  books  in  our  educational  insti- 
tutions and  colleges,  for  the  issuing  of  common  periodicals  which  will 
thus  be  al)le  to  find  constituencies  to  support  them,  and,  above  all,  to 
carry  out  translation  and  other  literary  work  by  which  a  healthy  Chris- 
tian literature  will  be  created,  which  shall  liecorae  an  enormous  factor 
in  the  conversion  of  these  nations.  If  Methodist  union  is  ever  to  be  ac- 
complished, here  is  a  way  to  its  commencement  in  which  there  are  no  in- 
superable difficulties  and  to  which  surely  there  can  be  no  objection,  but 
which  would  not  only  draw  Methodism  into  closer  bonds,  but  would 
give  such  efiiciency  to  our  mission  work  as  nothing  else  could  accomplish. 

34 


490  MISSIONS. 

7.  ]\Iethodism  has  no  missions  in  Mohammedan  lands,  save  where  Mo- 
hammedanism is  an  intruder.  Has  Methodism  no  message  and  no  mis- 
sion in  Nortli  Africa  or  Turkey  or  Arabia?  Does  not  the  Saviour's  com- 
mand cover  the  rule  of  the  Arabian  prophet?  And  more  than  this,  ought 
not  Methodism  to  feel  responsibility  as  to  lauds  where  Protestant  mis- 
sions have  as  yet  little  or  no  jDlace,  such  as  Tonquin  and  Cochin  China, 
Persia,  and  other  Eastern  nations?  Surely,  the  large  heart  of  Methodism 
must  come  erelong  to  vibrate  with  sympathy  for  lauds  so  dark  and  igno- 
rant as  these. 

Lastly,  is  it  not  practicable  to  have  Methodist  missionary  councils  for  East 
and  West,  between  which  there  can  be  correspondence  and  co-operation 
for  great  ends?  I  hope  to  live  to  see  Methodism  mapping  out  the  earth 
for  God,  and  making  a  definite  organized  movement  to  occupy  the  whole 
world  for  the  blessed  Saviour.  This  can  never  be  done  but  by  an  organ- 
ized and  systematic  effort,  and  if  we  are  not  quite  ripe  for  such  a  great 
and  universal  movement,  we  may  take  some  preliminary  and  initial  steps 
toward  it  in  such  a  Conference  as  this.  We  need,  more  than  ever,  in  the 
face  of  deepening  conflict  and  multiplying  forces  of  evil  which  are  before 
lis,  to  demonstrate  that  Methodism  means  vigorous  and  unceasing  warfare 
against  every  form  of  ungodliness  and  evil,  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
and  this  spirit  of  aggressive  and  undjdng  conflict  we  are  bound  and 
pledged  to  cultivate;  to  foster  and  kindle  every  day  and  hour;  to  keep 
it  burning,  with  intenser  heat  and  broader  and'  brighter  flame,  by  means 
of  fresh  supplies  of  living  coal  taken  from  the  altar  of  God  in  the  upper 
sanctuary.  Let  us  do  this,  and  Methodism,  with  its  tens  of  millions,  its 
enormous  wealth  and  immense  resources,  will  cover  the  unevangelized 
world  with  the  message  of  divine  liberty  and  salvation  before  this  genera- 
tion has  disappeared. 

Tlie  Rev.  C.  II.  Kiracofe,  D.D.,  of  the  United  Brethren  in 
Christ  (Old  Constitution),  gave  tlio  following  invited  address 
on  "New  Fields  Entered  Since  1S81 : " 

Mr.  President :  Two  special  difliculties  have  confronted  me  in  attempt- 
ing to  prepare  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  new  fields  entered  by  the  world's 
missionary  forces  within  the  last  ten  years.  The  first  was  to  find  out  just 
what  branches  of  the  great  array  of  churches  and  other  missionary  organ- 
izations had,  within  that  time,  pushed  forward  their  lines  of  battle  and 
occupied  new  territory  for  tlmn.  The  second  was  to  determine  whether 
the  territory  thus  entered  was  really  new  territory,  or  had  been  already  oc- 
cupied by  other  branches  of  the  great  army.  Neither  of  these  difficulties 
has  been  fully  overcome,  but  your  speaker  has  done  the  best  he  could,  in 
the  very  short  tune  given  him  for  the  preparation  of  this  address,  to  pre- 
sent a  respectable  outline  of  the  advances  made  and  the  fields  entered  since 
1881,  without  any  attempt,  however,  to  indicate  the  relative  importance 
of  the  positions  gained.  The  time  allotted  for  the  delivery  of  the  address 
also  obliged  me  to  eliminate  from  consideration  all  the  gi-cat  advances 
made  in  the  way  of  augmenting  the  work  and  widening  the  sphere  of 


ADDRESS    OF   REV.    C.    H.    KIRACOFE.  401 

operations  in  the  fields  entered  prior  to  1881,  altliougli  it  is  probable  that 
by  far  the  greater  advancement  made  in  the  last  decade  has  been  made  in 
this  way,  inasmuch  as  many  of  the  missions  planted  years  ago  have, 
within  that  time,  received  new  life,  and  some  of  them,  as  the  Telugu  Mis- 
sion in  India,  have  had  almost  miraculous  developments. 

Confining  myself,  then,  to  the  new  fields,  I  will  proceed  to  give  such 
items  in  reference  to  them  as  I  have  been  able  to  gather  as  will  indicate 
something  of  the  scope,  character,  and  outlook  of  the  work  in  each  field. 

North  America. 

In  1881  the  Presbyterian  Church,  North,  re-entered  a  field  formerly 
abandoned  by  them  among  the  Winnebago  Indians  on  the  Omaha  Reser- 
vation, where  they  now  have  an  organized  church  with  twenty  members. 

Since  1881  the  Methodist  women  of  Canada  have  erected  a  fine  build- 
ing as  a  home  and  school  for  Indians  at  Chilliwhack,  in  the  valley  of  the 
Frazer  River,  British  Columbia. 

The  Moravians  opened  up  work  among  the  Innuits  and  Esquimaux  of 
Alaska,  at  Bethel,  in  1885,  and  at  Carmel  in  1886,  where  they  now  have 
at  these  stations  eight  workers;  and  although  the  work  is  found  diflicult 
the  latest  intelligence  from  Bethel  indicates  awakenings  and  conversions 
and  a  general  desire  for  religious  instruction,  and  the  workers  are  greatly 
encouraged. 

In  1886  the  Cumberland  Presbyterians  planted  a  mission  at  Aguas 
Calientes  in  Mexico.  A  chapel  has  been  built  and  schools  o2:»ened,  and 
the  work  has  extended  to  Guanajuato  and  Asientos,  and  the  field  is  open 
for  extending  this  work. 

In  1884  the  Presbyterians,  North,  re-entered  the  State  of  Guerrero,  Mex- 
ico, whence  they  had  been  driven  by  a  mob  in  1875.  In  seven  weeks'  time 
thirteen  congregations  were  established,  two  hundred  and  eighty  were  bap- 
tized, and  six  churches  were  organized.  In  1887  they  opened  up  work, 
under  very  favorable  circumstances,  in  the  State  of  Michoacan,  and  at  pres- 
ent there  are  within  a  radius  of  thirty-five  miles  sixteen  congregations, 
and  a  membership  of  over  four  thousand.  The  seed  has  been  sown  here 
by  a  native  who  had  six  years  before  oj^ened  a  book-store  and  distributed 
Bibles  and  religious  tracts.  They  have  also  commenced  a  flourishing  work 
in  Tobasco,  in  the  extreme  south-east,  which  is  extending  into  Yucatan. 
In  1882  they  opened  the  first  mission  in  Guatemala,  where  they  now  have 
an  organized  church  and  a  school. 

A  mission  in  Cuba  was  organized  by  the  Southern  Presbyterians  in  1800, 
with  two  churches,  one  at  Havana  and  the  other  at  Santa  Clara.  Tb.e 
outlook  is  said  to  be  very  encouraging. 

SauTii  America. 
Here  the  Southern  Presbyterians  established  a  new  station  at  Ceara  in 
1882,  another  at  Maranhao  in  1885,  in  connection  with  the  Brazilian  Mis- 
sion. At  the  f(U"mcr  place  they  now  have  four  out-stations,  six  missior.- 
aiies,  and  fifty  members.  At  the  latter,  which  promises  to  be  one  of  the 
best  openings  in  Brazil,  they  have  four  missionaries,  one  church,  and  forty 


492  Missiojsrs. 

members.  In  1887  the  same  Church  established  the  Interior  Brazilian 
Mission  at  Bagagem,  in  the  State  of  Minos  Geraes.  From  this  jilace,  as  a 
center,  they  are  going  out  and  preaching  in  many  towns  and  communities 
never  before  visited  by  a  missionary,  and  every-where  they  are  cordially 
received,  and  no  other  part  of  Brazil  is  more  white  to  the  harvest.  They 
are  already  publishing  a  semi-monthly  paper  which  is  doing  much  good. 

Asia. 

In  1881  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  opened  a  mission  in  western 
China,  with  head-quarters  at  Chung-King,  which  seems  about  entering  an 
era  of  prosperity.  A  gain  of  fifty  per  cent,  in  members  and  three  hun- 
dred per  cent,  in  probationers  was  made  last  year.  Four  missionaries,  two 
assistants,  and  two  native  preachers  are  at  work  in  the  field. 

Since  1885  the  Bible  Christian  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  England 
has  planted  stations  at  Yunnan  and  Chang-fung-Foo,  in  the  province  of 
Yunnan,  China,  and  the  work  is  said  to  be  making  excellent  progress. 

The  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union  opened  a  mission  at  Sucham, 
western  China,  in  1889,  and  at  Thebaw,  the  capital  of  the  Shan  States,  in 
18C0.  They  have  also  in  the  last  ten  years  established  stations  at  Mynin- 
gian,  Thayelmyo,  Sangiang,  Muktilu,  and  Yenethem — all  favorably  located 
for  future  and  rapid  development.  They  have  already  enrolled  several 
hundred  members. 

The  Friends'  Church  of  England  commenced  a  work  at  Hanchuug, 
China,  in  188G,  but  so  far  it  consists  mainly  of  a  medical  dispensary. 

In  India  the  Disciples,  the  Lutherans  of  Germany,  and  a  few  independ- 
ent workers  have  opened  up  missions  since  1881,  but  I  have  been  unable 
to  procvu'e  any  definite  information  in  reference  to  their  work. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  entered  Japan  in  1886  and  es- 
tablished a  mission  at  Kobe,  where  they  found  a  most  inviting  field  open 
around  the  great  inland  sea  of  Japan.  In  1889  they  occupied  5  stations 
and  12  out-stations,  and  had  14  missionaries  and  workers,  232  members, 
12  theological  students,  485  Sunday-school  scholars,  and  1  church- 
house. 

In  1887  the  American  Christian  Convention  opened  a  mission  witli  sta- 
tions at  Tokyo,  Ishmomoko,  and  Ichinosaki,  from  which  as  centers  they 
reach  about  twenty  other  points  with  irregular  preaching.  They  have 
organized  churches  at  each  of  these  stations. 

About  the  year  1881  the  German  Beformed  Church  began  work  in  Japan, 
and  have  done  good  work  in  the  regions  of  Tokyo,  at  Nihon  Bashi,  at 
Yanagata,  and  Sendai,  where  they  have  a  theological  seminary,  a  flourishing 
girls'  school,  and  have  recently  converted  a  large  Buddhist  temple  into  a 
Christian  church.    They  occupy  twelve  stations  and  seventeen  out-stations. 

The  Southern  Presbyterians  opened  a  mission  in  Japan  in  1885,  with 
stations  at  Kochi,  Xagoya,  Tokushima,  and  at  Okazaga.  At  Kochi  they 
have  a  membership  of  six  hundred  and  a  commodious  house  built  by  the 
congregation ;  and  from  here  they  visit  about  twenty  other  places  and 
preach  to  large  and  attentive  audiences.     At  Nagoya   there   are   about 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    C,    H.    KIRACOFE.  493 

seventy  members.     At  Tokiisliima,  where  the  Gospel  had   never  l)efore 
been  preached,  a  church  hits  been  organized  with  encouraging  prospects. 

Missions  were  opened  at  Mandelay,  the  present  capital  of  Burma,  by 
the  American  Baptist  Union  and  the  Wesleyan  Methodists  in  1886,  which 
promised  to  be  among  the  largest  and  most  flourishing  missions  in 
Burma. 

In  1885  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  Presbyterians  commenced 
work  in  Korea,  and  to-day  they  have  flourishing  missions  with  an  open 
field  before  them.  Tlie  Methodists  have  here  5  missionaries,  4  assistants, 
2  native  preachers,  2  churches,  45  members  and  j)robationers,  88  day- 
pupils,  and  43  Sunday-school  scholars. 

The  Presbyterians  have  an  orphanage  of  40  boys,  a  girls'  school,  and 
a  hospital  which  is  treating  11,000  cases  annually,  and  107  members. 

In  1885  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  established  what  is  known  as 
the  Malaysian  Mission  on  the  island  of  Sing-apore,  whence  they  are  push- 
ing out  and  propose  to  enter  the  islands  adjacent.  An  immense  field  is 
opening  before  them.  They  have  here  8  missionaries,  4  assistants,  4  native 
preachers,  1  church,  107  members  and  probationers,  430  day  pupils,  and 
43  Sunday-school  scholars. 

A  mission  now  under  control  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  has  been 
opened  at  Sheikh  Othman,  in  South  Arabia,  since  1885,  but  of  its  opera- 
tions I  have  no  information. 

The  Reformed  Presbyterians  of  Scotland  entered  Idlib,  fifty  miles  north 
of  Antioch,  Syria,  in  1884,  and  they  now  have  40  members,  3  missionaries, 
and  7  native  helpers. 

The  Reformed  Presbyterians  of  this  country  planted  a  mission  at  Mer- 
sini,  Asia  Minor,  in  1882,  where  they  have  in  all  11  workers,  G  schools, 
and  153  scholars. 

Africa. 

Within  the  last  decade  missions  have  been  planted  on  this  dark  conti- 
nent as  follows:  The  North  African  Mission,  by  independent  workers,  in 
1881  to  1883,  M'ith  stations  in  Morocco,  Algiers,  Tunis,  and  Tripoli  in 
Africa,  and  a  branch  mission  among  the  Bedouins  of  North  Arabia. 
The  Baptist  Vey  Mission  in  West  Central  Africa,  by  the  Baptist  Foreign 
Missionary  Convention  of  the  United  States,  in  1883 — six  missionaries, 
three  hundred  converts,  one  church,  and  a  school.  A  mission  in  East 
Central  Africa,  by  the  Amei-ican  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions,  in  1883,  of  which  I  have  no  information.  A  mission  on  the 
Congo,  by  the  Baptist  General  Association  of  the  Western  States  and 
Territories,  in  1885,  with  three  missionaries.  A  mission  at  Sesheke  and 
Sepula,  on  the  Upper  Zambezi,  by  the  Paris  Evangelical  Society,  in  1885 
— ten  stations  and  four  missionaries.  A  mission  at  Bailundu,  West  Cen- 
tral Africa,  by  the  Congregationalists  of  Canada  in  1886.  A  mission  in 
the  western  Soudan,  by  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Connection  of  America, 
with  five  workers  in  the  field. 

I'esides  these,  the  Primitive  Methodists  have  quite  recently  sent  four 
missionaries  to  the  Zambezi  in  Central  Africa,  who  are  at  present,  by  the 


494  MISSIONS. 

permission  of  one  of  the  native  kings,  to  commence  a  mission  not  far  from 
the  mission  now  carried  on  by  the  French  Protestant  Missionary  Society ; 
and  the  Wesleyan  Methodists  have  just  planted  a  mission  in  Mashonaland, 
in  South  Central  Africa. 

The  foregoing  exhibit  shows  that  within  the  last  ten  years  the  evangel- 
ical Churches  and  other  missionary  organizations  of  Christendom  have 
opened  up  about  fifty  new  missions  and  sent  out  about  five  hundred  work- 
ers into  new  fields.  Estimating  that  these  workers  have  reached  on  an 
average  ten  thousand  persons  with  the  Gospel,  and  that  an  equal  number 
have  been  reached  through  missions  before  established,  then  the  evangel- 
ical forces  of  Christendom,  with  their  enormous  wealth  and  millions  of 
men,  and  with  all  the  facilities  of  the  age,  have  in  the  ninth  decade  of  the 
nineteenth  century  reached  with  the  Gospel  less  than  ten  millions  out  of 
the  ten  hundred  millions  of  the  heathen  world.  At  this  rate,  how  lonjj,  I 
ask,  will  it  take  to  execute  the  great  commission,  "Go  ye  into  all  the 
world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  unto  every  creature  ?  "  Ten  centuries  will 
not  be  sufficient  for  the  work.  In  view  of  tliese  things,  can  it  be  that  the 
Church  of  our  day  is  doing  her  whole  duty?  I  answer  emphatically  and 
unhesitatingly,  "  No."  May  I,  dare  I,  say  it  ?  Yes,  in  the  fear  of  God  I 
must  say  it.  As  compared  with  apostolic  times  the  Church  in  our  day 
has  largely  lost  the  spirit  of  her  mission  and  is  living  in  luxury  and  ease 
at  home  while  the  heathen  world  is  perishing  abroad.  Should  she  come 
up  to  the  full  measure  of  her  duty  and  consecrate  her  wealth  to  God, 
every  acre  of  the  earth  could  be  sown  with  the  seeds  of  truth  before  the 
end  of  this  century,  and  by  the  time  of  the  next  Ecumenical  Conference 
there  would  be  no  more  new  fields  to  enter. 

Hence,  in  the  name  of  the  cross  and  sacrifice  of  Christ ;  in  the  name  of 
the  fundamental  laws  of  Christian  discipleship,  "Except  a  man  deny 
himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  daily,  and  follow  me,  he  cannot  be  my  disci- 
ple ;  "  in  the  name  of  the  ten  hundred  millions  of  human  beings  who  are 
destitute  of  the  Gospel;  and  in  the  name  of  the  few  thousand  missionaries 
who  are  denying  themselves  of  the  comforts  of  civilized  life  to  carry  it  to 
them,  I  call  upon  the  Christian  people  of  all  lands  to  go  upon  their  knees 
before  God  and  reconsecrate  themselves  to  the  work  of  giving  the  Gosjjel 
to  a  lost  world — the  work  for  which  our  Master  gave  his  life. 

In  the  absence  of  Mr.  Thomas  Lawrence,  of  the  Primitive 
Methodist  Chnrcli,  the  Rev,  Thomas  Mitchell,  of  the  same 
Church,  gave  the  second  invited  address  of  the  evening,  as  fol- 
lows : 

Mr.  President :  There  is  one  omission  in  the  list  of  new  fields  entered 
since  1881,  to  which  we  have  just  listened,  which  I  should  like  to  supply. 
This  is  the  opening  of  a  new  mission  among  the  Barotze  tribes  of  South 
Central  Africa  by  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church  of  Great  Britain.  This 
missionary  party  left  England  about  two  years  ago,  and  was  admitted  by 
competent  critics  to  be  one  of  the  best  equipped  and  most  compact  which 


ADDRKSS    OF    KEV.    THOMAS    MITCHELL.  495 

has  ever  left  our  shores.  Proceeding  to  Kiinberley  in  South  Africa,  the 
party  has  since  crossed  the  Zambezi;  and  our  hist  intelligence  is  to  the 
eliect  that  the  leader  is  negotiating  a  location  for  the  mission  with  the 
King  of  the  Barotze  with  every  prospect  of  success.  Over  fifteen  thou- 
Siiud  dollars  have  been  expended  on  the  outfit  and  passage;  and  thus  one 
more  has  been  added  to  the  already  numerous  centers  of  spiritual  light 
and  blessing  which  are  dissipating  the  gloom  and  wretchedness  of  the 
Dark  Continent. 

In  Mr.  Townsend's  paper  he  reminds  us  that  little  more  than  a  third  of 
the  denominations  represented  here  have  any  foreign  missions  at  all. 
Some  of  these  are,  no  doubt,  small,  and  have  found  local  operations  to 
absorb  all  their  resources.  We  should  do  well  to  devotedly  consider  his 
suggestion  for  some  of  these  smaller  sections  to  unite  in  the  support  of 
foreign  missionary  work ;  or  through  the  agency  of  some  existing  society 
render  help  to  it. 

The  foreign  missions  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church  are  of  compara- 
tively recent  date,  and  are  entirely  confined  to  Africa.  It  was  not  from 
lack  of  sympathy  that  so  tardy  a  commencement  was  made,  but  from  the 
pressing  needs  of  the  work  at  home  and  in  the  colonies.  A  late  distin- 
guished statesman  was  accustomed  to  affirm,  "  I  was  born  in  a  library;" 
and  he  attributed  his  literary  taste,  aptitude,  and  ultimate  distinction  to 
the  tendencies  and  associations  of  his  early  years.  The  Primitive  Meth- 
odist branch  of  our  great  family  is  the  child  of  a  spiritual  revival.  It  is 
not  the  issue  of  a  violent  denominational  upheaval,  but  the  offspring  of 
intense  and  aggressive  religious  activity,  now  eighty  years  ago.  Its  growth 
was  remarkably  rapid;  but  necessarily  its  energies  and  resources  were  ab- 
sorbed by  the  needs  and  the  success  of  the  work  near  home,  or  to  English- 
speaking  peoples.  Vigorous  and  successful  missions  were  established  in 
Canada,  Australia,  and  New  Zealand ;  and  in  1870  a  distinct  step  in  ad- 
vance was  made  by  the  opening  of  a  foreign  mission  in  Fernando  Po, 
West  Africa,  and  Aliwal,  North,  in  South  Africa.  These  missions  have 
been  eminently  successful.  They  have  combined  a  large  element  of  edu- 
cational, and  industrial  with  spiritual  work;  and  they  give  promise  of 
making  a  worthy  contribution  to  the  evangelization  of  that  long-neglected 
continent.  With  the  more  recent  mission  to  the  Barotze  tribes  we  are 
thus  seeking  to  touch  Africa  at  three  of  its  most  important  points;  and 
we  trust  that  as  years  go  by,  working  from  these  centers,  Ave  may  form  a 
net-work  of  evangeli.stic  agencies  which  shall  eventually  meet  in  the  central 
regions  of  that  vast  and  cruelly  oppressed  country. 

Sir,  we  liave  reached  in  this  discussion  the  table-land  of  our  proceed- 
ings. Missionary  work  is  the  highest  glory  of  Christianity,  the  ripest 
fruit  which  it  bears,  and  the  fullest  realization  of  its  spirit  of  service  for 
others.  We  have  discussed  many  important  tojncs  which  relate  to  our- 
selves, to  our  methods  and  machinery,  to  personal  equipment  for  spiritual 
work,  and  to  the  attitude  we  ought  to  assume  in  regard  to  our  new  envi- 
ronment  and  the  great  pressing  problems  of  the  hour.  We  have  discussed 
none  which  can  comjiare  in  interest,  worth,  or  urgency  with  the  claims  of 


496  MISSIONS. 

the  heathen  world  upon  us.  We  have  been  but  sharpening  our  wits, 
weapons,  and  sympathies  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  vast  work  which 
waits  to  be  done.  Methodism  has  ever  been  responsive  to  the  claims  of 
the  heathen  world.  Its  missions,  begun  early  under  the  sainted  Thomas 
Coke,  have  continued  to  extend  till  they  are  now  among  the  largest  and 
most  successful  in  existence.  We  have  never  begrudged  either  our  money 
or  our  sons  and  daughters  for  the  sacred  cause  of  the  Redeemer  in  the 
heathen  lands. 

But  are  not  these  calls  becoming  increasingly  urgent?  Discovery  is 
every-where  advancing;  commerce  is  extending  its  operations  on  all  hands; 
civilization  is  pressing  on  to  new  conquests;  and  Christian  missions  mnst 
not  fall  to  the  rear.  They  must  keep  pace  with,  if  they  do  not  precede, 
the  most  aggressive  commerce  and  civilization.  What  does  the  opening 
of  a  new  mission  to  the  heathen  mean?  It  means  planting  an  educational 
agency  in  the  midst  of  stolid  and  degrading  ignorance;  it  means  the 
presence,  purifying  and  ennobling,  of  a  Christian  home  in  the  midst,  it 
maybe,  of  demoralizing  polygamy  and  ruinous  licentiovisness;  it  means 
the  proclamation  of  the  message  of  salvatinn,  with  new  laws  of  life,  new 
conditions  of  existence,  and  new  hopes  for  the  despairing  and  the  lost;  it 
means  leading  degraded  tribes  along  the  upward  path  of  social  and  spir- 
itual progress ;  it  means  sowing  the  seeds  of  a  coming  national  life,  in  the 
harvest  of  which  there  may  lie  hidden  the  most  potent  forces  for  the  fur- 
ther evangelization  of  the  world.  Some  one  has  brought  the  Gospel  to 
us,  and  it  has  largely  helped  to  give  us  our  unique  position  among  the 
nations  of  the  earth ;  and  its  regenerating  power  may  yet  lift  some  hith- 
erto insignificant  race  to  a  position  of  pre-eminence  among  the  moral  and 
spiritual  forces  of  the  world. 

And  what  can  this  missionary  work  do  for  us  at  home  ?  It  must  bless 
the  giver  as  w^ell  as  the  receiver,  the  toiler  as  well  as  those  on  whose  be- 
half he  toils.  It  has  helped  to  advance  discovery  and  science.  It  has 
found  new  outlets  for  our  commerce,  which  yield  a  large  return  for  all 
our  expenditure;  so  that  on  purely  financial  grounds  this  work  claims  a 
large  measure  of  public  support.  It  has  familiarized  our  minds  w;ith  some 
of  the  noblest  conceptions  and  examples  of  devoted  and  unselfish  service 
for  others  the  world  has  ever  seen.  It  has  furnished  us  with  not  a  few  of 
the  most  splendid  types  of  Christian  character — men  of  purest  morality, 
intense  spirituality,  and  unsurpassed  heroism.  It  has  offered  the  Church 
an  outlet  for  her  benevolence,  a  sphere  of  work  worthy  of  her  vast  re- 
sources and  which  demands  her  ceaseless  effort.  It  has  linked  her  in  in- 
dissoluble lionds  to  the  greatest  of  human  enterprises — the  spiritual 
emancipation,  the  complete  sanctification  of  the  race.  Such  a  work  will 
demand  her  prayers  and  sympathies,  her  gifts,  and  her  sons  and  daugh- 
ters, and  the  divine  law,  "  Freely  ye  have  received,  freely  give,"  must  in- 
spire her  to  yet  nobler  consecration  to  this  work  of  supreme  worth  and 
honor. 

The  Rev.   A.    B.   L]-:onakd,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 


ESSAY    OF    RKV.    A.    B.    LEONAKD.  497 

pal  Cliurcli,  read  the  following  appointed  essay,  on  "Missions 
in  Christian  Lands:  " 

A  Vast  Work. 

^Ir.  President:  That  there  is  ii  large  amount  of  missionary  work  yet 
to  be  done  in  Christian  lauds  is  a  proposition  that  needs  no  formal  array 
of  arguments  for  its  support.  We  have  but  to  open  our  eyes  and  look 
about  us  to  be  convinced  that  the  field  is  vast  and  its  needs  imperative. 
For  the  sake  of  getting  this  subject  before  your  minds  as  clearly  as  pos- 
sible in  the  brief  time  allowed  for  its  discussion,  permit  me  to  direct  your 
attention,  first,  to  the  countries  whose  evangelical  Christianity  is  strongest 
and  where  Methodism  exercises  its  most  potent  influence;  and,  second, 
to  those  countries  where  Christianity  is  more  formal  than  spiritual, 
and  to  the  work  to  be  done  in  both.  We  may  congratulate  ourselves  and 
thank  God  that  evangelical  Christianity  and  Methodism  are  quite  co- 
extensive, and  rightfully  claim  that  the  latter  has  had  much  to  do  in  pro- 
ducing the  former.  We  will  not,  however,  arrogate  to  ourselves  all  the 
honor  of  the  past  achievements  of  spiritual  Christianity,  but  gladly  accord 
to  other  evangelical  Churches  the  meed  of  praise  that  is  their  due.  We 
desire  only  to  be  recognized  as  one  great  division  of  the  army  of  the  King 
of  kings  now  marching  on  to  universal  conquest. 

In  speaking  of  Methodist  missionary  effort  in  Christian  lands  I  am  but 
representing  the  cause  of  evangelical  Christianity.  In  those  countries 
where  Methodism  is  strongest,  namely,  Great  Britian,  Australia,  the  Unit- 
ed States,  and  Canada,  there  is  urgent  need  of  aggressive  missionary 
effort.  Methodism,  for  the  sake  of  evangelical  Christianity,  needs  to 
strengthen  itself  in  these  principal  seats  of  its  power.  These  countries 
constitute  the  base  of  supplies  for  the  armj'  of  invasion  and  conquest  now 
entering  heathen  lands,  and  must,  therefore,  be  held  with  a  strong  hand. 
If  General  Booth  tells  the  truth  about  "  Darkest  England,"  there  is  still  a 
vast  field  to  be  cultivated  by  evangelical  Christianity  in  the  British  Isles. 
Great  Britain  has  no  frontier  to  settle,  nor  is  there  a  great  stream  of  im- 
migrants pouring  into  her  borders.  There  are,  however,  vast  numbers  in 
her  great  cities  and  along  the  higher  as  well  as  the  lower  levels  of  society 
that  need  the  transforming  power  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  of  which  our 
friends  from  that  country  can  give  this  Conference  full  information.  The 
delegates  from  Australia  can  give  information  concerning  the  missionary 
needs  of  the  great  country  -they  represent,  and  the  extent  to  which  tho«e 
needs  are  being  met.  No  doubt  there  is  ample  room  for  Methodism  to 
lengthen  its  cords  and  enlarge  its  tents  in  these  countries. 

Influx  of  Foreigners. 
Concerning  the  United  States  and  the  Dominion  of  Canada  I  can  speak 
more  definitely.  The  vast  influx  of  immigrants  that  land  upon  these 
shores  make  these  countries  in  particular  missionary  fields.  I  will  not 
burden  this  paper  with  statistics  of  immigration.  It  is  enough  to  say  that 
the  stream  flows  with  increasing  volume  from  year  to  year.  So  rapidly 
do  they  come  that  our  capacity  for  digestion  and  assimilation  is  greatly 


498 


MISSIONS. 


overstrained,  and  there  is  decided  danger  of  congestion.  It  is  not  proba- 
ble that  the  current  will  decrease,  but  there  is  every  reason  to  believe 
that  it  will  rapidly  increase  in  the  near  future.  There  is  no  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  the  United  States  Congress  or  the  Dominion  Parliament  will  enact 
stringent  immigration  laws.  No  political  party  will  propose  such  a  policy. 
The  foreign  vote  is  already  sufficiently  large  to  make  such  a  policy,  if 
adopted  by  any  party,  the  sure  precursor  of  defeat.  Recently,  in  a  great 
political  convention  in  the  United  States,  it  was  proposed  to  adopt  a  res- 
olution demanding  restricted  immigration.  As  soon  as  it  was  presented, 
a  gentleman  from  a  North-western  State,  speaking  broken  English,  took 
the  floor  and  declared  that  if  the  resolution  was  adopted  it  would  cause 
the  foreigners  he  represented  to  go  over  to  the  opposing  party.  Imme- 
diately upon  this  statement  the  resolution  was  modified  so  as  to  make  it 
almost  meaningless. 

Then  the  outcry  against  the  foreigner  is  rather  unseemly,  for  we  are  all 
foreigners  on  these  Western  shores,  either  ue;irly  or  remotely.  Many  of 
us  who  call  ourselves  natives  need  only  to  go  back  a  few  generations  to 
find  ourselves  in  the  mines  of  England,  the  forests  of  Germany,  or  the 
peat  bogs  of  Ireland.  Evangelical  Christianity  cannot  afford  to  depend 
upon  restricted  immigration,  acts  of  Congress  and  Parliament,  or  the  pol- 
icies of  political  parties,  but  must  adjust  itself  to  existing  conditions, 
and  prosecute  with  vigor  the  work  of  evangelization.  These  foreigners 
that  throng  our  shores  are  largely  domiciled  in  our  great  cities  and 
larger  towns,  and  are  so  numerous  as  to  often  exert  a  controlling  influence 
in  public  afl^airs.  There  are  said  to  be  more  Germans  in  the  city  of  New 
York  than  in  any  other  city  in  the  world  except  Berlin,  more  Irishmen 
than  there  are  in  Dublin,  and  from  present  imlications  there  will  soon  be 
more  Italians  than  there  are  in  Rome.  Huddled  together  in  given  locali- 
ties, they  are  scarcely  touched  by  evangelical  influences.  In  many  in- 
stances Protestant  Churches  are  abandoning  the  foreignized  city  centers 
and  seeking  more  congenial  surroundings  in  suburban  localities.  The  time 
has  come  when  evangelical  Christianity  must  take  up  its  line  of  march  for 
the  down-town  regions.  Let  the  word  go  along  the  lines,  "No  more  St. 
Paul's  shall  be  sold  out  either  in  New  York  or  any  other  great  city,"  but 
that  plain,  substantial,  commodious  houses  of  worship  shall  be  erected  in 
the  densely  populated  districts  for  the  accommodation  of  the  unchurched 
multitudes. 

Methodism  and  the  Masses. 

Methodism  must  keep  in  touch  Avith  the  masses.  The  gulf  between  the 
Church  and  the  masses  must  not  <mly  be  bridged,  it  must  be  filled  up,  and 
Methodism  must  help  fill  it.  We  have  long  enough  had  an  up-town 
movement;  let  the  order  be  now  reversed,  and  let  a  down-town  move- 
ment be  inaugurated.  If  these  churches  cannot  be  made  self-supporting, 
or  be  sustained  by  local  missionary  organizations,  then  the  general  mis- 
sionary societies  must  come  to  their  assistance.  In  some  way  these  cen- 
ters of  population  must  be  efl^cctively  reached,  and  no  time  should  be 
wasted  in  doing  it.     Our  city  missionary  Avork  must  be  on  a  scale  com- 


ESSAY    OF    IIKV.    A.    1).    LEONAKD.  499 

mensurate  with  the  task  to  be  accoiiii)lished.     Tlie  mission  chapel,  with 

a  Sunday-school  where  a  few  neglected  children  are  gathered  togethcT, 

must  be  replaced  by  a  building  with  ample  facilities  for  the  different 

kinds  of  work  to  be  done.    Tlie  movement  must  have  reference  to  the  life 

that  now  is,  as  well  as  to  the  life  that  is  to  come.     Spiritual  instruction 

will  not  stop  the  gnawing  of  hunger,  cover  a  naked  body,  or  shelter  the 

homeless.     Jesus  said,  "I  was  a  hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  meat:  I  was 

thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  ch-iuk:    I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  in: 

naked,  and  ye  clothed  me:    I  was  sick,  and    ye  visited  me:    I  was  in 

prison,  and  ye  came  unto  me."     We  must  take  up  the  work  on  the  line 

indicated  by  the    Master  if  we  would  achieve  large  success.     General 

Booth  has  blazed  the  way  out  of  "  Darkest  England,"  and  in  so  doing  he 

has  opened  a  pathway  for  successful  reformatory  effort  among  the  lowest 

classes  in  all  countries,  and  Methodist  people  must  not  hesitate  to  follow 

his  lead.     General  Booth  is  a  child  of   Methodism,  and  the  mother  must 

not  disown  the  son  because  he  has  pointed  out  a  new  route,  or  rather 

opened  uj)  an  old  one  too  long  lost  sight  of,  out  of  the  tropical  forest  of 

poverty,  vice,  and  crime  to  the  promised  land. 

Then,  there  are  great  territories  on  the  Western  frontier  sweeping  down 

through  the  Dominion  of  Canada  and  the  United  States  to  the  Gulf  of 

Mexico,  embracing  mining  camps  and  logging  camps,  prairies  and  plains, 

where  new  communities  are  being  founded  and  new  industries  established. 

In  these  vast  regions  there  are  representatives  of  many  nations,  white  and 

red  and  black  and  olive,  living  in  teepee,  cabin,  shanty,  and  mansion, 

speaking  almost  all  languages,  to  whom  the  Gospel  of  Christ  must  be 

proclaimed. 

Enemies  to  be  Overcome. 

In  all  these  lauds  there  are  common  foes  that  must  be  met  and  over- 
come: 

1.  Infidelity,  materialism,  agnosticism,  rationalism,  atheism,  spiritual- 
ism, and  kindred  enemies  are  busy  deceiving,  undermining,  or  boldly  op- 
jiosing  the  cause  of  evangelical  Christianity.  The  emissaries  of  these 
false  isms  sometimes  claim  the  Christian  name,  though  they  deny  almost 
every  essential  doctrine  taught  by  Christ  and  his  apostles.  They  are  some- 
times allowed  to  disseminate  their  poisonous  teaching  through  the  evan- 
gelical press,  from  evangelical  pulpits,  and  even  in  evangelical  schools  of 
learning.  Through  these  instrumentalities  they  poison  the  minds  of  the 
])eople  against  evangelical  truth,  destroy  their  convictions  of  the  sinful- 
ness of  sin  and  their  need  of  salvation,  and  encourage  unbelief,  indiffer- 
ence, and  migodliuess. 

3.  In  all  these  lands  we  are  confronted  by  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
the  ruling  hierarchy  of  which  are  the  avowed  enemies  of  all  forms  of 
Protestant  Christianity.  In  this  Church  there  arc  many  devoted  Chris- 
tians who  would  readily  identify  themselves  with  every  interest  of  the 
countries  where  they  locate  if  they  were  not  dominated  by  a  crafty,  me- 
diaeval, tyrannical  hierarchy.  Let  it  be  remembered  that  the  Roman 
Catholic  hierarchy  is  opposed  to  freedom  of  thought,  freedom  of  wor- 


500  MISSIONS. 

ship,  free  government,  a  free  press,  and  free  schools.  They  -would  stop 
men  from  thinking  independently  on  both  secular  and  religious  ques- 
tions, close  every  place  of  Protestant  worship,  destroy  free  government, 
place  a  priestly  censorship  over  the  jJress,  and  a  priestly  supervision  over 
public  schools.  Let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  the  Roman  Jesuit  is  now 
just  what  he  has  been  for  centuries,  the  sworn  enemy  of  freedom.  Evan 
gelical  Christianity  should  devise  some  plan  by  which  Roman  Catholic 
populations  in  Protestant  countries  can  be  reached,  and  if  not  severed 
from  present  ecclesiastical  associations,  at  least  so  modified  in  their  views 
of  civil  and  religious  duties  as  not  to  be  a  menace  to  free  institutions.  It 
is  possible  and  practicable  to  so  modify  Romanism  in  Protestant  lands  as 
to  largely  eliminate  its  dangerous  elements  in  spite  of  its  ruling  hierarchy, 
and  measurably  that  result  is  already  achieved.  Romanism  in  England 
and  in  the  United  States  is  a  very  different  institution  from  what  it  is  in 
Italy,  Spain,  Mexico,  and  South  America.  The  second  and  third  genera- 
tions of  Romanists  in  Protestant  countries  are  far  more  intelligent,  liberal, 
and  public-sijirited  than  their  progenitors  were  a  half  century  ago,  while 
tens  of  thousands  have  been  gathered  into  the  evangelical  fold.  The  suc- 
cess already  achieved  may  well  encourage  more  systematic  and  energetic 
efforts  in  this  direction. 

3.  In  these  strongholds  of  evangelical  Christianity  a  tide  of  secularism 
prevails  that  should  arouse  our  fears,  if  not  fill  us  with  alarm.  The  pres- 
ent era  is  one  of  mammon's  powder.  Money-getting  and  luxurious  living 
are  drowning  many  souls  in  destruction  and  perdition.  Our  church  life  is, 
in  many  localities,  quite  as  luxurious  as  is  that  of  the  world's  people,  and 
so  enfeebles  our  movements  as  to  render  them  quite  powerless.  Secular 
affairs  are  pressing  in  upon  holy  time,  and  the  Sabbath  is  becoming  a  day 
of  pleasure-seeking,  and  too  often  money-making.  The  Sunday  news- 
paper— that  modern  invention  of  the  devil — floods  society  almost  everj-- 
where  on  these  Western  shores.  Its  pernicious  influence  is  not  confined 
to  the  city,  or  even  to  the- densely  jiopulated  centers,  but  through  the  use 
of  Sunday  railroad  trains  it  is  carried  into  remote  rural  neighborhoods, 
every-where  exerting  not  only  a  secular,  but  a  positively  demoralizing  in- 
fluence upon  society.  The  greed  of  gain  has  developed  gambling  on  a 
large  and  alarming  scale.  This  vice  has  its  patrons  in  royal  and  aristo- 
cratic circles,  among  law-makers,  and  among  the  common  j^eojile.  It  has 
entered  business  channels,  and  it  has  come  to  pass  that  legitimate  articles 
of  commerce  have  been  substituted  for  other  gambling  devices,  and  a 
game  at  stocks  takes  the  place  of  a  game  at  baccarat,  and  the  player  is 
not  tabooed  because  he  cheats  in  the  game.  Men  gamble  six  days  in  the 
week  on  exchange,  and  then  celebrate  the  holy  communion  on  the  Lord's 
day  in  the  sanctuary. 

4.  One  more  enemy  to  the  progress  of  evangelical  Christianity  remains 
to  be  mentioned — the  legalized  traffic  in  alcohol  for  beverage  purposes. 
It  is  a  sad  reflection  that  almost  every-where  throughout  Christendom 
civil  government  is  in  league  with  the  traffic  in  strong  drink  for  the  sake 
of  the  revenue  it  produces.     Not  all  the  enemies  to  the  progress  of  the 


ESSAY    OF    KEV.    A.    U.    LKONAKD. 


501 


Christian  rolij::ion  I  have  named  ronil)ino(l  are  to  be  romjiared  in  their 
evil  elTects  to  the  one  now  under  consideration.  It  attacks  the  indi- 
vidual, poisons  his  blood,  dethrones  his  reason,  and  debauciies  his  soul. 
It  attacks  the  home,  robs  it  of  its  happiness  and  temporal  comfort,  and 
throws  its  inmates  upon  society  for  support.  It  attacks  society,  and  pro- 
duces poverty,  vit-e,  and  crime ;  it  damages  all  legitimate  forms  of  indus- 
try and  turns  millions  of  money  away  from  honest  lines  of  business.  It 
increases  taxation  far  beyond  the  revenue  it  produces  and  takes  the  heavy 
balance  out  of  the  pockets  of  the  taxpayer.  It  assails  the  Christian  Sab- 
bath and  threatens  to  banish  it  from  the  earth.  It  turns  the  masses  away 
from  the  house  of  God  and  opens  wide  the  gateway  to  hell.  It  is  a  thief, 
robbing  the  people  of  their  money ;  a  murderer,  taking  the  lives  of  mill- 
ions in  cold  blood,  and  in  the  most  cruel  manner.  Mr.  Wesley  said  of 
liquor-dealers  more  than  a  century  ago:  "Those  who  sell  this  poison 
murder  his  majesty's  subjects  by  the  wholesale.  Neither  does  their  eye 
pity  nor  spare.  They  drive  them  to  hell  like  sheep.  And  what  is  their- 
gain?  Is  it  not  the  blood  of  these  men?  Who,  then,  would  envy  their 
large  estates  and  sumptuous  palaces?  A  curse  is  in  the  midst  of  them; 
the  curse  of  God  cleaves  to  the  stones,  the  timber,  the  furniture  of  them ! 
The  curse  of  God  is  in  their  gardens,  their  walls,  their  groves;  a  fire  that 
burns  to  the  nethermost  hell !  Blood,  blood  is  there ;  the  foundation,  the 
floor,  the  walls,  the  roof  are  stained  with  blood!  And  canst  thou  hope, 
O  man  of  blood,  though  thou  art  'clothed  in  scarlet  and  fine  linen,  and 
farest  sumptuously  every  day'  —  canst  thou  hope  to  deliver  down  thy 
fields  of  blood  to  the  third  generation?  Not  so;  for  there  is  a  God  in 
heaven:  therefore  thy  name  shall  be  rooted  out.  Like  as  those  -whom 
thou  hast  destroyed,  body  and  soul,  thy  memorial  shall  perish  wath 
thee." 

The  bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  their  quadrennial 
address  to  the  General  Conference  of  1888,  fitly  descril)ed  this  monster 
when  they  said:  "The  liquor  traffic  is  so  pernicious  in  all  its  bearings,  so 
inimical  to  the  interests  of  honest  trade,  so  repugnant  to  the  moral 
sense,  so  dangerous  to  the  peace  and  order  of  society,  so  hurtful  to  the 
home,  the  Church,  and  the  body  politic,  and  so  utterly  antagonistic  to  all 
that  is  precious  in  life,  that  the  only  proper  attitude  toward  it  for  all 
Christians  is  that  of  relentless  hostility.  It  can  never  be  legalized  with- 
out sin."  The  same  General  Conference  forcibly  declared  the  attitude  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  on  this  question  when  it  said  :  "We  are 
unalterably  opposed  to  the  enactment  of  laws  that  propose  by  license, 
taxing,  or  otherwise  to  regulate  the  drink  tratfic,  because  they  provide 
for  its  continuance  and  afford  no  protection  against  its  ravages.  We  hold 
that  the  proper  attitude  of  Christians  toward  this  traffic  is  one  of  uncom- 
promising opposition."  All  Methodist  bodies  on  this  side  of  the  water 
occupy  substantially  the  same  position  as  that  of  the  Methodist  Ejnscopal 
Church  on  this  question. 

At  a  great  summer  school  here  in  the  United  States  a  church  dignitary 
of  high  standing  is  reported  to  have  spoken  of  a  certain  class  of  people  as 


502 


MISSIONS. 


"a  lot  of  foreign  rascals  in  our  midst  who  hate  every  thing  •American." 
No  doubt  there  are  foreign  rascals  in  our  midst,  but  there  are  not  a  few 
native  rascals  as  well,  and  both  the  foreign  and  the  native  rascal  is  large- 
ly the  product  of  the  legalized  saloon.  The  saloon  breeds  and  educates 
rascals  just  as  swamps  breed  and  produce  malarial  fevers.  To  get  rid  of 
the  fevers,  drain  the  swamps ;  and  to  get  rid  of  rascals,  foreign  and  na- 
tive, destroy  the  saloons.  A  vast  majority  of  the  rascals  of  Christendom 
would  be  honest,  industrious,  God-fearing  Christians  but  for  the  liquor- 
saloons  now  legalized  by  Christian  governments.  Methodists  all  around 
the  world  sliould  stand  on  the  front  line  of  battle  against  the  lesralized 
liquor  traffic. 

The  Regions  Beyond. 

But  evangelical  Christianity  as  represented  by  Methodism  must  not  be 
content  with  merely  increasing  its  activities  and  conquests  in  the  present 
seats  of  its  power.  It  must  enter  the  regions  beyond  and  plant  its  banner 
wherever  unsaved  men  are  found.  There  are  countries  on  both  sides  the 
Atlantic  now  but  slightly  occupied  by  Methodism,  or  entirely  destitute 
of  its  ministrations,  that  need  its  presence  and  influence.  Their  needs  are 
much  the  same  and  as  pressing  as  were  England's  in  1739,  when  John 
"Wesley  organized  the  first  Methodist  society.  What  England  needed 
then  was  spiritual  life,  and  not  a  new  edition  of  ecclesiastical  machinery. 
Methodism  is  a  spiritual  force,  if  it  is  any  thing,  and  is  always  a  failure 
when  it  substitutes  forms  and  ceremonies  for  spirituality.  There  is  no 
greater  travesty  on  Christianity  than  a  Methodist  church  when  it  attempts 
what  is  known  as  the  festhetical  in  religion.  Such  an  effort  is  almost  sure 
to  be  a  humiliating  failure.  We  are  not  a  success  when  we  attempt  to 
put  on  style.  We  were  not  brought  up  that  w^ay,  and  we  do  not  take  to 
it  successfully  even  when  we  have  backslidden. 

Here  in  the  United  States  we  have  been  trying  for  several  years  to  get 
our  people  to  take  part  in  the  consecration  service  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
but  w^e  have  scarcely  reached  the  point  where  we  can  repeat  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  as  the  ritual  prescribes,  and  our  efforts  at  chanting  a  service  is 
enough  to  make  angels  smile.  We  are  not  needed  in  nominally  Christian 
countries,  except  as  w^e  take  with  us  spirituality.  In  many  parts  of  Eu- 
rope and  on  the  western  hemisphere  there  are  regions  that  greatly  need 
spiritual  vitalization.  Some  of  these  we  have  already  entered,  and  our 
presence  has  started  new  pulsations  of  spiritual  life.  The  proscriptions 
and  persecutions  of  Romanism  should  not  deter  us,  nor  should  the  re- 
monstrances of  other  State  Churches  retard  our  movements.  Mr.  Wesley 
said,  "The  world  is  my  parish,"  and  his  sons  must  not  discount  the 
motto.  What  England  needed  in  1739  was  a  new  spiritual  impulse.  In 
his  History  of  Methodism  Dr.  Stevens  says  of  tli'e  Reformation :  "All  west- 
ern Europe  felt  its  first  motions;  but  hardly  forty  years  had  passed  when 
it  reached  its  furthest  conquests,  and  began  its  retreats.  During  most  of 
the  eighteenth  century  it  could  have  propagated  its  doctrines,  but  it  had 
not  enough  energy  to  do  so.  Dealing  ostensibly  with  the  historical  pre- 
tensions  of  the  Church,   it  introduced  at  last  the  Historical  Criticism, 


ES-AV    OV    KEV.    A.    B.    LEONARD.  503 

which,  notwithstanding:?  its  iMcstiinaljlc  advantages  to  biljlical  exegesis, 
degenerated,  under  the  English  deistical  writing  tliat  entered  Germany 
abont  the  epoch  of  Methodism,  into  rationalism,  and  subverted  both  the 
spiritual  life  and  the  doctrinal  orthodoxy  of  the  continental  Protestant 
Churches,  and  to  a  great  extent  substituted  infidelity  for  the  displaced 
poperv.  Besides  this  tendency,  the  Lutheran  Keformation  retained  many 
papal  errors'  in  its  doctrines  of  the  sacraments  and  of  the  priestly  offices, 
and  erred,  above  all,  in  leaving  the  Church  subject  to  the  State.  It  did  not 
sufficiently  restore  the  spirituality  and  sim])licity  of  tlie  apostolic  Church, 
and  our  own  age  witnesses  the  spectacle  of  a  high-church  reaction  in 
Germany,  in  which  some  of  her  most  distinguished  Christian  scholars  at- 
tempt to  correct  the  excesses  of  rationalism  by  an  appeal,  not  so  much  to 
the  apostolic  Church  as  to  the  ante-Nicene  traditions.  A  Puseyism  as 
thorough  as  that  which  flourishes  under  the  papal  attril)utes  of  the  An- 
glican establishment  prevails  in  the  strongholds  of  the  German  Reforma- 
tion." 

England's  need  then  was  the  same  that  exists  in  many  nominally  Chris- 
tian countries  to-day.  Tliey  need  an  experimental  illustration  of  the 
words  of  Jesus,  "  The  words  that  I  speak  unto  you,  they  are  spirit,  and 
they  are  life."  They  need  a  new  interpretation  of  the  Master's  teaching 
at  the  well  of  Sychar,  "Believe  me,  the  hour  comcth,  when  ye  shall 
neither  in  this  mountain,  nor  yet  at  Jerusalem,  worship  the  Father.  The 
hour  comcth,  and  now  is,  wlaen  the  true  worshipers  shall  worship  the 
Father  inspirit  and  in  truth:  for  the  Father  seeketh  such  to  worship 
him.  God  is  a  Spirit:  and  they  that  worship  him  must  worship  him  in 
spirit  and  in  truth.''  Aggressive  evangelistic  movements  in  nominally 
Christian  lands  will  meet  in  some  instances  with  determined  opposition 
from  civil  governments  and  State  Churches,  and  possibly  with  fierce  per- 
secution ;  but  opposition  and  persecution  .should  not  discourage  or  deter 
us.  The  fact  that  religious  liberty  is  not  freely  and  universally  accorded 
in  all  lands  claiming  the  Christian  name  is  one  great  reason  why  Method- 
ism should  march  on.  Millennial  glory  will  not  be  ushered  in  until  Israel 
shall  dwell  "safely,  every  man  under  his  vine  and  under  his  fig-tree, 
from  Dan  even  to  Beer-sheba."  It  is  the  high  mission  of  Methodism  to 
aid  in  spreading  scriptural  holiness  in  all  lands  and  to  hasten  the  day  of 
universal  religious  liberty. 

Methodist  Federation. 

To  enter  these  nominally  Christian  lands  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic 
we  need  a  Methodist  federation.  Since  organic  union  cannot  for  the 
present  occur,  is  not  Methodist  federation  possible?  By  federation  I 
mean  such  an  organization  among  the  Methodist  denominations  of  the 
Old  World  and  the  New  as  will  best  conserve  the  interest  of  each  par- 
ticular body,  and  at  the  same  time  most  rapidly  advance  the  cause  of 
evangelical  Christianity.  To  this  end  let  there  be  held  a  Conference  of 
the  Methodisms  of  Europe  and  one  of  the  Methodisms  of  North  America, 
at  stated  periods  of  five  years,  made  up  of  delegates,  ministerial  and   lay 


504 


MISSIONS, 


iu  equal  numbers,  from  each  of  the  Methodist  bodies  iu  proportion  to 
membership;  these  Conferences  to  have  no  legislative  authority,  but  au- 
thorized to  counsel  and  advise  as  to  the  best  methods  to  be  pursued  for 
the  promotion  of  evangelical  Chiistianity.  Let  these  Conferences  assign 
to  the  different  Methodist  bodies  their  special  fields  of  operation,  so  that 
there  may  be  no  waste  of  energy  or  means  through  duplication  of  effort. 
In  some  countries  even  now  two  or  three  Methodisms  are  operating  in 
places  where  there  is  room  for  but  one,  presenting  the  appearance  of 
rivals  and  really  embarrassing  each  other  in  their  work.  This  ought  not 
so  to  be.  Such  federation  as  is  here  proposed  would  save  money,  con- 
serve the  labors  of  evangelists,  increase  efhciency,  and  prevent  unseemly 
contentions.  These  Conferences  could  be  of  great  value  in  securing  har- 
mony of  methods  and  devising  the  ])est  plans  for  the  largest  possible  re- 
sults. They  could  plan  for  the  publication  of  religious  newspapers  and 
books,  and  for  their  circulation  through  a  wide  system  of  colportage. 
They  could  give  valuable  counsel  in  the  founding  of  theological  and 
other  schools  for  higher  education.  They  could  unify  Methodism  on  great 
questions  of  reform,  and  hasten  the  day  when  the  opium  traffic  and  the 
rum  traffic  shall  be  abolished,  and  when  friendly  arbitration  shall  be  sub- 
stituted for  the  arbitrament  of  the  sword.  They  could  aid  in  solving  the 
social  and  labor  questions  now  demanding  attention  every-where.  In  a 
word,  by  such  a  federation  we  could  unify  the  forces  of  our  common 
Methodism  and  direct  them  with  the  greatest  possible  efficiency  in  favor 
of  all  that  is  good  and  against  all  that  is  bad.  I  believe  that  the  leaders 
of  Methodist  thought  have  wisdom  enough  and  grace  enough  to  bring 
into  existence  such  a  conservation  of  resources  as  is  here  indicated,  and 
thus  hasten  the  day  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord. 

Many  in  One. 
I  cannot  close  this  paper  with  words  more  a])propriate  than  those  used 
by  the  lamented  General   Clinton  B.  Fisk,  as  he  closed  his  speech  before 
the  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,   South,  at 
Richmond,  Va.,  May,  1886: 

"May  our  two  Methodisms  (our  many  Methodisms) — no,  our  one 
Methodism  in  two  communions  (many  communions)— march  on  waving 
the  banner  of  the  cross  over  all  lands,  and  so  adjusting  our  work  at  home 
and  abroad  as  to  prevent  all  waste  of  men  and  means,  and  moving  toward 
each  other  as  we  move  toward  God,  we  shall  command  his  blessing,  and 
the  world  will  say:  Surely  they  are  one  in  spirit,  one  in  purpose,  one  in 
fellowship. 

"  '  Lord  of  the  universe,  shield  us  and  guide  us; 

Trusting  thee  always  through  shadow  and  sun, 
Thou  hast  united  us — who  shall  divide  us? 

Keep  us,  O  keep  us,  the  many  in  one.'  " 

The  Rev.  William  Gibson,  B.A.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Metliod- 
ist  Church,  gave  tlie  followino;  invited  address  on  the  snbject 
of  "Missions  in  Christian  Lands:" 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    WILLIAM    GIBSON.  505 

Mr.  President:  Mentiouiug  the  knotty  subject  assigned  to  me  to  a  friend 
in  Al)erdeen,  in  August  last,  his  prompt  reply  was,  "The  first  thing  to  be 
done  is  to  explain  the  meaning  of  the  term  '  Christian  lauds.'  "  We  umst, 
therefore,  first  inquire.  Which  are  the  Christian  lauds?  Is  England  a 
Christian  land,  with  its  tens  of  thousands  in  its  principal  city  who  have 
never  heard  the  name  of  Jesus  ?  Is  France  a  Christian  land,  with  its 
teeming  population  in  Paris  who  are  deniers  of  God,  who  not  only  say, 
but  try  to  believe,  that  there  is  no  God — Paris,  in  which  great  and  gay 
city  there  are  more  persons  assembled  who  deny  the  existence  of  God 
than  were  ever  found  gathered  together  in  any  city  of  ancient  or  mod- 
ern times  ?  Is  Italy  a  Christian  laud,  in  which  superstition  has  held 
sway,  and  which  by  its  very  superstition  has  kept  its  people  in  ignorance 
so  deep  and  terrible  that  the  majority  of  its  population  can  neither  read 
nor  write?  Is  Germany  a  Christian  land — Germany,  which  shocks  the 
])assing  visitor  by  an  indifference  and  carelessness  concerning  God  and 
spiritual  things  which  can  scarcely  be  equaled  in  any  heathen  country? 
Is  Spain  a  Christian  land,  with  its  bull-rings  in  every  principal  town,  in 
which  scenes  occur  which,  for  cruel  barbarity,  can  scarcely  find  their  equal 
in  any  barbarous  nation — scenes  from  which  the  heathen  would  recoil 
with  instinctive  horror?  Can  Russia  be  said  to  be  a  Christian  land — 
Russia,  which  Imnishes  from  its  midst  all  real  earnest  workers  for  God? 
It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  the  term  "Christian  lands"  must  not  be 
understood  in  its  ordinary  signification.  What,  then,  is  a  Christian  land? 
iSurely  it  is  a  land  where  the  people  keep  the  laws  of  Christ.  Is  there  to 
be  found  such  a  land  ?  Not  on  the  surface  of  this  planet.  It  is  evident, 
therefore,  that  the  term  must  be  used  in  a  modified  meaning.  The  real 
meaning,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  ascertain  it,  is  missions  amonsr  the 
heathen  in  Christian  lands.  There  are  heathen — ah,  how  many ! — in  the 
center  of  the  greatest  capital  of  the  world,  London.  After  a  most  care- 
ful examination  of  the  official  returns,  and  after  deducting  the  full  num- 
ber of  those  detained  by  infirmity  and  other  causes,  it  is  an  ascertained 
fact  that  there  are  one  million  four  hundred  thousand  persons  in  London 
who  attend  no  place  of  worship.  And  are  not  they  heathen  who,  living 
in  a  Christian  land,  neither  obey  God's  laws  nor  attend  his  ordinances? 
There  are  heathen  in  multitudes  in  the  capital  of  France.  Out  of  a  po])- 
ulation  of  two  millions  and  a  half  in  Paris  there  are  tens  of  thousands 
who  do  not  acknowledge  the  existence  of  God. 

How  are  these  nations  to  be  Christianized  ?  By  the  simple  llessed  news 
of  the  Gospel.  How  is  this  Gospel  to  be  given  to  them?  Not  by  fonnal 
State  Churches  professing  Protestantism.  Protestantism  in  many  so-called 
Christian  lands  is,  for  the  most  part,  a  negation  of  the  great  truths  of  the 
Gospel.  No  wonder,  therefore,  that  Protestantism,  as  such,  has  made  in 
those  lands  little  or  no  progress  since  the  beginning  of  this  century.  Such 
evangelistic  efforts  as  are  now  being  \mt  forth  are  what  is  needed  to  raise 
the  so-called  Christian  nations.  England  and  America  have  realized  the 
elevating  influence  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Hence  their  present  position 
among  the  nations  of  the  world.  Historians — Lecky,  for  example — have 
35 


506  MISSIONS. 

been  willing  to  acknowledge  the  mighty  influence  of  Methodism  on  the 
destinies  of  England.  Without  a  doubt,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  re- 
straining power  of  the  Gospel  the  lower  classes  in  England  would  have 
risen  up  in  revolt.  The  presentation  of  the  truth  by  John  Wesley  was  in 
its  purely  evangelical  aspect,  and  hence  its  power.  'Twas  a  leaven  to 
leaven  the  whole  lump.  This  is  the  secret  of  the  effect  of  early  Methodist 
preaching.  Compare  the  present  condition  of  affairs  in  various  nations 
of  Europe,  and  you  discern  that  just  in  proportion  to  the  evangelistic 
efforts  put  forth  will  be  the  prosperity  of  the  nation.  'Tis  the  evangel, 
the  Gospel,  which  raises  and  blesses  the  people.  If  the  so-called  Chris- 
tian nations  do  not  receive  the  simple  Gospel  tidings  they  will  become 
worse  and  worse,  and  these  nations  will  be  plunged  into  rank  infidelity. 
The  outcome  of  infidel  principles  is  ever  the  same,  and  scenes  like  those 
of  the  first  Revolution  might  be  repeated.  Flood  them,  therefore,  with 
the  glad  tidings  of  the  Gospel  of  peace. 

Protestanism,  as  such,  does  not  supjily  the  need,  but  living,  earnest 
Christianity  (and,  according  to  Chalmers,  Methodism  is  Christianity  in 
earnest)  would  more  than  fill  the  void.  The  forms,  usages,  and  genius  of 
Methodism  are  exactly  adapted  to  the  work.  What  the  so-called  Chris- 
tian nations  want  is  a  spiritual  religion,  and  this  Methodism  brings.  It 
counts  on  spiritual  experience  and  lives  by  spiritual  experience.  The 
presentation  of  the  truth  in  the  lives  of  its  people  is  its  strongest  argu- 
ment. On  Methodists,  therefore,  would  rest  a  fearful  responsibility  if 
they  should  withdraw  from  their  missions  in  so-called  Christian  lands. 
We,  as  Methodists,  are  doing  earnest  evangelistic  work  in  France,  Ger- 
many, Italy,  Spain,  Switzerland,  Denmark,  Norway,  Sweden  and  Finland, 
and  Bulgaria.  But  we  need  to  push  forward  the  work  with  more  energy, 
relying  solely  for  success  on  the  Spirit  of  God. 

People  in  so-called  Christian  lands,  if  truly  converted,  are  worth  more 
for  influence  than  many  more  in  number  converted  in  heathen  lands. 
You  reply,  "But  a  soul  is  a  soul."  Yes ;  but  for  influence,  one  soul  may  be 
worth  thousands.  Was  the  soul  of  John  Wesley,  gained  for  Christ  and 
for  work  for  him,  worth  no  more  than  the  soul  of  the  rustic  who  plowed 
the  fields  at  Epworth?  Our  object  is  the  conversion  of  the  world  for 
Christ.  We  sjnnpathize  with  Christ  in  his  great  purpose  of  winning  the 
world  for  himself — the  purpose  which  he  had  definitely  and  distinctly 
before  him  when  he  said,  "And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men 
unto  me."  Therefore,  as  in  this  way  we  shall  do  most  for  the  conversion 
of  the  world,  we  should  seek  to  gain  conquests  for  the  Redeemer  in  so- 
called  Christian  lands. 

Another  reason  why  we  should  work  in  such  lands  is  that  the  men 
when  truly  converted  become  the  best  missionaries.  We  want  the  best 
missionaries  we  can  secure.  What  we  want  is  saved  men,  not  philosophers 
merely,  not  sermon-makers  merely,  but  men  who,  not  counting  their  lives 
dear  unto  them,  will  go  forth  and  preach  the  simple  Gospel  of  Christ; 
men  who  would  be  willing,  if  the  occasion  required  it,  to  go  to  the  stake 
and  courageously  breast  the  martyr  fires.     I  can  testify  that  Frenchmen 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    WILLIAM    GIBSON.  507 

Tvbea  truly  converted  come  out  from  the  world  und  arc  separate,  and  go 
into  work  for  Christ  with  that  entire  devotion  which  is  the  main  condi- 
tion of  success.  In  striking  contrast  with  the  formality  and  ritualism  by 
which  it  is  surrounded  does  this  real  Christian  life  stand  out! 

Then  the  literature  of  so-called  Christian  lands  is  read  the  wide  world 
around.    I  heard  a  testimony  borne  in  Philadelphia  last  year  that  the  books 
sold  and  read  in  Rio  de  Janeiro  (and  the  same  may  be  said  of  Buenos 
Ayres  and  other  great  centers)  are  French  books.    Let  us  purify  the  source 
whence  flow  the  streams  which  water  the  bro;£d  world.    Let  us  convert  the 
people  that  we  may  convert  the  literature  of  so-called  Christian  lands. 
A  short  time  ago,  when  a  proposal  was  made  to  place  a  heavy  duty  on 
paper  in  France,  it  was  successfully  opposed  on  the  ground  that  the  im- 
position of  such  a  duty  would  lessen  the  influence  of  France  in  the  world 
by  means  of  her  literature.      On  that  ground  alone  it  was  decided  not  to 
inflict  the  heavy  duty— a  tacit  acknowdedgment  of  the  power  of  French 
literature  throughout  the  nations.     We  claim  this  literature  for  Christ. 
Equally  is  this  true  in  reference  to  the  nations  of  Germany,  Italy,  and 
Spain.     Then  look  at  the  influence  of  France  over  all  civilized  nations. 
It  is  common  to  say  that  French  influence  has  declined.     French  political 
influence  has  undoubtedly  declined,  but  the  influence  of  the  French  mind 
is  as  potent  as  ever.     France  is  the  land  of  ideas,  and  French  ideas  make 
their  way  throughout  the  world.     France  has  not  always  herself  profited 
from  her  own  ideas,  but  other  nations  have  adopted  and  profited  by  them. 
The  arguments  which  influenced  the  minds  of  such  leaders  of  public  opin- 
ion in  England  as  Cobden  and  Bright,  and  finally  swept  away  the  English 
corn  laws,  originated  in  the  brain  of  a  Frenchman.     The  pamphlet  which, 
translated  into  English,  led  the  politicians  of  New  South  Wales  to  adopt 
a  free-trade  policy,  while  Victoria  adopted  a  protectionist  policy,  was  the 
production  of  a  Frenchman.     Let  us  lay  hold,  as  we  may,  by  evangelizing 
France,  of  this  wondrous  power  for  influencing  the  opinions  and  actions 
of  the  world,   and  claim  it  for  Christ  and  for  the  advancement  of  his 
kingdom. 

:Missions  in  Christian  lands  are  divided  between  missions  in  Roman 
Catholic  and  Protestant  countries.  Nothing  can  excuse  us  from  goin<T  to 
evangelize  Roman  Catholic  countries  like  France,  Italy,  Spain ;  and^the 
successes  which  we  have  already  gained  encourage  us  to  pursue  the  work. 
In  Italy  we— the  English  Methodists  and  the  Methodists  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  of  America— have  had  remarkable  successes.  The 
land  has  been  dotted  within  the  last  thirty  years  Avith  centers  of  light, 
and  we  look  forward  to  the  time  when  from  the  Alps  in  the  north  to 
Sicily  in  the  south,  and  from  Civita  Vecchia  in  the  west  to  Ancona  in 
the  east,  the  land  shall  be  flooded  with  Christian  light.  In  Spain  an  en- 
trance at  least  has  been  made  in  a  land  which  was  long  barred  against  the 
introduction  of  the  Gospel,  and  erelong  the  land  where  the  citron  and 
the  orange  bloom  shall  be  as  beautiful  in  its  moral  and  spiritual  as  in  its 
jihysifal  aspect,  and  the  desert  shall  rejoice  and  blossom  like  the  rose. 

But  what  of  Protestant  countries?  ought  we  to  work  in  them  ?  In  Ger- 


508  MISSIONS. 

many,  Denmark,  Norway,  Sweden,  and  in  the  Protestant  parts  of  Switzer- 
land ?  Yes ;  and  for  the  same  reason  that  Wesley  worked  in  England. 
Was  not  England  Protestant  when  the  Wesleys  and  Whitefield  began  their 
labors  ?  Are  not  the  conditions  much  the  same— a  formal  State  Church, 
holding  sometimes  orthodox,  sometimes  heterodox  doctrines  ?  Indeed,  if 
■we  understand  it  aright,  the  special  mission  of  Methodism  has  been  to 
vitalize  dead  Churches.  Of  the  two  her  chief  mission  is  not  so  much  to 
■work  in  heathen  lands  as  to  ■work  in  Christian  lands.  Missions  to  heathen 
lands  must  necessarily  follow  from  revivified  Churches.  The  hearts  of  tlie 
people  are  yearning  after  evangelical  religion.  Give  it  to  them  in  the  form 
of  Methodism.  It  -vidll  accomplish  the  same  results  as  in  the  early  history 
of  Methodism  in  England.  Aheady  in  the  successes  ■which  have  attended 
Methodist  -work  in  Germany  have  ■we  the  augury  of  future  successes.  But 
England  is  a  Christian  land.  Why  does  it  need  to  have  evangelistic  ef- 
fort ?  The  same  argument  confronted  Weslej'.  Supposing  he  had  been 
turned  aside  by  it,  -^vhere  would  have  been  the  great  home  mission  move- 
ment ■which  revolutionized  England  ? 

Why  should  home  mission  efforts  be  confined  to  England  ?  Why  should 
not  Germany  and  Norway  and  Sweden  and  Denmark  and  Switzerland 
share  in  the  benefit  ?  I  kno^w  that  there  are  some  ■who  are  anxious  to  give 
up  our  missions  on  the  continent  of  Eurojie  in  order  to  advance  further 
into  some  purely  heathen  countries — China  for  example.  Are  we  then  to 
rob  old  missions  on  which  God  has  set  his  seal  to  go  and  labor  among 
heathen  people  ?  What  is  the  end  at  -which  we  aim  ?  Is  it  not  the  con- 
version of  the  world  to  Christ  ?  We  do  not  argue  against  increased  efforts 
in  heathen  lands,  but  we  do  say,  "These  ought  ye  to  have  done,  and  not 
to  leave  the  rest  undone. "  John  Wesley,  at  the  beginning  of  his  evan- 
gelistic career,  had  his  heart  full  of  zeal  for  the  conversion  of  the  world. 
He  could  have  gone  out  to  a  heathen  land — China  or  India  or  Africa.  He 
chose  England,  a  Christian  land,  as  the  special  sphere  of  his  labors.  He 
was  all  wrong  !  He  ought  to  have  gone  to  some  heathen  land.  Such  is 
the  logical  deduction  from  the  teaching  that  we  hear  to-day.  Our  great 
home  mission  movement  in  England,  which  engages  the  energies  and  tal- 
ents and  time  of  some  of  our  best  men — it  is  all  wrong  !  The  secretary 
of  our  home  missions,  accompanied  by  the  chief  ministers  under  his  direc- 
tion, ought  to  take  ship  for  China.  Why  employ  all  this  energy  and 
money  for  the  conversion  of  a  Christian  land  ?  Far  better  to  be  away  to 
some  heathen  country  to  evangelize.  Let  us  at  least  be  logical  and  act 
according  to  our  convictions.  These  sentiments  are  not  shared  by  Ameri- 
can Methodists.  Sufficient  evidence  of  this  have  we  in  the  fact  that 
American  Methodists  have  one  fund  for  the  home  and  foreign  work.  Be- 
sides, individual  American  opinion  is  on  the  side  of  attacking  the  great 
centers  of  Christian  lands.  Said  an  intelligent,  thoughtful  minister  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  to  me  in  Paris  last  autumn:  "We  are  be- 
coming convinced  that  we  ought  to  withdraw  some  of  our  effort  and 
money  from  purely  heathen  lands  and  concentrate  them  on  the  great  cen- 
ters of  population  in  Christian  lands,  such  as  London,  Paris,  and  Berlin." 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    WILLIAM    GIBSON.  509 

"NVTieu  Romanists  increase  their  efforts  to  maintain  and  strengthen  their 
system,  where  do  they  spend  their  strength  ?  In  London.  Let  us  too  be 
logical,  and  let  us  spend  our  energies  where  they  are  the  most  likely  to 
bring  about  special  and  permanent  results;  that  is,  in  Christian  lands. 

On  that  remarkable  and  never-to-be  forgotten  day  during  this  Ecumen- 
ical Conference  when  our  subject  was  Christian  Unity  and  Co-operation, 
I  ventured  to  say  that  all  Methodist  Churches  ought  to  be  as  one  on  the 
subject  of  missions,  whether  to  the  heathen  or  in  Christian  lands.  "We 
ought  to  have  a  concert  of  Methodist  organizations — a  Pan-Methodistic 
council — as  to  fields  of  work,  and  not  go  as  sections  of  the  Methodist 
Church  to  the  same  spheres ;  and  if  an  important  field  is  thus  left  to  one 
section  of  the  Church,  we  ought  to  be  willing,  all  of  us,  to  help,  with  the 
needful  finances,  that  portion  of  the  field.  We  claim,  and  especially  from 
American  Methodists,  who  have  a  special  interest  in  France,  this  help. 
It  is  not,  we  hope,  too  much  to  ask,  that  the  Methodist  Mission  Board 
shall  restore  to  the  French  Methodist  Church  the  yearly  grant  of  £1,000 
which  the  Board  gave  for  several  years  to  France,  and  add  one  dollar  a 
year  from  every  Methodist  Church  in  America  for  aggressive  and  evan- 
gelistic work  in  France.  One  sentence  uttered  at  the  First  Ecumenical 
Conference  by  the  late  Hon.  Washington  C.  de  Pauw  has  been  ringing  ia 
my  ears  ever  since:  "Your  pocket-books  need  to  be  converted."  Yes, 
the  great  sin  of  Christendom  is  coretousness.  It  is  written  "  covetousness, 
which  is  idolatry."  We  spend  too  much,  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic, 
on  our  own  pleasures,  our  own  amusements,  our  own  houses,  our  own 
comforts,  and  too  little  for  the  advancement  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 
We  spend,  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  too  much  in  the  erection  and 
embellishment  of  our  own  churches,  too  much  in  paying  for  exquisite 
music  and  artistic  singing,  and  too  little  in  the  evangelization  of  the 
world.  God  will  bring  us  to  account  for  it  some  day,  if  we  turn  not. 
Let  us  humbly  seek  pardon  for  the  past  and  determine  to  do  better  for 
the  future.  Every  Christian  ought  to  give  at  least  one  tenth  of  his  in- 
come— as  a  rule  he  ought  to  give  more ;  this  is  only  the  Jewish  rule — for 
the  advancement  of  Christ's  kingdom.  When  Mohammed  was  pursuing 
his  course  of  conquest  and  breaking  down  all  idols,  the  idolaters  in  a  cer- 
tain place  asked  that  one  particular  idol  might  be  spared.  No,  said  the 
relentless  conqueror,  and  the  heavy  battle-ax  was  brought  down  on  the 
head  of  the  idol,  whereupon  an  immense  treasure  of  gold  and  silver  which 
had  been  concealed  poured  forth.  O  that  the  heavy  Ijattle-ax  of  divine 
truth  were  brought  down  on  the  head  of  the  idol  covetousness,  that  thence 
may  be  poured  forth  the  hidden  treasures  which  may  be  used  for  the  con- 
version of  the  world  to  Christ. 

As  illustrations  of  some  of  the  positions  advanced  we  turn  to  our 
methods  of  work  in  France.  I  leave  the  work  of  the  French  Conference 
to  be  spoken  about  by  the  Revs.  Dr.  Lelifevre  and  James  Wood,  and  speak 
only  of  our  evangelistic  work.  There  is  a  regular  Methodist  Conference 
in  France,  and  regular  church  work  is  done  in  connection  with  it,  the 
stations  being  in  various  parts  of  France,  but  especially  in  the  south.    Cur 


510  MISSIONS. 

evangelistic  enterprise  is  to  reach  especially  the  atheists  and  Catholics, 
who  cannot  be  laid  hold  of  by  ordinary  church  means,  and  can  only  be 
brought  together  in  bright  mission  halls.  We  work  in  Paris  among  the 
various  sections  of  the  population,  and  our  methods  are  threefold,  to  suit 
the  threefold  character  of  the  people  with  whom  we  are  brought  into 
contact.     What  are  we  doing  ? 

We  aim,  first,  at  the  cultivated  and  refined  people  of  Paris.  We  hold 
a  service  every  Sunday  evening  in  the  very  heart  of  gay  Paris,  where  the 
life  of  Paris  throbs  and  palpitates,  in  one  of  the  principal  boulevards,  the 
Boulevard  des  Capucines,  No.  39,  nearly  opposite  the  Grand  Hotel.  At  a 
quarter  to  eight  every  Sunday  evening  for  the  last  twelve  years  we  have 
stationed  a  man  on  the  causeway  of  the  boulevard  to  invite  the  passersby. 
The  congregation,  averaging  two  or  three  hundred,  consists  partly  of  Roman 
Catholics  and  partly  free-thinkers  and  atheists.  In  this  motley  congrega- 
tion, changing  like  a  kaleidoscope  every  Sunday,  we  have  unfolded  the 
banner  of  the  truth  during  these  years  past,  making  our  appeal  through 
the  intellect  to  the  heart.  The  good  accomplished  by  this  service  is  not 
limited  to  the  service  itself.  Those  who  attend  it,  coming  as  they  do  from 
all  parts  of  France,  carry  back  to  their  homes  the  gospel  truths  they  have 
heard,  as  well  as  the  portions  of  Scripture,  tracts,  and  copies  of  La  Bonne 
Nouvelle,  our  monthly  evangelistic  sheet,  which  have  brought  into  many 
families  living  at  a  distance  from  the  capital  the  blessed  truths  of  the 
Gospel.  The  last  trophy  for  Christ  resulting  from  the  reading  of  La 
Bonne  Nouvelle  has  been  the  conversion  of  a  Professor  of  Greek  at  the 
University  of  Caen.  This  course  must  be  pursued,  as  we  think,  in  all  the 
great  centers  of  population  in  so-called  Christian  lands  in  order  to  reach 
the  skeptical  intellectual  free-thinkers  who  will  never  be  induced  to  enter 
a  place  of  worship,  but  who  will  come  to  listen  to  us  while  we  give  a 
reason  for  the  hope  that  is  in  us.  The  feature  of  the  Boulevard  des  Capu- 
cines service  is  that  men  are  always  the  majority  of  the  audience  assem- 
bled. Paul,  when  speaking  before  the  wise  men  of  Athens,  who,  like  the 
Parisians  of  to-day,  were  always  desiring  to  hear  some  new  thing,  adopted 
a  different  style  of  address.     We  try  to  do  the  same. 

The  second  class  of  auditors  in  our  mission  halls  (and  let  me  explain 
that  our  mode  of  procedure  is  entirely  different  in  such  a  salle  as  the 
Boulevard  des  Capucines  and  our  mission  halls  generally,  our  appeal  at 
the  Boulevard  des  Capucines  being  to  the  heart  through  the  intellect,  our 
appeal  in  the  other  halls  being  to  the  heart  through  the  conscience)  is  that 
class  in  whom  the  conscience  is  still  partially  awakened.  The  effect  of 
Romanist  teaching  has  been  to  deaden  the  conscience.  The  fact  that  you 
may  confess  your  sins  to  a  man  seems  to  take  away  all  sense  of  moral  re- 
sponsibility. Sins  are  matters  of  arrangement  between  the  priest  and  the 
person  seeking  absolution  at  the  confessional.  Of  sin  in  the  abstract  ex- 
pressed by  the  psalmist  when  he  said,  "Against  thee,  thee  only  have  I 
sinned,  and  done  this  evil  in  thy  sight,"  the  Romanist,  as  a  rule,  has  no  con- 
ception. The  result  of  this  Romanist  teaching  has,  therefore,  been  to 
almost  deaden  the  conscience.    Yet  there  are,  we  find,  traces  of  the  divine 


ADDRESS    OF    KEV.    WILLIAM    GIBSON.  511 

light  whick  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world.  Our  great 
attack  ill  our  mission  halls  is,  therefore,  on  the  conscience.  The  terrors 
of  the  judgment-day,  the  bringing  the  sinner  face  to  face  with  his  sins 
and  with  the  great  Judge  of  all — this  kind  of  preaching  being  a  direct 
attack  on  the  conscience — has  the  same  elTect  as  in  the  days  of  the  apostles, 
and  men  are  brought  to  penitence  before  God.  We  preach  in  our  halls 
the  doctrine  of  repentance.  We  do  not  forget  that  the  monotone  which 
rang  through  the  Jordan  valley  under  the  preaching  of  John  the  Baptist 
was,  "Repent,"  and  that  the  first  word  which  dropped  from  the  lips  of 
the  great  Teacher  when  he  began  to  preach  was,  "Repent,"  and  we  point 
the  repenting  sinner  to  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of 
the  world.  As  a  grand  aid  in  these  simple  evangelistic  services  we  bring 
in  the  service  of  song.  We  are  now  publishing  a  new  hymn-book  which 
will  contain  nearly  six  hundred  hymns,  in  which,  amid  many  original 
hymns  and  tunes,  we  have  collected  some  of  the  best  melodies  of  the  vari- 
ous nations — English,  American,  French,  German,  Italian,  Spanish,  Rus- 
sian, Scotch,  Irish — and  set  them  to  French  words  breathing  the  true 
evangelical  spirit.  We  sing  our  biblical  theology,  we  sing  our  appeals, 
we  sing  our  entreaties,  we  sing  our  persuasions ;  and  the  people  love  to 
hear,  and  come  and  come  and  come  again.  Our  other  stations  besides  the 
Boulevard  des  Capucines  and  the  Rue  Clairaut,  Batignolles,  are  (near  Paris) 
St.  Cloud,  Asni&res,  St.  Ouen,  St.  Denis,  Suresnes,  and  Argenteuil.  We 
hold  our  weekly  leaders'  meeting  and  prayer-meeting,  and  a  weekly  meet- 
ing for  the  promotion  of  holiness,  at  our  center.  Rue  Roqufepine,  Paris.  We 
have  also  two  stations  at  Rouen,  two  at  Havre,  one  at  Elbeuf,  and  one  at 
St.  Servau,  Brittany. 

The  third  class  with  whom  we  have  to  deal  are  those  whose  conscience 
seems  to  be  entirely  gone,  who  look  at  every  thing  through  a  materialistic 
medium.  These,  the  indifferent,  as  they  are  sometimes  called,  can  only 
be  reached  by  social  efforts  appealing  through  the  senses.  We  do  this  by 
^means  of  a  restaurant  connected  with  one  of  our  principal  halls,  and  by 
other  methods.  We  get  at  the  soul  by  means  of  the  body.  We  visit  and 
care  for  the  sick ;  we  help  and  relieve  the  poor ;  we  interest  ourselves  in 
the  worldly  affairs  of  the  people  attending  our  halls ;  we  try  to  sell  articles 
belonging  to  them  at  the  best  price  to  be  had  instead  of  letting  them  be 
driven  to  the  pawn-shop.  Real  sympathy  thus  felt  and  shown  has  proved 
to  be  irresistil)le.  We  have  secured  their  hearts  for  ourselves,  and  the 
souls  of  the  people  for  our  Lord  and  Master,  Christ.  The  restaurant  has 
proved  a  help  in  many  ways.  The  very  aspect  of  the  place  is  homelike 
and  inviting.  The  walls  are  covered  with  Christ's  loving  words  of  in- 
vitation. The  viands  are  appetizing,  and  are  prepared  by  those  who 
have  Christ's  love  in  their  hearts,  and  served  by  those  who  serve  as  unto 
the  Lord.  Conducted  upon  temperance  principles,  it  teaches  the  people 
habits  of  sobriety.  But  its  chief  power  consists  in  the  spirit  of  fraternity 
which  it  inculcates  and  keeps  up.  French  people  see  the  word  "  Fra- 
ternite"  upon  the  walls  of  the  ]iuhlic  l)uildings,  but  they  do  not  find  it  in 
didly  life.     At  our  restaurant  at  No.  20  Rue  Clairaut,  Batignolles,  they  do 


512  MISSIONS. 

find  it.  Of  Christ  it  is  written,  ' '  This  man  receiveth  sinners,  and  eateth 
with  them."  We  eat  with  them.  When  an  Arab  has  tasted  of  your  salt, 
he  is  your  sworn  friend ;  when  a  Frenchman  has  eaten  of  your  bread,  his 
heart  is  gained.  The  editor  of  the  Echo  de  la  Dordogne,  when  our  restau- 
rant was  opened  a  year  .and  a  half  ago,  thus  wrote  in  his  paper :  ' '  Among 
the  philanthropic  efforts  recently  commenced  in  Paris  is  a  missionary  res- 
taurant in  the  Rue  Clairaut.  We  went  there  the  other  day  and  found  a 
salle  scrupulously  clean,  and  the  viands  of  good  quality  and  extraordi- 
narily cheap.  Near  us  sat  two  young  ladies.  We  asked  who  they  were, 
and  were  told  that  they  were  the  daughters  of  the  Fondateur  of  the 
establishment.  We  said  at  once,  '  This  is  the  true  fraternity.  This  is 
evangelization  not  done  with  the  tips  of  the  fingers,  but  with  the  heart 
and  true  sympathy.  Br  aw,  mesdemoUelles,  continuez.'' "  These  words 
show  perhaps  better  than  in  any  other  way  the  kind  of  work  we  are 
doing  among  this  third  class  of  people  ordinarily  so  difficult  to  reach. 
We  have  found  by  experience  that  it  is  the  only  way  to  get  at  them.  The 
people  who  come  to  the  restaurant  are  attracted,  sooner  or  later,  to  the 
services,  and  some  of  our  most  promising  converts  have  been  gained  from 
this  class. 

But  it  is  objected,  "After  all,  the  result  is  so  small,  and  the  missions 
in  so-called  Christian  lands  give  no  hope  of  speedily  becoming  self-sup- 
porting." We  reply  that  the  State  support  of  all  Churches  has  struck  at 
the  root  of  volvmtary  effort.  When  a  Frenchman  pays  his  taxes  he  thinks 
that  he  has  contributed  his  quota  to  the  support  of  religion.  Abolish  the 
connection  between  State  and  Church  all  over  the  continent  of  Europe, 
and  it  will  come  (already  it  may  be  said  to  be  a  foregone  conclusion),  and 
probably  come  sooner  in  France  than  in  any  other  country  of  Europe,  and 
you  have  cut  the  gordian  knot  of  the  question  of  self-support.  But  all 
this  notwithstanding,  we  are  advancing  year  by  year  in  the  direction  of 
self-support.  The  contributions  in  our  evangelistic  mission  are  rising 
each  quarter,  and  with  our  Methodist  system,  carried  out  in  its  entirety, 
our  w*ork  must  progress.  But  let  it  be  Methodism  pure  and  simple,  with- 
out modification,  since  to  modify  would  be  to  modify  it  out  of  existence ; 
not  the  aping  of  the  State  Churches,  but  the  true  principles  of  Meth- 
odism, which  were  meant  to  be  world-wide — else,  why  were  the  Wesleys, 
the  German,  Peter  Bohler,  and  the  Moravians  sent  across  the  Atlantic; 
and  why  was  blessed,  holy  John  Fletcher,  Wesley's  designated  successor, 
sent  to  England  from  French  Switzerland?  Let  these  principles  be  carried 
out  in  every  point,  and  erelong  the  self-support  will  come,  and  missions 
on  the  continent  of  Europe  will  cease  to  be  a  burden  on  English  or  Ameri- 
can resources. 

For  the  present,  however,  we  are  compelled  to  fall  back  upon  England 
and  America  for  support.  And  as  Americans  have  no  mission  in  France 
we  claim  from  America  at  least  equal  support  with  that  which  is  given  by 
England.  I  call  on  all  sections  of  Methodists  here  assembled  in  this  Ecu- 
menical Conference,  and  representing  Methodists  in  all  parts  of  the  world, 
to  join  in  a  crusade  for  the  conversion  of  so-called  Christian  lands,  that 


ADDRESS   OF   REV.    E.    W.    S.    HAMMOND.  513 

SO  the  coming  of  Christ's  kingdom  may  be  hastened.  Let  us  take,  in  this 
holy  war,  with  as  much  enthusiasm  as  the  old  crusaders,  Peter  the  Her- 
mit's motto,  "  God  wills  it."  Let  us,  as  Methodists  of  different  names,  go 
forth  to  the  work  joined  hand  in  hand;  and  in  this  l)lessed  enterprise 
let  us  not  be  jealous  of  one  another  or  of  each  other's  successes.  Let  not 
Ephraim  envy  Judah,  nor  Judah  vex  Ephraim  ;  but  with  one  heart  and 
one  soul  let  us  contin\ie  in  the  Avork,  assured  of  the  victory,  for  God  is  on 
our  side;  and  let  us  never  rest  till  the  lands  called  Christian  are  Christian 
in  deed  and  in  truth. 

In  the  unavoidable  absence  of  the  Rev.  C.  N.  Grandison, 
D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  the  Eev.  E.  W.  S. 
Hammond,  D.D.,  of  the  same  Church,  gave  the  second  invited 
address  on  "  Missions  in  Christian  Lands,"  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  Methodism  being  essentially  a  missionary  movement,  it 
is  perfectly  reasonable  and  in  full  accord  with  the  fitness  of  things  for  this 
Conference  to  consider  this  very  important  phase  of  the  work  in  Christian 
lands.  However  much  we  may  rejoice  in  the  success  achieved,  we  must 
nevertheless  confess  that  there  has  been  great  tardiness  in  bringing  this 
part  of  our  vast  missionary  field  into  more  perfect  and  complete  harmony 
with  the  spirit  and  genius  of  a  progressive  Christianity.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  promise  made  more  than  twenty  centuries  ago,  that  the  whole 
earth  should  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  we  cannot  fail  to 
recognize  the  imperative  duty  of  the  hour  to  put  forth  renewed  efforts  ia 
the  development  of  the  vast  spiritual  needs  of  the  multitudes  who  are  at 
our  very  doors.  While  the  Macedonian  cry  comes  to  us  from  some  dis- 
tant Philippi,  to  come  over  and  help  them,  we  are  not  only  startled  at  the 
magnitude  of  the  work  which  demands  our  immediate  attention,  but  by 
the  very  importunateness  of  the  demands.  The  Master's  cry,  "Why 
stand  ye  here  all  the  day  idle  ? "  rings  in  our  ears  and  thrills  in  our  hearts. 
It  seems  to  me,  sir,  that  Methodism  should  bestir  herself  to  meet  these 
increasing  demands  and  to  utilize  these  priceless  oj)portunities  to  do  heroic 
service  for  God  and  himianity. 

The  great  battle-cry  that  has  rallied  and  inspired  the  forces  of  Meth- 
odism the  world  over  is  that  the  poor  have  the  Gospel  preached  to  them. 
Peculiarly  and  particularly  the  Church  of  the  common  people,  it  has  be- 
come the  greatest  Christian  force  in  the  world.  Her  trophies,  sir,  are  not 
only  marching  through  Immanuel's  ground,  but  they  are  enrolled  among 
that  great  number  which  no  man  could  number  ;  it  is  our  boast  that  we 

are 

"  One  army  of  the  living  God, 

To  whose  command  we  bow ; 
Part  of  his  host  have  crossed  the  flood, 
And  part  are  crossing  now." 

The  spirit  which  inspires  her  to  go  to  the  very  ends  of  the  earth  to  seek 
the  salvation  of  men  is  but  in  harmony  with  the  great  command  of  the 


514  MISSIONS. 

Master  to  "go  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature." 
It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  successes  achieved  have  intensified  the  zeal  of  the 
Church  to  labor  more  earnestly  to  bring  the  trophies  of  her  victory  to 
the  footstool  of  her  sovereign  Master. 

You  will  admit,  sir,  that  the  immortal  "Wesley,  by  the  grace  of  God, 
has  committed  to  our  hands  the  best  type  of  earnest  Christianity  in  the 
wide,  wide  world.  It  is  one  of  the  very  hopeful  signs  of  the  times  that 
the  spirit  of  missions  is  more  and  more  diffusing  itself  throughout  the 
Churches.  The  highest  point  in  the  rising  tide  of  a  full  and.  complete 
salvation,  through  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  is  reached,  at  this  very 
moment.  Nearly  twenty  millions  of  Methodist  communicants,  of  all  king- 
doms and  climes  and  colors  and  tongues,  speak  to  us  to-day  through 
these  her  honored  representatives.  They  tell  us  that  they  are  "  fully  able 
to  go  up  and  possess  the  land."  I  can  almost  hear  them  sing,  "  Hallelu- 
iah I  halleluiah !  for  the  Lord  God  omni2:)otent  reigneth."  How  eminently 
fitting  it  will  be  for  us  to-day  to  join  them  in  a  hearty  Methodist  "amen !  " 

But,  sir,  the  beleagured  walls  of  the  citadel  of  sin  are  crumbling. 
Methodism  is  securing  the  strategic  positions  whence  she  is  hurling  with 
terrific  effect  a  red-hot  gospel  into  the  allied  cohorts  of  sin,  with  its  faith- 
ful concomitants — Sabbath  desecration,  infidelity,  pernicious  literature, 
and  intemperance.  The  darkness  of  Darkest  London  under  the  faithful 
labors  of  the  apostolic  Hughes  must  give  way  to  the  increasing  effulgence 
of  the  Sun  of  liighteousness.  Aye,  sir,  let  every  city  and  village  and 
hamlet  and  shire  and  borough  whirl  into  line  under  the  inspiration  of 
the  mighty  "  forward  movement,"  and  the  conquering  hosts  of  salvation, 
with  "heart  of  flame  and  tongue  of  fire,"  will  soon  place  mighty  conti- 
nents under  tribute  to  the  advancing  power  of  the  King  of  kings. 

Behold  j'our  auxiliaries!  The  Sunday-school,  with  its  millions  of 
young,  vigorous  cadets  in  training  for  the  mighty  conflict.  Never  did 
victorious  army  present  a  more  martial  appearance.  With  banners  flying 
and  with  joyous  song  this  magnificent  reserve  corps  stands  ready  to  be 
called  into  action.  That  newly  born  child  of  divine  providence,  marvel- 
ous in  its  growth,  wonderful  in  its  faith,  and  inflexible  in  its  devotion  to 
Methodism.  True  to  God  and  humanity,  and  to  its  great  work  of  "  look- 
ing up  and  lifting  up, "  the  Epworth  League  will  be  acknowledged  as  a 
mighty  agency.  The  Church  has  laid  its  hand  upon  a  new  order  of 
workers  who,  like  faithful,  ministering  angels,  have  gone  forth  to  supple- 
ment the  labors  of  the  pastors  in  bringing  joys  to  the  hearts  of  the  sorrow- 
ing. The  order  of  the  Deaconesses  has  already  demonstrated  its  power. 
Following  in  the  footsteps  of  Barbara  Heck  and  PhilijD  Embury  and  a  host 
of  other  consecrated  lay  workers  now  around  the  throne  of  God  in  he;i  ven, 
come  the  devoted  laymen,  who  are  quietly  yet  effectually  cultivating  this 
vast  field.  The  Church  should  not  only  not  hesitate  to  call  into  the  field 
this  vast  force,  but  should  take  immediate  steps  to  utilize  it  for  God. 
Training-schools  for  lay  deacons  could  be  profitably  instituted  in  all  our 
large  centers,  from  whence  well-trained  Christian  laymen  could  go  forth 
to  the  work  of  city  evangelization.     The  work  of  erecting  places  of  wor- 


ADDRESS    OF   KEV.    E.   W.    S.   UAMMOND.  515 

ship  for  the  housing  of  these  increasing  millions  is  a  most  marvelous 
evidence  of  the  spread  of  Christianity.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  in  the  United 
States  the  liuishing  touch  is  put  upon  at  least  three  Methodist  churches 
each  working  day  of  the  year.  IIow  i)otential  is  the  religious  press. 
Wielding  an  influence  not  less  than  the  pulpit,  it  goes  forth  on  its  holy 
mission,  and,  like  the  tree  of  life  in  the  apocalyjitic  vision,  it  bears  its  fruit 
continually,  while  its  leaves  are  "  for  the  healing  of  the  nations. "  The 
Church,  in  her  devotion  to  the  cause  of  Christian  education,  is  stamping 
upon  the  public  lieart  the  mighty  impress  of  her  powerful  momentum,  and 
is  effectually  molding  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  its  progress.  Surely 
this  is  she  that  looketh  forth  as  the  morning,  "  fair  as  the  moon,  bright  as 
the  sun,  and  terrible  as  an  army  Avith  banners."  Supplementing  these  is 
a  consecrated  and  divinely  called  ministry,  preaching  a  full,  complete, 
and  perfect  salvation,  beginning  with  that  wholesome  doctrine  of  rejjent- 
ance  toward  God  and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  which  brings  a  sense 
of  justification,  whereby  we  cry,  "  Abba,  Father;"  growth  in  grace;  the 
perseverance  of  the  saints;  sanctification ;  and  then  when  the  work  of  life 
is  over,  glorification,  if  you  please,  and  an  abundant  entrauce  into  the 
upper  and  better  Bethel,  where  we  shall  have  eternal  rest. 

But,  Mr.  President,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  greatest  achievement  of 
modern  times  is  the  Christianization  of  more  than  five  millions  of  colored 
people.  What  hath  God  wrought?  It  seems  to  me  that  I  can  see  a  great 
and  a  divine  purpose  in  the  Christianization  of  the  African  race  in  Amer- 
ica. You  will  bear  me  out  in  the  assertion  that  the  greatest  missionary 
field  of  all  the  ages  is  at  our  very  doors.  To  me,  sir,  it  is  a  question  of 
tremendous  import.  I  am  anxious  to  know,  sir,  how  far  my  people  have 
been  touched  by  this  higher  Christian  civilization,  and  to  what  extent 
they  will  be  used  as  pastors  in  the  salvation  and  redemption  of  the  land 
of  their  ancestry.  When  the  immortal  Lincoln,  backed  by  the  strong 
sentiment  of  the  Methodism  of  the  United  States  and  of  England,  issued 
the  proclamation  that  struck  the  shackles  of  slavery  from  the  limbs  of 
more  than  four  millions  of  slaves  it  found  but  few  of  these,  comparatively 
sj)eaking,  in  possession  of  the  true  ethics  of  Christiar.ity.  In  twenty-eight 
years  the  four  millions  have  about  doubled,  and  you  have  been  informed 
by  that  distinguished  statistician.  Bishop  Arnett,  that  at  least  five  millions 
have  been  touched  by  the  refining  influences  of  a  blessed  Christianity. 
All  honor  to  God  and  Methodism.  What  does  it  mean  ?  Why,  sir,  it 
means  that  our  English  brethren  and  our  Irish  brethren  and  our  Scotch 
and  Canadian  and  Australian  brethren  have  been  jjrayingfor  us.  Itmeaus 
that  our  brethren  in  the  North  and  in  the  South  have  been  interested  in 
us,  and  that  in  their  sympathy  and  love  they  have  been  helping  us  to 
higher  planes  of  thought  and  action.  Brethren,  these  millions,  through 
their  representatives,  greet  you  to-day  with  sentiments  of  gratitude. 

Behold  the  trophies  of  your  victories.  Behold  the  triumph  of  the  Gos- 
pel, which  is  inspiring  their  songs,  intensifying  their  religious  zeal,  and  I 
believe  in  my  heart  that  it  is  ])reparing  them  to  take  an  active  part  in  the 
redemption  of  Africa.      "And  who  kuoweth  whether  we  have  come  into 


516  MISSIONS. 

the  kingdom  for  such  a  time  as  this  ? "  Surely  it  is  good  for  us  to  be  here. 
Peter  wanted  to  erect  three  tabernacles  ;  but  we  would  join  you  in  the  erec- 
tion of  one  great  tabernacle.  Believing  that  it  is  both  profitable  and 
pleasant  for  brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity,  we  would  very  kindly  in- 
vite our  brother  Shem  and  our  brother  Japlieth  and  our  brother  Ham  to  enter 
and  dwell  together  in  love.  When  tliis  is  accomplished  it  will  be  in  order 
for  us  to  send  a  cablegram  to  that  great  morning  star  of  African  evangeliza- 
tion, the  brave,  the  intrepid,  the  consecrated,  the  matchless,  the  un- 
conquerable, the  uncrowned  king.  Bishop  William  Taylor,  to  hold  the 
fort,  for  we  are  coming,  eight  millions  strong,  to  take  the  Dark  Continent 
for  God  and  humanity  and  Methodism.  Under  such  an  inspiration  as  this 
it  is  easy  to  predict  that  princes  shall  come  out  of  Egypt  and  Ethiopia 
shall  stretch  out  her  hands  to  God. 

The  general  discussion  of  the  evening  was  introduced  by  the 

Rev.  Joseph  J^ettleton,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church, 

as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  I  stand  here  to  speak  as  a  witness  and  not  as  an  advo- 
cate. That  Gospel  which  has  turned  the  Fijian  from  his  cannibalism  and 
widow-strangling,  from  his  heathen  temples  and  priesthood,  and  has  made 
him  a  devout,  a  God-fearing,  a  Bible-reading,  a  consistent  Christian  man ; 
that  has  made  the  savage  warrior  a  law-abiding  and  taxpaying  subject  of 
Queen  Victoria;  that  in  the  place  of  the  old  mythologies  has  put  the 
word  of  God  into  his  hand  and  family  prayer  into  nearly  every 
home,  a  day-scliool  and  a  chvn-ch  into  every  village,  and  organized  a  self- 
sustaining  and  self-extending  Christian  Church,  watched  over  and  watered 
to-day  very  largely  by  Pauls  and  Apolloses  of  its  own,  is  a  Gospel  worth 
carrying  to  the  nations — and  woe  be  to  us  if  we  cease  to  break  and  dis- 
tribute that  bread  of  life  to  the  famishing  heathen  world. 

1.  From  the  stand-point  of  a  Fijian  missionary,  we  have  something  to 
say  to  the  statesman.  We  have  nourished  and  brought  up  a  colony  of 
loyal  and  devout  British  subjects,  who  will  sing  "  God  save  the  queen" 
as  heartily  as  any  people  who  claim  the  protection  of  the  British  crown. 
Their  loyalty  is  not  kept  in  order  by  the  bayonet,  for  there  are  no  English 
soldiers  in  Fiji.  They  were  first  Christians,  and  then  by  their  own  request 
their  islands  were  put  as  gems  into  the  crown  of  our  beloved  queen. 

2.  We  have  something  to  say  to  the  educationalist.  Sir  Arthur  Gordon, 
late  governor  of  the  islands,  says:  "The  three  R's  are  as  well  taught  in  the 
mission  schools  of  Fiji  as  they  are  in  the  common  schools  of  England, 
that  the  system  of  education  is  like  pulsation,  felt  in  every  hamlet  and 
providing  for  every  child."  It  is  graduated  from  the  infant-class  up  to 
the  theological  college,  yet  we  have  not  even  a  three-penny  rate  and  no 
State  endowment. 

3.  We  have  something  to  say  to  the  financier.  In  settling  disputed  land 
claims  the  commissioners  decided  that  the  average  value  of  good  agri- 
cultural land  in  Fiji  was  seventy  doll.ars  per  acre.  An  auctioneer  in  selling 
a  large  plantation  enlarged  upon  the  richness  of  the  soil,  and  a  climate 
summer  all  the  year  round,  so  that  three  crops  of  maize  might  be  grown 
upon  the  same  ground.  Then  he  said  :  "  The  twelve  hundred  people  liv- 
ing near  this  plantation  are  Christians;  life  is  tlierefore  sacred  and  the 
title  is  a  crown  grant  from  the  British  government."  What  could  be 
more  secure  ?  The  bidding  was  soon  lively,  and  the  land  was  sold  for  a 
high  price.     But  change  a  word  or  two  in  the  man's  address !  Say,  ' '  The 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  517 

twelve  hundred  people  living  near  to  that  plantation  are  cannibal  savages, 
and  they  have  a  nasty  habit  of  clubhing  and  eating  men  who  try  to  take 
their  lands  from  them,  and  the  man  who  buys  this  plantation  on  trying  to 
take  possession  will  probably  l)e  cooked  in  a  cannibal  oven.  Then  how 
much  will  you  give  for  the  land  ?  "  There  is  not  a  man  in  Washington  who 
would  not  sooner  buy  laud  at  the  bottom  of  the  Potomac.  By  changing 
the  jieople  from  savages  to  Christians  we  have  given  a  value  to  property 
which  it  never  had  before  in  the  islands. 

4.  We  have  something  to  say  to  the  soldier.  Our  native  wars  in  Af- 
ghanistan, the  Soudan,  Zululand,  etc.,  have  cost  the  British  nation  $.500 
each  for  every  man  killed.  A  military  authority  makes  this  calculation. 
Our  converts  in  Fiji  from  the  beginning,  leaving  out  of  the  calculation 
their  contributions  to  foreigii  missions — sometimes  amounting  to  $12,500 
per  year — have  not  cost  the  IVIissionary  Society  $3  per  head.  Wherever 
we  have  a  large  native  heathen  population  in  our  colonies,  as  in  South 
Africa,  at  some  time  or  another  we  come  into  collision  w'ith  tliem  on 
the  laud  or  some  other  question.  Then  it  comes  to  a  war  of  extermina- 
tion, and  for  shooting  them  down  as  rebels  you  have  to  pay  $500  i)er 
head  in  your  income  tax  or  by  whatever  means  the  government  may  adopt 
for  getting  it  from  you.  Is  it  not  cheaper  and  wiser  to  have  them  made 
into  loyal  subjects  and  good  Christians  like  the  Fijians,  thi-ough  the  Mis- 
sionary Society,  for  $3  a  head  ? 

Then,  more  than  all  this — their  saved  souls  will  be  the  crown  of  rejoic- 
ing in  the  day  of  the  Lord. 

The  Rev.  P.  G.  Junker,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
made  the  follow  in  o-  remarks  : 

Mr.  President  and  Dear  Brethren :  I  am  a  citizen  of  Germany  not  able 
to  speak  your  language  correctly,  therefore  I  hope  you  will  overlook  some 
defects  in  language.  I  will  make  only  a  few  remarks  about  the  work  of 
Methodism  in  Germany.  Perhaps  in  no  country  were  Methodists  more 
severely  censured  and  condemned  for  establishing  a  mission  than  in  the 
land  of  Dr.  Martin  Luther,  Paul  Gerhardt,  Aug-ust  Himann  Francke, 
Count  Ziuzendorf,  and  other  heroes  of  the  Christian  Church.  And  if 
Germany  had  been  a  Christian  country  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word  the 
introduction  of  Methodism  had  not  been  necessary.  But  in  Germany,  as 
in  England  and  America,  the  majority  of  the  people  do  not  go  to  any 
church.  They  will  join  that  Church  that  will  bring  them  the  Gospel. 
Thousands  of  converted  Germans,  converted  to  God  by  Methodist  preach- 
ing, thank  God  to-day  for  Methodism. 

And  not  only  these,  but  also  the  State  Churches  were  generally  benefited 
by  Methodism.  Several  years  ago  the  late  Dr.  L.  Christlicb,  one  of  the 
leading  men  of  the  orthodox  party  of  the  Evangelical  Chm-ch  in  Prussia, 
wrote  a  little  book  on  the  Methodist  question  in  Germany,  in  which  the 
writer,  referring  to  the  deplorable  spiritual  state  of  the  State  Churches, 
saj-s:  "Let  us  imitate  the  Methodists,  to  make  them  superfluous,"  ac- 
knowledging by  this  that  they  were  not  supei-fluous.  And  in  order  to 
give  effect  to  this  ad\'ice  he  inaugurated  with  the  hel])  of  English  money 
a  training-school  for  evangelists,  who  should  go  to  towns  and  villages 
preaching  the  Gospel  in  a  ^Methodist  fashion. 

In  another  booklet,  entitled  ChrUtlkhe  BedenJcen,  and  ascribed  to  Pro- 
fessor Dr.  Knebel,  of  the  University  of  Tiibingen,  one  of  the  leading  theo- 
logians in  southern  Germany,  substantially  the  following  sentences  are  to 
be  found :  "  Soon  Methodism  will  be  in  evangelical  Christendom  the  same 
dominating  power  as  Jesuitism  is  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  What 
good  there  is  in  Methodism  and  what  blessing  it  has  brought  to  Germany 


518  MISSIONS. 

shall  be  acknowledged  without  hesitation.  This  blessing  consists  in  this, 
to  say  it  in  one  word :  that  by  its  dangerous  competition  our  churches  and 
clergymen  in  a  degree  not  known  before  were  compelled  to  shake  off  the 
sleep  which  bound  many  of  them,  and  to  work  with  more  eagerness.  All 
honor  to  their  zeal  for  that  which  is  good  for  the  salvation  of  men ;  tut 
that  such  zeal  prevails  at  j)resent,  tJiat  ice  owe  chiefly  to  Methodism.''''  And 
further,  the  same  eminent  divine  wrote:  "lu  many  things  Methodism  is 
right.  Its  jiower  consists  chiefly  in  one  point ;  but  the  great  many  per- 
sons among  us  who  like  to  work  for  Christ  do  not  appropriate  this  one 
point,  namely :  its  emphasis  of  the  necessity  of  conversion. " 

I  think  these  testimonies  from  this  quarter  are  sufficient  proofs  that 
Methodism  was  and  is  still  necessary  in  Germany,  and  is  doing  good  work. 
I  would  like  to  tell  you  something  about  our  work,  our  revivals,  progress, 
and  hinderances,  about  our  deaconesses,  who  go  into  the  palaces  of  the 
rich  and  into  the  cabins  of  the  poorest  of  the  poor,  ministering  every- 
where in  the  same  spirit  of  Christ,  but  time  and  my  limited  knowledge  of 
your  language  do  not  allow  it.  Therefore  I  close,  expressing  the  wish 
that  the  members  of  this  Conference  may  symi^athize  with  the  w^ork  and 
pray  for  the  success  of  Methodism  in  Germany. 

The  Rev.  David  Hill,  of  the  "Wesleyan  Methodist  Church, 
spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  President  and  Brethren:  The  compression  of  the  subject  of  the 
world's  evangelization  into  one  brief  evening  awakens  a  fear  (I  trust  a 
groundless  one)  lest  it  be  a  mark  of  that  ecclesiastical  self-centeredness 
which  portends  decay.  With  so  limited  a  time  at  our  disposal  I  am  the 
more  thankful  for  the  o^jportunity  of  saying  a  few  words  on  our  mission 
work  in  China. 

This  work  is,  I  rejoice  to  say,  making  steady  though  not  rapid  progress. 
The  number  of  Protestant  Christians  in  China  now  numbers  about  forty 
thousand.  In  Japan,  although  the  work  was  commenced  some  fifty  years 
later  than  in  China,  the  number  of  Protestant  Christians  has  reached  the 
same  figure.  Of  these  forty  thousand  there  are  some  seven  or  eight  thou- 
sand Methodists;  that  is,  about  one  fifth  of  the  whole.  Roughly  speak- 
ing, the  Methodists  are  doing  about  one  fifth  of  the  work  of  the  Protestant 
missions  in  China,  and  have  been  cheered  with  about  one  fifth  of  the 
success  which  has  been  granted. 

But  American  Methodism  has  had  a  far  larger  share  both  of  the  work 
and  the  success  than  British  Methodism  has  had,  and  that  although  the 
trade  of  China  with  Great  Britain  is  much  greater  than  that  with  the 
United  States.  In  three  departments  more  especially  is  American  Method- 
ism ahead  of  British  Methodism  iu  China :  in  educational  work,  in  med- 
ical work,  and  in  work  for  the  women.  In  educational  work  the  liberal- 
ity of  the  American  Churches  seems  likely  to  place  missionai-y  education 
in  China  almost  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  American  missions. 

In  medical  work,  according  to  the  returns  of  the  last  Shanghai  Confer- 
ence, out  of  sixty-nine  thousand  patients  who  had  been  attended  to  by 
medical  missionaries  in  China  during  the  year  1889,  fifty-nine  thousand 
had  been  ministered  to  by  American  missionaries.  And  in  work  for  the 
women,  while  the  American  Churches  could  number  forty-one  single  ladies 
working  for  God  in  China,  British  Methodism  only  numbered  four.  I 
mention  these  facts  that  the  British  Churches  may  be  stirred  up  to  a  holy 
emulation  of  their  sister  Churches  in  the  States. 

I  should  like  before  closing  to  add  a  few  words  depicting  the  chief 
features  of  the  mission  work  in  China  during  the  past  decade.  First,  I 
would  point  to  the  growing  spirit  of  unity  which  marks  the  mission 


GENERAL    KEMARKS.  519 

Churches.  This  has  found  expression  in  the  China  ^lethodist  Union,  to 
which  reference  has  already  been  made  in  this  Conference,  and  which  union 
only  awaits  the  sanction  of  this  great  ('ouncil  to  complete  its  establishment. 
But  even  then  we  shall  still  be  behind  our  Presbyterian  brethren,  who 
have  in  China  proceeded  toward  organic  union  iu  one  common  synod. 

A  second  feature  of  the  decade  is  the  marked  success  which  has  at- 
tended itinerant  evangelism,  more  especially  in  connection  with  the  work 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Shanhing.  The  Lord  has  blessed  that  work 
to  the  gathering  in  of  multitudes  to  his  Church.  Similar  work,  though 
not  so  markedly  successful,  has  been  earned  on  both  by  Methodists,  Bap- 
tists, Congregationalists,  and  Episcopalians. 

A  third  feature  is  the  phenomenal  increase  of  lay  agents  in  China  mis- 
sion work.  In  the  raising  up  of  these  men  and  women  the  Lord  has 
greatly  used  Mr.  J.  Hudson  Taylor,  of  the  China  Inland  Mission,  through 
whose  instrumentality  upward  of  two  hundred  workers  have  been  added 
to  our  staff  during  the  last  ten  years,  and  niany  of  them  JMethodists,  inso- 
much that  I  have  been  led  again  and  again  to  inquire  why  these  Method- 
ist brethren  should  not  come  out  under  the  auspices  of  their  own  socie- 
ties. And  again  and  again  has  the  need  of  greater  elasticity  on  the  part 
of  mission  boards  been  felt,  so  that  these  lay  brethren  may  find  in  connec- 
tion with  their  own  Church  a  suitable  field  for  their  missionary  en- 
thusiasm. 

A  fourth  feature  of  the  decade  is  an  incipient  movement  toward  the  re- 
lief of  physical  distress.  Besides  the  work  of  the  medical  missionary, 
other  cliaritable  agencies,  such  as  blind  school  and  orphanage  work,  are 
being  called  into  existence,  and  the  Church  is  thus  awakening  to  her  re- 
sponsibility, not  only  for  saving  the  soul  and  educating  the  intellect,  but 
also  for  the  relief  of  bodily  distress. 

These  movements  in  the  foreign  field  indicate  the  direction  in  which 
the  Lord  is  leading  his  Church,  and  constitute  a  call  to  us  to  follow  boldly 
in  the  matter  of  Christian  union,  to  send  forth  and  support  strong  re-en- 
forcements of  lay  evangelists,  and  to  make  the  work  of  Christian  charity 
one  branch  of  our  church  organization.  These  are  the  lessons  which  God 
is  teaching  us.  May  we  be  quick  to  learn  them,  and  seize  this  grand  op- 
portunity for  a  great  forward  movement. 

Mr.  T.  Morgan  Harvey,  of  the  Weslejan  Methodist  Cluirch, 
continued  the  discussion,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  I  am  glad  of  the  opportunity  as  a  layman  to  bear  my 
testimony  to  the  excellent  work  and  successful  operations  of  the  Wesleyan 
Missionary  Society.  We  have  to  report  success  all  along  the  line — in 
India,  China,  Africa,  the  islands  of  the  seas,  and  also  in  continental  Eu- 
rope. Our  agents  are  all  over  the  world,  and  when  we  think  of  the  off- 
shoots of  the  parent  society,  and  of  distant  and  separate  societies  working 
under  recently  established  Conferences,  w^e  devoutly  thank  God  for  all 
that  is  being  and  has  been  done  through  this  great  "  army  of  workers." 

The  income  last  year  from  all  sources  amounted  to  £126,426,  or  $632,130. 
In  addition  to  these  figures  the  Ladies'  Committee  expended  for  female  edu- 
cation, school  materials,  etc.,  over  £10,000,  or  $50,000.  The  opening  up  of 
new  fields  in  South  Central  Africa  and  in  Burmah,  in  addition  to  the  increas- 
ingly extending  character  of  our  ordinary  work,  calls  loudly  to  our  Churclx 
for  corresponding  liberality,  to  enalile  the  committee  to  sustain  and  de- 
velop this  Cliristlike  mission.  The  call  of  the  hour  is  an  appeal  to  the 
laity  of  Methodism  for  the  honest  consecration  of  their  wealth,  and  of 
•  their  sons  and  daughters  to  this  blessed  service.  Let  us,  in  the  interests 
of  the  perishing  millions  in  heathen  and  idolatrous  countries,  and  for  the 


520  MISSIONS. 

honor  and  glory  of  our  compassionate  divine  Master  and  Lord,  make  the 
unreserved  consecration.  Then  will  the  time  speedily  draw  near  when 
' '  He  whose  right  it  is  shall  reign  universally  King  of  kings,  Lord  of 
lords." 

The  Rev.  George  Turner,  of  the  United  Methodist  Free 
Church,  made  the  following  remarks : 

Mr.  President :  I  wish  to  state  that  I  am  in  full  sympathy  with  the  re- 
marks made  by  Mr.  Townsend  in  his  excellent  paper,  and  believe  that 
the  time  has  come  for  the  federation  of  the  Methodist  Churches  in  the 
foreign  mission  field.  It  is  gratifying  to  know  from  Mr.  Hill  that  efforts 
are  being  made  in  China  to  accomplish  this,  and  at  the  Conference  of  the 
Protestant  Missions,  held  last  year  in  Saratoga,  steps  were  taken  in  this 
direction. 

It  may  interest  this  Conference  to  know  that,  although  we  are  one  of 
the  younger  branches  of  Methodism  in  England,  we  have  missions  in  fields 
not  occupied  by  other  Methodist  Churches.  About  thirty  years  ago  we 
sent  our  first  missionaries  to  East  Africa.  And  in  the  district  of  Mombasa, 
and  in  the  Galla  Country  on  the  Fauu  River,  we  have  successful  missions. 
We  have  recently  decided  to  commence  a  new  mission  in  the  Mendi  Coun- 
try, West  Africa,  and  the  first  missionary  is  on  his  way  to  that  part  of  the 
world.  We  have  also  missions  at  Boca-del-Toro.  A  mission  has  been 
established  in  an  Indian  settlement  in  Central  America;  and  the  society 
I  represent  has  decided  on  schemes  of  extension  in  connection  with  all  our 
missions. 

The  E.ev.  W.  F.  Oldham,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  concluded  the  discussion  of  the  evening  in  the  follow- 
ing remarks : 

Mr.  President :  I  rise  to  call  the  attention  of  this  Conference  to  a  great 
unevangelized  territory  lying  within  easy  reach  of  existing  Methodist  mis- 
sions. From  Singapore  to  Hong  Kong  is  five  days'  sail,  and  along  the 
thronging  coast  between  those  two  ports — along  the  coast  of  south-eastern 
China — with  a  possible  population  of  thirty  to  forty  millions  of  people, 
there  is  not  a  single  Protestant  missionary.  Why  cannot  two  or  more  of 
the  smaller  Methodisms  which  now  have  no  foreign  mission  unite  in  es- 
tablishing a  mission  within  the  sphere  of  the  French  influence  in  Touquin? 
There  would  be  the  opposition  of  the  Romanist,  but  if  the  Protestant 
mission  penetrated  a  little  into  the  interior  there  need  be  no  collision  with 
existing  Romish  missions.  Other  large  territories  that  await  the  mission- 
ary are  to  be  found  in  northern  Sumatra,  western  Java,  and  in  hundreds  of 
islands  of  the  East  Indies,  where  the  American  Episcopal  Methodists  have 
begun  to  operate,  but  which  neither  we  nor  the  Dutch  and  German  mis- 
sions which  ante-date  us  can  hope  to  more  than  meagerly  occupy  for  de- 
cades to  come.  When  locating  any  new  Methodist  mission  I  would  be- 
seech you  to  study  the  map  of  south-eastern  Asia. 

The  doxology  was  sung,  and  the  Conference  adjourned  with 
the   benediction   bj  the  presiding  officer,  the   Rev.  William 

MoRLEY. 


BUSINESS    PKOCEKDINGS.  521 


TENTH  DAY,  Saturday,    October  17,  1891. 


TOPIC : 
WAR  AND  PEACE. 


THE  Conference  opened  at  10  A.  M.,  the  Rev.  T.  G.  Will- 
iams, D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  Canada,  presiding. 
Hymn  183  was  sung ;  prayer  was  offered  by  the  Rev.  John 
Wakefield,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  Canada;  and  the  46th 
Psahn  was  read  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Lambly,  of  the  same  Church. 

The  Journal  of  the  sessions  of  Friday,  October  16,  was  read, 
and  on  motion  approved. 

The  Business  Committee,  through  its  Secretary,  requested  the 
Conference  to  appoint  a  special  session  for  Monday  evening  at 
7:30,  to  hear  addresses  on  the  status  of  the  foreign  mission  work 
from  missionaries  having  membership  in  the  body.  This  rec- 
ommendation of  the  Business  Committee  was  adopted  ;  and 
Bishop  E.  R.  Ilendrix,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  South;  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Hamilton,  D.D.,  of  tlie 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Embry,  D.D.,  of 
the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church ;  and  the  Rev.  T.  B. 
Stephenson,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church, 
were  appointed  a  Committee  of  Arrangements,  with  power  to 
add  to  their  number. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  A.  AV.  AVayman,  D.D.,  of  the  African  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  made  the  following  privileged  state- 
ment to  the  Conference  regarding  organic  union  between  the 
colored  Methodist  bodies : 

Mr.  Chairman  aud  Brethren :  I  rise  to  a  question  of  high  privilege.  Tlic 
brothers  in  l^lack — as  -we  have  been  called  by  the  venerable  Bishop  Hay- 
good,  and  also  by  Bishoji  Warren,  to  which  -vve  have  no  objection — the 
bishops  and  delegates  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  the 
Colored  ^Methodist  Episcoi)al  Church,  have  held  a  meeting  and  decided 
unanimously  in  favor  of  organic  union;  aud  now  we  say  to  all  of  our 
brethren  in  black.  Come,  go  with  us,  and  we  will  do  you  good  ;  for  the  Lord 
hath  spoken  good  concerning  the  brethren  in  black. 
36 


522  BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS. 

The  Hon.  Charles  Foster,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States,  was  at  this  point  presented  by  Bishop  J.  P. 
Newman  to  the  Chairman,  and  by  the  latter  was  introduced  to 
the  Conference.  Secretary  Foster  addressed  the  body  in  the 
following  words : 

Gentlemen  and  Ladies :  I  could  not  resist  the  invitation  of  Bishop  New- 
man, last  night,  to  meet  you  this  morning.  I  am  not  a  member  of  your 
Church,  but  I  may  be  considered  a  very  near  relative.  My  father  settled 
in  western  Ohio  when  it  was  new ;  and  my  iirst  recollection  of  a  preacher 
is  of  a  Methodist.  For  forty  years  I  have  been  a  trustee  of  the  Methodist 
church  of  my  city.  They  are  kind  to  me,  and  never  call  upon  me  for  as- 
sistance except  when  they  get  into  financial  difficulties.  For  several  years 
I  have  been  a  trustee  of  the  Ohio  Wesleyan  University.  So  you  can  see 
how  near  a  relative  I  am  to  the  Methodist  Church. 

I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  feel  and  know  the  wide-spread  influence  of  this 
great  Church.  We  in  this  country  are  able  to  get  along  without  stand- 
ing armies.  We  simply  keep  a  little  nucleus — something  to  enable  us  to 
create  an  army  or  organize  one  when  we  need  it.  We  rely  upon  the  pa- 
triotism of  our  people  to  furnish  the  army  when  the  emergency  comes,  and 
we  rely  upon  the  religious  sentiment  of  the  countrj' — and  esjjecially  of  the 
Methodist  Church — to  create  the  patriotism  that  is  necessary. 

I  called  simply  to  show  my  appreciation  of  the  great  work  you  are  do- 
ing. We  have  vaults  and  bars  to  protect  the  money  we  have  in  the  treas- 
ury. We  have  a  few  watchmen,  but  we  depend  more  largely  upon  the 
sentiment  you  teach  than  upon  our  watchmen.  Feeling  this  way  about 
you,  I  most  cordially  invite  you  to  come  to  the  treasury  and  look  at  that 
money.  I  know  it  is  perfectly  safe  in  your  presence  for  two  reasons — first, 
I  believe  you  M^ould  not  take  it,  and,  second,  you  could  not.  Expressing 
my  thanks  for  the  pleasure  I  have  had  in  this  visit,  and  hoping  your 
meetings  will  redound  to  the  benefit  of  mankind,  I  beg  leave  to  bid  you 
good  day. 

The  Hon.  John  W.  ISToble,  Secretary  of  the  Interior  of  the 
United  States,  was  presented  by  Bishop  J.  F.  Hurst  to  the 
Chairman,  and  by  him  was  introduced  to  the  Conference.  Sec- 
retary !RoBLE  made  the  following  brief  remarks  : 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen :  Only  a  few  days  ago  it  was  my  good 
fortune  in  my  department  to  be  called  to  welcome  to  our  city  the  eminent 
geologists  of  the  Old  World  and  the  New,  then  assembled  in  a  great  con- 
vention. I  then  recognized  how  important  it  was  that  the  physical  re- 
sources of  our  great  continent  and  of  the  world  should  be  developed  for 
the  good  of  man.  It  is  to-day  my  hope  that  these  still  greater  forces  that 
rule  the  souls  of  men  and  that  are  being  developed  here  will  make  this 
world  of  ours,  beautiful  as  it  is,  still  more  worthy  of  our  lives,  and  more 
beautiful  in  anticipation  of  the  better  world  that  is  to  come. 

Sir  Julian  Pauncefote,  the  British  Minister  resident  at 
Washington,  was  presented  by  the  Rev,  J.  M.  King,  D.D.,  to 
the  Chairman,  and  by  the  latter  was  introduced  to  the  Con- 
ference. 


ESSAY    OF   THOMAS    SNAPE.  523 

The  topic  of  the  day  was  taken  up,  namely,  "  War  and 
Peace."  Mr.  Thomas  Snape,  C.C,  of  the  United  Methodist 
Free  Church,  read  the  following  appointed  essay  on  "Inter- 
national Arbitration : " 

Mr.  President :  No  more  welcome  change  has  been  experienced  in  Meth- 
odism than  that  manifested  by  the  agenda  of  this  Conference.  At  the  Ecu- 
menical Conference  in  1881  the  social  problems  of  the  day  had  but  small 
place  in  the  proceedings.  Permission  was  then  obtained,  but  not  Avithout 
difficulty,  for  the  introduction  of  a  resolution  in  favor  of  international  ar- 
bitration. The  resolution  I  had  then  the  privilege  of  moving  was  sec- 
onded by  the  late  Bishop  Simpson,  whose  sainted  memory  will  long  be 
cherished.  At  our  present  assembly  progress  may  be  noted  by  the  fact 
that  the  subject  of  that  resolution  has  been  accorded  a  prominent  place  in 
the  official  programme. 

Since  1881  the  settlement  of  international  disputes  by  arbitration  has 
assumed  increasing  importance  and  has  been  adopted  by  various  govern- 
ments in  the  adj\istment  of  differences  whicli  had  arisen  between  them- 
selves and  other  Powers.  In  the  very  city  in  which  this  Conference  is 
held  a  convention  of  representatives  of  the  republics  of  the  whole  Amer- 
ican continent  was  held,  as  recently  as  last  year,  at  the  invitation  of  the 
government  of  the  United  States.  At  the  Pan-American  Congress  eight- 
een governments  were  represented,  and  the  Congress  declared  that  "  The 
repulalics  of  America  hereby  adopt  arbitration  as  a  principle  of  inter- 
national law  for  the  settlements  of  disputes  or  controversies  that  may  arise 
between  two  or  more  of  them."  Through  Mr.  Blaine,  the  Secretary  of 
State  for  the  United  States  government,  the  Congress  suggested  that  the 
European  governments  should  enter  into  a  similar  treaty;  but  thus  far 
Switzerland  has  been  the  only  one  of  the  European  Powers  that  has  given 
a  favorable  reply.  Other  governments,  notwithstanding  that  several  of 
their  Parliaments  by  resolution  had  declared  in  favor  of  international  ar- 
bitration, liave  shelved  the  proposal  by  merely  acknowledging  the  receipt 
of  Mr.  Blaine's  communication.  It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  among 
the  governments  which  have  ignored  the  proposal  is  that  of  Great  Britain. 
The  more  so  because  in  the  arbitration  debate  in  the  House  of  Commons 
in  1873  the  then  prime  minister,  the  Riglit  Hon.  "W.  E.  Gladstone,  said, 
"Providence  has  endowed  England,  and  America  also,  with  increased  ad- 
vantages and  facilities  for  the  propagation  of  the  principle  of  arbitration." 

The  progress,  satisfactory  as  it  may  be  considered,  is  still  far  from  hav- 
ing removed  the  colossal  evils  which  a  continuance  of  the  war  system  in- 
volves, or  from  having  lessened  the  sufferings  those  evils  inflict  upon  hu- 
manity in  time  of  peace  as  well  as  during  the  actual  operation  of  war. 
The  existence  of  the  calamities  which  are  produced  by  war,  and  the  hin- 
derance  such  an  antagonistic  agency  to  Christianity  opposes  to  the  work  of 
Christ,  render  it  imperative  upon  the  Christian  Church  to  endeavor  to  effect 
the  abolition  of  war  by  the  substitution  of  more  reasonable  and  more 
Christlike  methods  of  settling  international  disputes. 


524  WAK    AND    PEACE. 

The  limit  of  time  forbids  more  than  a  brief  allusion  to  those  evils  and 
to  the  perils  they  engender.  The  maintenance  of  the  enormous  armaments 
of  the  civilized  world  creates  a  constant  risk  of  war.  Lord  Wolseley,  the 
viritual  commander-in-chief  of  the  British  army,  said  but  two  years  ago : 
"There  is  hanging  over  us  a  war-cloud  greater  than  any  which  has  hung 
over  Europe  before.  It  means  when  it  bursts — and  burst  it  will  as  sure 
as  the  sun  rises  to-morrow — it  means  a  war  of  extinction,  of  devastation, 
between  armed  nations,  whose  populations  are  trained  to  fight." 

It  is  not  in  the  time  of  war  alone  that  the  necessity  for  introducing  some 
more  rational  system  is  made  evident;  the  evils  of  militaryism  in  time  of 
peace  are  only  less  in  degree  than  those  afflicted  by  the  actual  outbreak  of 
war.  The  expense  of  maintaining  this  ever  augmenting  rivalry  in  arma- 
ments justifies  the  epigram  of  Bastiat,  that  "  the  ogre  of  war  costs  as  much 
for  his  digestion  as  for  his  meals."  It  necessitates  an  annual  taxation  in 
Europe  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  millions  of  money,  and  requires  for  the 
existing  war-footing  of  European  armies,  including  second  reserves,  a 
force  amounting  to  the  stupendous  number  of  seventeen  million  men. 
While  such  a  state  of  things  exists  it  is  impossible  for  the  prophecy  to  be 
fulfilled  which  bids  us  look  for  the  time  when  "  nation  shall  not  lift  hand 
against  nation,  neither  shall  they  learn  war  any  more."  This  grievous  mil- 
itary taxation,  instead  of  diminishing,  is  increasing  year  by  year.  In 
twenty  years  the  national  debts  of  Europe  have  grown  from  £2,626,000,000 
to  £4,459,443,000,  or  about  $22,330,000,000. 

But  the  evils  do  not  end  with  this  waste  of  money,  great  as  it  is.  The 
very  existence  of  a  large  standing  army  is  a  source  of  demoralization.  It 
incorporates  a  body  of  men  who  may  have  to  surrender  their  consciences 
at  the  command  of  their  superior  officers,  and  to  obey  his  orders  even 
though  they  be  in  conflict  with  their  own  views  of  what  is  right.  Lord 
Salisbury,  proposing  a  toast  to  the  army  and  navy  at  a  banquet  in  London, 
declared  that  "  It  is  frequently  the  case  that  soldiers  are  engaged  iu  en- 
terprises that  seem  to  them  useless  and  foolish,  that  they  have  been 
encountering  hardships  and  exposing  themselves  to  danger  and  death  for 
a  cause  that  is  entirely  disapproved  by  them ;  and  yet  they  never  flinch 
nor  falter.  They  fight  for  the  worst  minister  as  boldly  and  as  gallantly 
as  for  the  best."  This  approval  of  the  complete  surrender  of  liberty  of 
conscience  by  the  soldier  was  greeted  by  an  audience  of  Christian  gentle- 
men with  cheers. 

The  suffering  inflicted  upon  the  body  politic  and  the  injury  sustained 
by  morality  and  religion  through  war  and  its  institutions  are  enormous 
The  remedy,  simple  and  just,  is  at  hand.  The  question  arises.  Why  does 
the  remedy  remain  unapplied  ?  That  it  is  a  practical  remedy  the  declara- 
tions of  many  of  the  presidents  of  the  LTnited  States  have  proved.  Presi- 
dent Hayes,  in  his  inaugural  address,  said:  "Arbitration  points  to  a  new 
and  comparatively  the  best  instrumentality  for  the  preservation  of  peace." 
President  Garfield  in  1881  affirmed  that  arbitration  was  a  beneficent  rule 
for  the  conduct  of  all  governments.  Eight  Parliaments,  including  those 
of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  have  passed  resolutions  in  favor 


ESSAY    OF   THOMAS    SNAPE.  525 

of  the.  principle.  Why,  then,  I  ask  again,  is  the  remedy  so  largely  inef- 
fectual and  unapplied  ?  The  answer  which  most  concerns  this  Conference 
is  that  in  no  small  degree  the  evil  continues  because  of  the  silence  of  the 
Church  with  reference  to  it,  and  because  of  the  actual  sanction  that  min- 
isters of  religion  and  the  peoples  and  governments  of  Christendom  have 
given  to  war.  Even  the  London  Times  has  described  war  as  "  a  living  lie 
in  a  Christian  land,"  and  Theodore  Parker  with  remorseless  logic  affirmed 
that,   "  If  war  l)c  right,  then  Christianity  is  wrong." 

In  time  of  actual  strife  the  Church  refuses  to  speak,  lest  she  should 
offend  her  members  who  are  supporters  of  the  government  which  is  re- 
sponsible for  the  war.  In  time  of  peace  she  lulls  herself  to  slumber  or 
sends  her  highest  dignitaries  to  invoke  the  divine  blessing  at  the  launch- 
ing of  ships  of  war.  The  chaplains  she  appoints  to  the  army  are  not 
there  to  advise  men  to  "  learn  war  no  more,"  or  to  expose  the  evils  of  a 
system  that,  despite  the  scriptural  injunction,  makes  public  provision  for 
the  flesh  to  fulfill  the  lusts  thereof,  and  fosters  all  the  vices  of  military  life. 
Prayers  are  uttered  by  those  who  should  be  the  embassadors  for  the 
Prince  of  peace  for  the  success  of  the  respective  combatants  on  whose  side 
they  serve.  Such  prayers,  if  genuinely  paraphrased,  can  only  mean: 
"Lord,  forgive  our  enemies,  but  deliver  them  to  death.  Pardon  their 
offenses  against  thee,  but  assist  us  to  slay  them  for  their  offenses  against 
us."  Thanksgivings  are  offered,  now  by  one  side  and  now  by  the  other, 
as  the  tide  of  victory  ebbs  or  flows,  and  both  prayers  and  thanksgivings 
create  so  many  occasions  for  scoffers  to  ridicule  and  for  the  enemy  to  blas- 
pheme. 

Though  the  Church  should  have  been  alive  to  her  responsibility,  and 
should  have  set  herself  as  a  rock  against  nations  pursuing  this  fratricidal 
strife;  though  "  the  burden  of  the  Lord  "  should  have  been  upon  her  as 
upon  the  prophets  of  old  to  declare  the  truth  with  no  uncertain  sound,  it 
has  been  left  to  God-fearing  statesmen  like  John  Bright  and  Henry  Rich- 
ard to  deliver  the  message  which  she  should  have  spoken.  It  was  John 
Bright  who  arose  in  his  place  in  the  House  of  Commons  and  reproached 
Parliament  and  the  country  for  the  slaughter  in  Afghanistan  by  the  sol- 
diers of  Christian  England.  These  were  his  words  in  that  assembly:  "  I 
say,  let  us  abandon  our  pretensions,  let  us  no  longer  claim  to  be  Chris- 
tians, let  us  go  back  to  the  heathen  times  whilst  we  adhere  to  the  heathen 
practices.  Take  down,  at  any  rate,  your  ten  commandments  from  inside 
your  churches,  and  say  no  longer  that  you  read  or  believe  in  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount." 

The  apathy  of  the  Churches  upon  this  question  is  less  easily  understood 
when  it  is  remembered  that  some  of  the  most  prominent  leaders  of  religious 
life  and  thought,  though  they  have  been  too  often  as  the  voice  crying  in  the 
wilderness,  have  from  time  to  time  given  unmistakable  testimony  against 
this  evil.  The  founder  of  Methodism,  John  Wesley  himself,  declared 
more  than  a  century  ago:  "  There  is  a  horrid  reproach  to  the  Christian 
name.  There  is  war  in  the  world ;  war  between  men;  war  between  Chris- 
tians.    Surely  all  our  declarations  upon  the  strength  of  human  reason  and 


526  WAR    AND    PEACE. 

the  eminence  of  our  virtue  are  no  more  than  the  cant  and  jargon  of  pride 
and  ignorance  as  long  as  there  is  such  a  thing  as  war  in  the  world."  The 
greatest  of  living  American  poets,  J.  G.  Whittier,  wrote  me  a  few  days 
ago  rejoicing  that  "the  all-important  subject  of  peace  and  arbitration  is 
to  come  before  this  great  world-conference  of  Methodism  at  Washington." 
And  he  adds:  "  War  involves  the  violation  of  every  precept  of  the  divine 
Master.  As  John  Wesley  said  of  slavery  at  the  time  it  was  tolerated  and 
practiced  by  all  Christian  nations,  it  is  'the  sum  of  all  wickedness.'  I 
cannot  but  hope  that  the  time  is  not  far  off  when  the  zeal,  self-sacrifice, 
and  indomitable  energy  which  have  made  Methodism  a  power  in  the  world 
shall  be  directed  against  the  dreadful  evil."  His  letter  closes  with  the 
words:  "I  bid  thee  God-speed,  and  pray  that  the  time  may  not  be  far 
distant  when  the  Christian  Churches  of  all  sects  will  unite  in  efforts  to 
make  war  no  longer  possible."  The  history  of  human  jDrogress  gives  evi- 
dence that  this  need  be  no  Utopian  dream.  Provincial  wars  have  long 
ago  ceased  to  be  waged.  The  appeal  to  arms  by  the  duello  in  private  life 
has  been  banished  from  British  society,  and  trial  by  battle  is  no  longer  the 
edict  of  British  law.  Yet  both  these  latter  practices  have  only  disap- 
peared during  the  present  century.  At  the  close  of  last  century  their 
abolition  would  have  appeared  as  impossible  to  some  doubters  as  the  sub- 
stitution of  arbitration  for  war  seems  to-day. 

If  it  be  urged  that  there  are  questions  too  grave  to  be  dealt  with  by 
international  arbitration,  or  that  there  might  possibly  be  some  cases  in 
which  arbitration  would  fail  to  secure  peace,  it  is  still  incumbent  upon  a 
civilized  and  Christian  world  to  leave  no  stone  unturned  to  bring  about 
the  adoption  of  this  principle  wherever  it  can  be  applied.  One  single 
war  averted,  with  all  its  appalling  horrors  and  its  calamitous  results,  would 
be  more  than  an  ample  reward  for  any  effort  that  the  Church  could  put 
forth  to  induce  the  Powers  to  settle  their  differences  by  an  appeal  to  reason 
instead  of  a  resort  to  the  sword. 

Upon  this  continent,  more  perhaps  than  in  any  part  of  the  world,  are 
encouragements  of  the  most  cheering  kind  for  the  promotion  of  these 
efforts  until  they  bring  about  international  peace.  It  was  here,  and  in  a 
State  very  near  to  the  District  of  Columbia  in  which  we  meet,  that  William 
Penn  successfully  founded  his  colony  on  the  basis  of  these  principles  of 
justice  and  peace.  It  was  with  the  United  States  that  the  mother-coun- 
try of  Great  Britain  opened  a  chapter  in  history  which  will  be  to  all  futm-e 
generations  one  of  the  most  memorable,  and  for  which  undying  gratitude 
will  be  cherished  in  every  age.  When  the  smoldering  embers  of  hatred 
between  our  two  nations  were  being  fanned  into  a  flame,  the  great  states- 
men of  both  countries  agreed  to  settle  by  arbitration  the  differences  that 
had  arisen  out  of  the  war  betwixt  the  North  and  the  South.  By  the  Ala- 
bama arbitration  they  established  at  Geneva  a  practical  illustration  of  the 
large  possibilities  that  lie  within  our  reach,  and  they  set  a  noble  example 
to  all  future  generations  of  the  principle  that  should  prevail  with  every 
Christian  Power. 

The.  strength  of  the  forces  arrayed  against  the  progress  of  this  principle 


ESSAY    OF   THOMAS    SNAPE.  527 

should  be  no  discouriigemeut  to  the  sous  of  those  nations  that  abolished 
slavery  forever  from  their  soil.  The  American  Autislavery  Society  com- 
menced with  twelve  meml)er,s.  Within  three  yeai-s  two  hundred  anti- 
slavery  societies  had  been  established  in  the  United  States.  In  seven  years 
they  had  increased  to  two  thousand.  It  became  then  only  a  question  of 
time,  which  has  happily  long  ago  been  realized,  when  slavery  should  be 
abolislicd.  Similar  results  might  as  readily  he  secured  with  reference  to 
war  if  the  Christian  ministers  and  Christian  Churches  of  those  lands 
would  exert  the  influence  at  their  command  in  favor  of  international  ar- 
bitration. Said  Charles  Sumner  in  his  magniticeut  address  on  "  The  True 
Grandeur  of  the  Nations  :  "  "Christian  ministers  should  look  no  longer 
to  the  opinion  and  practices  of  the  peoi)le,  but  to  the  Christian  Scriptures 
which  they  preach  ;  "  and  John  Bright  in  one  of  his  later  eloquent  ad- 
dresses, appealing  to  Christians,  said  :  "I  believe  it  lies  within  the  power 
of  the  Churches  to  do  far  more  than  statesmen  can  do  in  matters  of  this 
kind.  I  believe  that  they  might  soon  bring  this  question  home  to  the 
hearts  and  consciences  of  their  congregations,  that  a  great  combination  of 
public  opinion  might  be  created  which  would  wholly  change  the  aspect 
of  tills  question  in  this  country  and  before  the  world,  and  would  bring  to 
the  minds  of  statesmen  that  they  are  not  rulers  of  the  people  of  Greece,  or 
of  the  marauding  hordes  of  ancient  Rome,  but  that  they  are,  or  ought  to 
be,  the  Christian  rulers  of  a  Christian  people." 

The  poets,  with  seer-like  prescience  and  vivid  faith  in  human  prog- 
ress, have  looked  forward  to  the  time  when  the  principle  of  righteous- 
ness, and  not  of  warlike  force,  shall  prevail  among  the  nations;  when  jus- 
tice, instead  of  might,  shall  be  the  guiding  principle  of  the  civilized 
world;  "when  the  war-drum  throbs  no  longer,"  because  international 
disputes  are  settled  by  ar])itration,  and  not  by  the  brutal  arbitrament  of 
the  sword.     Edwin  Arnold,  in  "  The  Light  of  the  World,"  exclaims: 

"What  lack  of  Paradise 

If,  in  angelic  wise. 
Each  unto  each,  as  to  himself,  were  dear  ? 

If  we  in  souls  descried 

Whatever  form  might  hide. 
Own  brother  and  own  sister  every-where  ? " 

And  the  words  of  Lord  Tennyson  speak  of  the  coming  time,  when 

"  The  common  sense  of  most  shall  hold  a  fretful  realm  in  awe. 
And  the  kindly  earth  shall  slumber,  lapt  in  universal  law." 

In  the  scriptural  passages  read  at  the  opening  services  of  this  Ecumen- 
ical Conference  the  prospect  opening  out  before  God's  people  was  de- 
scribed in  those  beautiful  words  of  Holy  Writ,  ' '  Ye  shall  be  led  forth 
with  peace,"  and  declared  of  our  Saviour:  "  His  name  shall  be  called  the 
Prince  of  peace."  We  repeated  together  those  inspiring  words  referring 
to  our  Lord,  "  Of  the  increase  of  his  government  and  of  peace  there  shall 
be  no  end."     If  these  prophecies  are  to  be  fulfilled,  if  the  message  of  the 


528  WAR    AND    PEACE. 

advent-song  is  to  be  realized  among  men,  the  Church  must  be  the  agent 
by  which  these  glories  are  to  be  brought  to  pass.  Let  her  arise  in  all  the 
might  of  her  divine  strength  to  abolish  war,  to  establish  international  ar- 
bitration and  peace,  and  then  shall  come,  as  her  abiding  reward,  the 
benediction  of  the  Most  High,  "  Blessed  are  the  peace-makers:  for  they 
shall  be  called  the  children  of  God." 

At  this  period  in  the  session  Benjamin  Harrison,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  of  America,  visited  tlie  Conference. 
He  was  presented  to  the  Chairman  of  the  day  by  the  Rev.  J. 
M.  King,  D.D.,  and  the  Rev.  G.  H.  Corey,  D.D.,  pastor  of  the 
MetropoHtan  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  by  the  Chair- 
man was  introduced  to  the  Conference.  The  body  unanimously 
rose  to  its  feet  in  recognition  of  the  presence  of  its  distin- 
guished visitor.  President  Harrison  then  addressed  the  Con- 
ference in  the  following  appropriate  remarks,  speaking  partic- 
ularly on  the  subject  of  "  International  Arbitration : " 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Conference :  I  come  here  this  morn- 
ing to  make  an  expression  of  my  resjject  and  esteem  for  this  great  body 
of  delegates  assembled  from  all  the  countries  of  the  world,  and  much  more 
to  give  a  manifestation  of  my  respect  and  love  for  that  greater  body  of  Chris- 
tian men  and  women  for  whom  you  stand.  Every  Christian  Ecumenical 
Conference  is  a  distinct  ste]}  in  the  direction,  not  only  of  the  unification 
of  the  Church,  but  of  the  unification  of  humanity.  Assembling  from 
countries  unlike  in  their  civil  institutions,  from  Churches  not  wholly  in  ac- 
cord as  to  doctrine  or  church  order,  you  come  together  to  find  that  the 
unlikeness  is  not  so  great  as  you  had  thought,  and  to  find  your  common 
sympathies  and  common  purposes  greater  and  larger  than  you  had  thought 
— large  enough  presently  to  overspread  and  to  extinguish  all  these  transi- 
tory lessons  of  division. 

I  am  glad  to  know  that  as  followers  of  Wesley,  whose  hymns  we  sing, 
you  have  been  in  consultation  as  to  the  method  and  time  by  which  these- 
minor  divisions  among  you  might  be  obliterated.  It  is  the  natural  order 
that  subdivisions  should  be  wiped  out  before  the  grand  divisions  of  the 
Church  can  be  united.  Who  does  not  greatly  rejoice  that  the  controversial 
clash  of  the  Churches  is  less  than  it  once  was;  that  we  hear  more  of  the 
Master  and  his  teachings  of  love  and  duty  than  of  hair-splitting  theological 
differences  ?  I  recall  many  years  ago,  while  visiting  a  watering-place  in 
Wisconsin,  when  the  Sabbath  came  around  I  went  with  some  friends  to 
the  little  Methodist  church  in  an  adjoining  village.  The  preacher  under- 
took to  overthrow  my  Presbyterianism.  An  irreverent  friend  who  sat  be- 
side me,  as  the  young  man  delivered  his  telling  blows  against  Calvinism, 
was  constantly  emphasizing  the  points  made  by  nudging  me  with  his  el- 
bow. Now,  I  am  glad  to  recall  that,  although  very  often  since  then  I  have 
worshiped  in  Methodist  churches,  that  is  the  last  experience  of  that  kind 
I  have  had. 

You  have  to-day  as  the  theme  of  discussion  the  subject  of  international 
arbitration,  and  this  being  a  public  and,  in  a  large  sense  of  the  word,  a 
political  question,  perhaps  makes  my  presence  here  as  an  officer  of  the 
United  States  especially  appropriate.     It  is  a  curious  incident  that  on  this 


ADDRESS    OF   TRESIDENT   HARRISON.  529 

day  appointed  by  me  some  days  ago,  and  before  I  was  aware  of  the  theme 
of  the  occasion  which  we  have  here  this  morning,  I  had  appointed  this 
afternoon  to  visit  the  great  gun  foundry  of  the  United  States  at  the  navy- 
yard.  Things  have  come  in  tlieir  proper  sequence.  I  am  here  at  this  ar- 
bitration meeting  before  I  go  to  the  gun  foundry. 

This  subject  is  one  which  has  long  attracted  the  attention,  and  I  tliink 
I  may  say  has,  perhaps,  as  greatly  attracted  the  interest  and  adherence,  of 
the  United  States  as  that  of  any  other  Christian  Power  in  the  world.  It 
is  known  to  you  all  that  in  the  recent  Conference  of  the  American  States 
at  Washington  the  proposition  was  distinctly  made  and  adopted  by  the 
representatives  of  all,  or  nearly  all,  of  the  governments  represented,  as  ap- 
plied to  this  hemisphere,  that  all  international  disputes  should  bo  settled  by 
arbitration.  Of  course  there  are  limitations  as  yet,  in  the  nature  of  things, 
to  the  complete  and  gtmeral  adoption  of  such  a  scheme.  It  is  quite  possi- 
ble to  apply  arbitration  to  a  dispute  as  to  a  boundary-line;  it  is  quite  im- 
possible, it  seems  to  me,  to  apply  it  to  a  case  of  international  feud.  If 
there  is  present  a  disposition  to  subjugate,  an  aggressive  spirit  to  seize 
territory,  a  spirit  of  national  aggrandizement  that  does  not  stop  to  con- 
sider the  rights  of  other  men  and  other  people,  to  such  a  case  and  such  a 
spirit  international  arbitration  has  no,  or,  if  any,  a  remote  and  difficult,  ap- 
plication. It  is  for  a  Christian  sentiment,  manifesting  itself  in  a  nation, 
to  remove  forever  snch  causes  of  dispute,  and  then  what  remains  will  be 
the  easy  subject  of  adjustment  by  fair  international  arbitration. 

But  I  had  not  intended  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  this  great  theme, 
for  the  setting  forth  of  which  you  have  appointed  those  who  have  given 
it  special  attention.  Let  me,  therefore,  say  simply  this:  that  for  myself, 
temporarily  in  a  place  of  influence  in  this  country,  and  much  more  for  the 
great  body  of  citizenship,  I  express  the  desire  of  America  for  peace  with  the 
whole  world.  It  would  have  been  vain  to  suggest  the  pulling  down  of  block- 
houses or  family  disarmament  to  the  settlers  on  a  hostile  Indian  frontier. 
They  wovdd  have  told  you  rightly  tliat  the  conditions  were  not  ripe.  And 
so  it  may  be  and  is  probably  true  that  a  full  application  of  the  principle  is 
not  presently  possible,  the  devil  still  being  unchained.  We  will  still  have 
our  gun  foundries,  and  possibly  will  best  promote  the  settlement  of  inter- 
national disputes  by  arbitration,  by  having  it  understood  that  if  the  appeal 
is  to  fiery  tribunal  we  shall  not  be  out  of  the  debate.  There  is  a  unity  of 
the  Church  and  of  humanity,  and  the  lines  of  progress  are  the  same. 

It  is  by  this  great  Christian  sentiment,  characterized  not  only  by  a  high 
sense  of  justice,  but  by  a  spirit  of  love  and  forbearance,  mastering  the  civil 
institutions  and  governments  of  the  world,  that  we  shall  approach  univer- 
sal peace  and  adopt  arbitration  methods  of  settling  disputes. 

Let  me  thank  you,  !Mr.  Chairman,  and  you,  gentlemen  of  this  Confer- 
ence, for  the  privilege  of  standing  before  you  for  a  moment  and  for  this 
most  cordial  welcome  which  you  have  given  to  me.  I  beg  to  renew  my 
high  appreciation  of  the  character  of  this  delegation  and  of  the  member- 
ship of  the  great  Church  from  Avhich  you  come;  I  hope  that  in  your  re- 
maining deliberations  and  in  your  journeys  to  your  far  distant  homes  you 
may  have  the  guidance  and  care  of  that  God  whom  all  revere  and  worship. 

At  the  conclusion  of  liis  address  President  Harrison  witli- 
drew  from  the  Conference  room,  in  the  company  of  Sir  Julian 
Pauncefote  and  of  Secretaries  Foster  and  Xoble,  the  Confer- 
ence rising  to  its  feet  in  respect  for  its  retiring  visitors. 


530  WAR    AND    PEACE. 

The  programme  of  the  day  was  resumed,  and  the  Hon.  J.  D. 
Tayloe,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  gave  the  follow- 
ing invited  address  on  the  subject  of  the  day : 

Mr.  President :  For  thousands  of  years  there  has  existed  among  men  the 
dream  of  a  golden  agp — an  age  of  universal  peace.  Inspired  by  this  dream, 
Socrates  conceived  his  great  system  of  philosophy,  Plato  his  idea  of  a  re- 
public, Cicero  his  plan  of  a  commonwealth;  and  these  visions  of  wliat  the 
world  ought  to  be  kindled  and  have  kept  alive  the  embers  of  a  higher  and 
better  civilization.  This  hope  of  a  better  day,  which  was  cherished 
through  centuries  of  darkness,  before  the  sunlight  of  divine  revelation 
flashed  across  the  world  as  well  as  since,  to  hasten  the  coming  of  which 
the  good  and  true  of  all  ages  have  freely  given  their  lives,  must  be  some- 
thing more  than  a  dream. 

There  is  every-where  a  feeling  that  something  is  wrong,  that  this  world 
is  not  what  it  ought  to  be.  A  struggle  is  going  on  between  the  strong 
and  the  weak,  the  powerful  and  the  feeble,  the  rulers  and  the  ruled.  The 
golden  age  has  not  yet  come.  In  the  world's  history  there  has  never  been 
but  one  great  Teacher  who  pointed  out  the  way  to  the  golden  age — the 
Teacher  of  Nazareth,  of  whose  mission  the  angels  sang,  "Peace  on  earth, 
good-will  toward  men ; "  and  unless  we  follow  his  teaching  the  goal  of 
universal  peace  will  never  be  reached.  In  all  the  ideas  of  a  golden  age 
which  have  come  down  to  us,  from  whatever  source,  ancient  or  modern, 
from  whatever  land,  heathen  or  Christian,  there  is  this  central  thought — 
it  is  to  be  an  age  of  peace. 

The  history  of  the  world  is  but  the  history  of  war.  War  has  been  the 
rule,  peace  the  excejDtion.  "War  for  ambition,  war  for  dominion,  war  for 
revenge;  war,  war,  war!  For  six  thousand  years  the  nations  of  tho  earth 
have  been  employing  this  method  of  settling  disputes.  It  was  brute  force 
six  thousand  years  ago;  it  is  brute  force  now.  There  never  was  a  time 
when  there  should  be  so  few  men  engaged  in  preparations  for  war;  and 
never  in  modern  times  have  there  been  so  many.  The  great  Powers  of 
Europe  are  maintaining  at  the  present  time,  in  actual  service,  not  less  than 
4,000,000  soldiers,  at  an  annual  expense  of  not  less  than  $3,000,000,000, 
besides  the  expense  of  keeping  in  readiness  for  war  an  additional  force  of 
not  less  than  10,000,000  reserves.  The  $20,000,000,000  of  indebtedness 
which  hangs  over  Europe  like  a  cloud  of  devastation  is  being  increased 
from  year  to  year,  and  the  crushing  burdens  of  taxation  are  growing  more 
and  more  onerous.  These  great  masses  of  men  are  withdrawn  from  the 
producing  classes,  and  must  necessarily  be  supported  by  those  who  arc  not 
able,  or  who  are  not  called  upon,  to  do  military  duty.  But  the  withdrawal 
of  these  men  from  industrial  employments,  to  be  supported  by  the  toil  of 
others,  is  by  no  means  the  worst  feature.  Pecuniary  burdens  are  as  noth- 
ing when  compared  with  the  dreadful  consequences  of  war — the  infuriated 
charge  of  the  sword  and  bayonet,  the  fields  of  blood  and  carnage,  the 
groans  of  the  wounded  and  dying,  the  gloom  of  the  camp  and  hospital, 
shattered  homes  and  broken  hearts,  wasted  fields  and  ruined  cities.    What 


ADDRESS    OF    HON.    J.    D.    TAYLOR.  531 

book  of  accounts  cau  cvlt  record  the  cost,  what  tribunal  of  justice  cuu  ever 
pass  judgment  upon  the  guilt  of  war? 

But  the  practical  question  is,  What  can  be  done?  Is  war  ever  right?  Is 
war  ever  necessary?  Is  war  ever  justifiable?  Can  it  be  dispensed  with 
this  side  of  the  millennium?  Has  the  time  come,  the  golden  age,  when  it 
is  the  duty  of  a  nation  to  disband  its  army  and  navy,  close  its  military 
schools,  beat  its  swords  into  plow-shares,  and  its  spears  into  pruniug- 
hooks?  For  example,  would  the  English  government  be  justilied  in  mus- 
tering out  of  service  all  the  soldiers  and  sailors  in  the  British  army,  and 
in  thus  saying  to  the  nations  whose  eagle  eyes  are  always  upon  the  British 
flag,  and  to  her  dependent  colonies  which  encircle  the  globe,  that  the 
British  government  will  never  iire  another  gun  or  launch  another  ship  of 
war?  These  are  difficult  questions  to  answer.  "Whether  the  stable 
should  be  left  unlocked,  the  door  of  the  home  unfastened,  the  nation 
without  an  army  or  navy,  is  a  great  problem,  and  a  problem  not  easy  of 
solution. 

Though  war  presents  some  of  the  blackest  pages  in  the  world's  history, 
we  cannot  withhold  our  sjonpathies  from  struggles  whose  only  ol)ject  has 
been  to  overthrow  tyranny  and  defend  the  rights  of  man.  We  cannot  for- 
get Marathon  and  the  handful  of  bi'ave  men,  who  in  that  memorable  con- 
flict drove  back  the  Persian  hordes  and  saved  Europe  from  the  storm- 
cloud  of  Asiatic  barbarism.  Nor  the  bloody  field  of  Tours,  where  Chris- 
tendom was  rescued  from  the  sword  and  civilization  of  the  conquering 
tribes  of  Islam.  Nor  can  we  forget  the  struggle  in  our  own  land,  and  in 
our  own  time,  where  we  were  brought  face  to  face  with  one  of  the  fiercest 
conflicts  the  world  has  ever  seen,  ui)on  the  result  of  which  hung  the  freedom 
or  slavery  of  four  millions  of  human  beings,  and  the  perpetuity  of  the  re- 
public. We  remember  too  well  the  dreadful  alternative  presented — dis- 
union, secession,  human  bondage,  and  perpetual  enmity  Ijetween  the  sec- 
tions, or  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion — war.  Every  concession  that 
could  be  offered  had  been  made,  peace  commissioners  appointed,  concilia- 
tory proclamations  issued.  State  rights  assured,  the  protection  of  slavery 
where  it  then  existed  guaranteed,  and  the  only  answer  was  the  near  ap- 
proach of  the  Southern  army  to  the  national  capital.  In  that  supreme 
hour  what  was  the  duty  of  the  government,  to  put  down  the  rebellion, 
to  prevent  the  dismemberment  of  the  Union,  to  save  the  life  of  the  repub- 
lic, with  (me  flag  and  one  constitution,  or,  to  do  as  many  then  advised, 
"  Let  the  way  ward  sisters  depart  in  peace?"  Realizing  the  character  of 
this  fearful  struggle,  the  sufferings  and  sacrifices  of  the  brave  men  who 
achieved  the  result,  who  can  doubt  the  wisdom  of  the  nation  in  putting 
down  the  rebellion  and  breaking  the  shackles  from  every  slave? 

With  the  history  of  the  centuries  and  the  history  of  our  own  time  ]>e- 
fore  me,  I  cannot,  with  human  eyes,  see  how  nations  which  were  clearly  in 
the  right,  and  acted  only  on  the  defensive,  could  have  done  otherwise 
than  they  did;  but  with  the  light  of  divine  revelation  before  me,  I  think 
it  possible  that  all  the  beneficent  results  which  we  attribute  to  war  might 
have  been  reached  in  some  other,  and  in  some  better,  way.    And  while  we 


532  WAK    AND    PEACE. 

may  not  agree  as  to  the  right  or  the  wrong  of  every  conflict,  we  will  all 
agree  that  very  few  of  the  wars  which  have  found  a  place  in  the  world's 
history  have  been  either  right,  necessary,  or  justifiable.  And  the  time  has 
certainly  come  when  Christian  nations  should  make  every  possible  effort 
to  dispense  with  the  arbitrament  of  war,  and  substitute  in  its  place  an  In- 
ternational Congress,  or  a  system  of  international  arbitration.  And  I  am 
glad  to  believe  that  the  world  is  moving  forward  in  this  direction. 

The  recent  Pan-American  Congress,  wliich  met  in  this  city,  made  a 
record  on  this  question  which  all  the  nations  would  do  well  to  copy.  The 
republics  of  North,  Central,  and  South  America,  with  one  or  two  excep- 
tions, adopted  arbitration  as  a  principle  of  American  international  law  for 
the  settlement  of  all  disputes  between  the  American  republics.  And  the 
words  of  Secretary  Blaine,  in  commending  this  resolution,  ought  to  be  as 
memorable  as  the  utterances  of  Lincoln  at  Gettysburg.  The  secretary 
said:  "  If  we  in  this  closing  hour  had  but  one  deed  to  celebrate,  we  should 
dare  to  call  the  world's  attention  to  the  deliberate,  confident,  and  solemn 
dedication  of  two  great  continents  to  peace,  and  to  the  prosperity  which 
has  peace  for  its  foundation.  We  hold  up  this  new  magna  charta.  which 
abolishes  war  and  substitutes  arbitration  between  the  American  republics, 
as  the  first  and  great  fruit  of  the  International  American  Congress." 

The  United  States  furnishes  an  example  of  what  can  be  done  to  dispense 
with  war.  We  have  forty-four  States  and  four  Territories  besides  Alaska. 
Many  of  these  are  larger  than  some  of  the  countries  of  Europe — larger  in 
extent  of  territory,  and  larger  in  population.  Each  State  is  supreme  in 
itself.  It  makes  its  own  laws,  provides  its  own  courts,  and  has  absolute 
control  of  all  questions  pertaining  to  the  State  government.  Some  of  the 
States  differ  as  Midely  as  some  of  the  countries  of  Europe,  and  yet  all  of 
these  forty-eight  distinct  governments,  so  to  speak,  are  prevented  from 
going  to  war  with  one  another  by  a  written  agreement  called  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States.  By  this  agreement  all  disputes  and  con- 
troversies are  submitted  to,  and  decided  by,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  decision  is  final.  The  judgment  of  this  court  is 
as  conclusive  as  a  conflict  of  arms  could  be,  and  much  more  likely  to  be 
just. 

Why  could  not  the  European  States  submit  their  controversies  to  a  sim- 
ilar tribunal  ?  What  objection  could  the  Emperor  of  Germany  or  the 
Sultan  of  Turkey  have  to  an  International  Congress  or  to  a  just  court  of 
international  arbitration  ?  What  objection  could  the  Queen  of  England 
have  ?  She  would  have  none.  The  pride  of  Christian  people  the  world 
over  is  that  England  has  not  only  "a  grand  old  man,"  whom  the  world 
delights  to  honor,  but  a  grand  and  noble  woman,  who  for  more  than  half 
a  century  has  held  the  crown  of  England  in  one  hand  and  the  cross  of 
the  world's  Redeemer  in  the  other,  never  allowing  her  devotion  to  the  one 
to  interfere  with  her  devotion  to  the  other. 

Before  I  close  I  want  to  impress  this  fact,  that  if  the  Christian  Church 
is  ever  to  reach  the  blazing  heights  of  the  world's  redemption,  if  Christian 
civilization  is  ever  to  reach  the  zenith  of  its  glory,  we  must  first  secure  the 


ADDRESS  OF  KEY.  ENOCH  SALT.  533 

disariuaiut'ut  of  all  the  uutious  of  the  world.  This  could  only  be  done  at 
the  jireseut  time  by  interuatioual  uyreement.  Every  army  on  the  face  of 
the  earth  should  be  disbanded,  and  the  navies  of  the  world  transformed 
into  a  merchant  marine,  which  would  Y)\ow  the  waves  of  every  sea  and 
be  welcome  in  every  port.  A  standing  army  is  really  an  element  of  weak- 
ness. No  nation  is  so  well  pre])arcd  for  war  as  the  nation  where  every 
citizen  is  a  producer  and  where  the  arts  of  peace  prevail.  No  army  is 
ever  so  strong  in  battle,  or  so  reliable  in  defending  the  nation's  life  or  the 
people's  liberties,  as  an  army  composed  of  men  who  are  citizens  as  well  as 
soldiers.  Besides,  a  government  can  prepare  for  war  a  thousand  fold  bet- 
ter by  educating  and  elevating  the  masses  of  the  people  than  it  can  by 
molding  cannon,  building  fortifications,  or  drilling  soldiers.  It  was  not  a 
standing  army  that  fought  the  great  battles  or  won  the  great  victories  in 
the  late  Civil  War.  This  was  d(jue  by  an  army  of  civilians,  the  owners  of 
the  land  they  tilled,  and  the  makers  of  the  laws  they  obeyed.  The  United 
States  has  no  standing  army  and  never  will  have.  A  standing  army  is 
against  the  genius  of  our  institutions,  and  contrary  to  the  will  of  our  peo- 
ple. We  have  a  few  thousand  soldiers  who  irritate  the  Indians  and  sup- 
press mobs  and  riots,  when  called  upon  by  the  States,  but  we  have  no 
standing  army,  although  we  have  more  sea-coast  than  any  other  country 
in  the  world.  The  taxes  necessary  to  support  a  standing  army  will  drain 
any  treasury  and  impoverish  any  people,  while  the  disarmament  of  the 
nations  will  lay  the  foundation  for  great  material  prosperity.  Commerce 
and  trade  will  find  new  pathways,  the  products  of  the  field  and  factory 
will  find  new  markets,  the  laboring  classes  will  find  new  employment,  and 
the  world  will  rejoice  in  abundance,  prosperity,  and  peace. 

And  now,  Mr.  President,  in  conclusion,  I  want  to  say  this:  Whether 
we  consider  this  question  in  its  moral  or  in  its  material  aspect,  in  its  ef- 
fects upon  individuals  or  nations,  the  triumphs  of  peace  are  always  greater 
than  the  triumphs  of  war.  And  it  seems  to  me  that  the  whole  world 
ought  to  be  ready,  with  outstretched  arms,  to  welcome  the  day  when 
wars  shall  cease,  when  the  nations  of  the  earth  shall  clasp  hands  in  a  com- 
mon brotherhood,  and  when  all  international  disputes  shall  be  settled 
without  the  sacrifice  of  a  human  life  or  the  shedding  of  a  drop  of  blood. 

The  Rev.  Enoch  Salt,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Chnrcli, 
gave  the  second  invited  address  of  the  day,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President  and  Brethren :  International  arbitration  is  a  topic,  not 
only  of  immense  and  urgent  importance,  but  one  which  the  Cliristiau 
Church  has  largely  neglected,  and  which  Christian  people  will  have  to 
take  up  in  the  future  in  a  very  different  way  than  they  have  in  the  past. 

In  this  discussion  let  us  acknowledge  the  debt  which  the  whole  Chris- 
tian world  owes  to  the  Society  of  Friends.  We  may  think  their  peace 
l)rinciples  extreme  and  impracticable,  though  it  is  open  to  doubt  w'hether 
they  are  a  whit  more  extreme  or  impracticable  than  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount.  Be  that  as  it  may.  their  ])rotest  against  war  and  the  war  spirit, 
against  standing  armies  and  military  armaments,  has  gone  forth  with  un- 


534  WAK   AND    PEACE. 

swerving  fidelity  and  unfaltering  courage  in  times  of  national  excitement 
as  in  times  of  profound  peace ;  and  if  they,  rather  than  the  war  prophets, 
had  been  listened  to,  some  of  the  greatest  sorrows  and  calamities  of  the 
world  would  have  been  avoided.  The  Crimean  War  may  be  mentioned 
as  an  illustration.  Few  persons  will  now  defend  that  war ;  yet  it  was  im- 
mensely popular  in  England  when  it  was  undertaken ;  and  John  Bright 
lost  his  seat  in  Parliament,  was  spat  upon  in  the  streets  of  Manchester, 
and  declared  worthy  to  be  shot  by  members  of  the  House  of  Commons  be- 
cause of  his  opposition  to  that  war. 

The  difficulty  with  average  Christians  is  not  to  propound  and  profess 
peace  sentiments  in  times  of  peace,  but  to  jDreserve  their  Christian  princi- 
ples and  their  common  sense  in  the  presence  of  some  real  or  fancied  ag- 
gression on  the  part  of  a  rival  nation.  It  is  well  in  a  time  of  peace  to  ex- 
amine the  question  of  war,  and  to  fortify  ourselves,  as  well  as  our  coasts, 
against  the  war  demon.  Let  us  he  thankful  for  the  progress  which  peace 
principles  are  making  in  our  day.  And  in  no  country  have  these  princi- 
ples made  greater  progress  than  in  the  United  States  of  America.  The 
forty-four  States  composing  the  Union  are  bound  by  the  Constitution  to 
refer  their  disputes  to  the  Federal  Court  for  peaceable  solution ;  and  the 
president  of  the  republic  is  authorized  and  requested  by  the  Congress  to 
invite  other  nations  to  enter  into  treaties  of  arbitration  with  the  United 
States  of  America. 

In  England,  also,  the  signs  of  progress  are  not  wantiug.  Jingoism,  if 
not  dead,  has  fallen  into  a  deep  sleep;  and  although  we  may  not  say  that 
the  frenzy  of  1877  and  1878  could  not  again  madden  our  people,  we  may 
at  any  rate  assert  that  a  wiser  and  worthier  spirit  is  now  prevalent,  and 
likely  to  prevail  more  and  more.  Lord  Derby  declared  that  the  greatest 
British  interest  is  peace,  and  all  sensible  Englishmen  agree  with  him. 
Nor  are  Englishmen  alone  in  this  estimate  of  peace.  The  German  em- 
peror, speaking  at  the  Guildhall,  London,  in  July  last,  said:  "My  aim  is 
above  all  the  maintenance  of  peace,  for  peace  alone  can  give  the  confi- 
dence which  is  necessary  to  the  healthy  development  of  science,  art,  and 
trade."     In  that  declaration  all  Europe  may  be  said  to  concur. 

Such  are  some  of  the  signs  of  the  times,  and  we  may  well  rejoice  in 
them.  But  there  are  signs  of  other  portent,  which  we  may  not  ignore. 
Europe  at  this  moment  is  armed  to  the  teeth ;  and  peace  in  such  circum- 
stances is  only  less  burdensome  than  war.  Indeed,  armed  peace  is  incip- 
ient war.  Such  is  Europe  to-day;  intensely  longing  for  peace,  yet  every- 
where preparing  for  war.  And  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  it  can  be  other- 
wise, so  long  as  the  present  method  of  upholding  national  honor  and  set- 
tling international  disputes  retains  its  ascendency.  If  the  arbitrament  of 
the  sword  is  to  be  the  reliance  of  the  future  as  of  the  past,  then  the 
European  nations,  situated  and  related  as  they  are,  must  have  plenty  of 
swords  and  plenty  of  men  ready  to  use  them. 

It  is  sometimes  argued  that  the  true  way  of  maintaining  peace  is  to  be 
prepared  for  war ;  but  there  is  reason  to  question  the  soundness  of  the  ar- 
gument.   Nations  that  are  ready  for  war  will  find  it  much  easier  to  go  to  war 


ADDEESS   OF   KEV.    ENOCH    SALT.  535 

than  nations  that  are  unready  and  know  it.  It  is  reasonable,  however,  to 
assume  that  the  size  of  modern  armies  and  the  destructive  power  of  mod- 
ern weapons  must  cause  mouarchs  and  statesmen  to  hesitate  before  plung- 
ing their  peoples  into  sanguinary  strife.  In  this  way,  the  perfection  of 
the  art  of  slaughter  may  check  its  practice  and  ultimately  contribute  to  its 
abandoimicnt.  But  before  war  can  be  abolished  two  things  will  have  to 
be  done.  A  Cliristian  conscience  in  regard  to  war  will  have  to  be  created, 
and  a  court  of  arbitration  for  the  settlement  of  international  disputes,  or 
some  equivalent  for  it,  will  have  to  be  established. 

How,  then,  are  these  Christian  ends  to  be  advanced?  By  preaching 
and  by  practice.  It  is  the  business  of  the  Christian  Church  to  proclaim 
that  Christianity  is  not  a  national,  but  a  cosmopolitan  religion ;  that  the 
Christian  spirit  is  not  a  racial,  but  a  humanitarian  spirit;  and  that  wai 
and  Christianity  are  mutually  destructive  forces.  The  war  spirit  is  an 
arch-enemy  of  Christ,  and  must  be  treated  accordingly  by  his  Church, 
The  Christian  Church  must  insist  upon  the  application  of  the  principles 
of  the  New  Testament  to  nations  as  well  as  individuals.  It  must  wrest 
strategical  positions  in  the  State  from  the  grasp  of  immoral  men.  It 
must  fill  the  local  and  imperial  legislatures  witli  men  that  believe  in  na- 
tional and  international  righteousness.  The  substitution  of  conciliation 
for  strife,  and  of  arbitration  for  war,  must  cease  to  be  a  pious  opinion, 
and  become  a  working  conviction.  Many  will  regard  the  project  as  im- 
practicable and  impossible';  but  that  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be 
attempted.  A  Christianity  that  contents  itself  w-ith  the  possible  and  the 
practicable  is  a  Christianity  that  has  lost  faith  in  itself  and  its  mission. 
The  difficulty  of  substituting  arbitration  for  war  will  be  enormous ;  but 
difficulties  exist  to  he  surmounted,  and  the  every-day  work  of  faith  is  to 
achieve  the  impossible.  Happily,  the  practicability  of  arbitration  is  no 
longer  ojien  to  doubt.  It  has  been  tried.  England  and  America  tried  it 
in  1871,  when  they  settled  the  Alahama  Claims.  They  have  tried  it  re- 
peatedly since,  and  it  has  proved  a  magnificent  success.  Guided  by  their 
e.xample,  other  nations  are  resorting  to  it  more  and  more;  and  it  appears 
to  be  the  will  of  Heaven  to  confer  upon  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  the  honor 
of  teaching  the  nations  of  the  world  to  substitute  friendly  arbitration  for 
bloody  strife  in  the  settlement  of  their  recurring  disputes. 

In  this  great  movement  the  Churches  of  England  and  America  must 
lead  the  way,  and  individual  Christians  must  take  their  several  parts. 
We  must  cast  the  war  spirit  out  of  our  own  hearts ;  we  must  avoid  stimu- 
lating it  in  the  hearts  of  others.  We  must  cultivate  the  habit  of  looking 
at  things  from  a  stand-point  not  our  own,  and  of  speaking  and  writing  of 
those  from  whom  we  differ  in  language  of  moderation  and  respect. 
Above  all,  we  must  have  faith  in  God.  When  we  believe  in  the  father- 
hood of  God,  we  shall  believe  in  the  brotherhood  of  men.  When  the  na- 
tions that  profess  the  Christian  religion  shall  believe  in  the  fatherhood  of 
God  and  the  brotherhood  of  men,  they  shall  beat  their  swords  into  plow- 
shares and  learn  war  no  more.  That  time  may  seem  a  long  way  off,  but 
it  is  coming. 


536  WAR   AND    PEACE. 

A  few  days  ago  I  stood  by  the  graves  of  two  illustrious  poets  and  no- 
ble men — Longfellow  and  Lowell.  To-day  we  may  fittingly  recall  their 
words,  and  strengthen  ourselves  in  their  faith.     Lowell  says : 

"Peace  is  more  strong  than  war,  and  gentleness. 

Where  force  were  vain,  makes  conquest  o'er  the  wave; 
And  love  lives  on,  and  hath  a  power  to  bless, 
When  they  who  loved  are  hidden  in  the  grave." 

.Longfellow,  rising  to  the  heights  of  Christian  prophecy,  says : 

"  Down  the  dark  future,  through  long  generations. 
War's  echoing  sounds  grow  fainter  and  then  cease; 
And  like  a  bell,  with  solemn,  sweet  vibrations, 

I  hear  once  more  the  voice  of  Christ  say,  '  Peace ! '  " 

Let  us  cherish  the  faith  of  Longfellow  and  of  Lowell,  and  work  with 
redoubled  energy  and  fidelity  for  its  fullfilment. 

The  general  discussion  of  the  day  was  introduced  by  Bishop 
J.  P.  Newman,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
in  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President:  War  can  only  be  abolished  by  the  Spirit  of  God  and  the 
infusion  of  his  love.  Patriotism  has  an  element  of  selfishness ;  true  phil- 
anthropy rises  above  it.  Men  who  illustrate  the  latter  spirit  consider 
other  countries  as  well  as  their  own.  I  suggest  the  foundation  of  a  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  civilized  world,  with  chief -justice  and  associate  jus- 
tices, before  whose  bar  the  representatives  of  the  nations  of  the  world 
must  appear  to  settle  their  difficulties.  As  for  the  disarmament  of  the 
nations  first,  I  do  not  l^elieve  it  practicable,  as  it  would  open  the  treasuries 
of  any  nation  and  the  lives  of  its  people  to  the  ravages  of  any  horde  that 
might  be  collected  to  attack  them. 


•'to' 


Mr.  Henry  J.  Farmer- Atkinson,  M.P.,  of  the  Weslejan 
Methodist  Church,  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  I  wish  to  say  that  I  am  thoroughly  in  favor  of  arbitra- 
tion, like  the  previous  speakers ;  but  England  will  never  go  into  another 
arbitration  case  with  one  hand  tied  behind  her  as  she  did  into  that  of  the 
Alabama.  As  to  promotion  of  peace,  the  war-ships  of  England  are  the 
best  members  of  the  Peace  Society  existing  at  the  present  time.  England 
does  not  want  any  body's  territory  and  will  do  no  injustice  to  any  one, 
but  she  will  keep  the  police  of  the  seas  in  proper  order.  The  nation  will 
pay  any  amount  necessary  to  make  it  certain  that  her  navy  can  dominate 
those  of  any  other  two  Powers  in  the  world.  She  keeps  her  fleet  for  the 
safety  of  her  trade  and  subjects.  She  does  not  look  about  to  see  what 
nation  she  can  devour. 

One  very  good  way  to  make  war  impossible  would  be  to  impose  an  income- 
tax  upon  working-men.  Some  of  them  receive  five  pounds  a  week,  mak- 
ing two  hundred  and  sixty  pounds  a  year,  and  pay  no  income-tax.  Little 
tradesmen,  making,  say,  one  hundred  and  sixty  pounds  gross  income  per 
annum,  must  wear  black  coats  and  kee]i  up  appearances  in  other  ways, 
risk  bad  debts,  and  pay  income-tax  as  well.     The  working-men  are  our 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  537 

masters,  if  they  but  kuew  it  aud  were  not  divided  among  themselves. 
Their  vote  may  any  day  decide  a  cjuestion  as  to  peace  or  v^'ar,  and  yet  the 
})riucipal  ex{)L'use  would  be  met  by  the  income-tax  payer  alone.  In  time 
of  war,  ten  pence  in  the  pound,  extra  income-tax,  would  immediately  raise 
above  twenty  millions  extra  per  annum. 

One  anecdote  about  arbitration  aud  I  have  done :  In  the  life  of  a  friend 
of  mine  (the  late  Rev.  B.  Ilellier,  known  to  many  here),  recently  published, 
there  is  an  account  of  an  arbitration  in  which  Messrs.  Stur<^e,  the  cele- 
brated corn  merchants  of  Birmingham,  were  parties.  They  won,  and  the 
partners  met  in  their  private  office  to  consider  the  result.  Finding  that 
they  had  been  awarded  two  hundred  and  fifty  ])ounds  too  much,  they  wrote 
to  their  opponents  saying  so  and  returning  that  sum.  If  any  one  from 
the  President  of  the  United  States  of  America  downward  finds  himself 
in  a  similar  position,  as  in  the  Alabama  case,  let  him  ' '  go  and  do  likewise." 

Mr.  T.  Ruddle,  B.A.,  of  tlie  Bible  Christian  Church,  offered 
the  followinoj  remarks: 

Mr.  Chairman:  In  reply  to  the  last  speaker,  I  beg  to  say  that  "Jingo- 
ism "  was  neither  the  creation  nor  the  foundling  of  the  working-men. 
''Jingoism"  was  born  in  the  Guildhall,  fostered  in  the  Times  newspa- 
per, aud  thrived  especially  in  West  Eud  club-houses.  Nor  is  it  the  fact 
that  working-men  do  not  contribute  to  war  expenses,  though  they  do  not 
pay  income-tax.  It  requires  no  very  2)rofound  knowledge  of  political  econo- 
my to  perceive  that,  in  the  last  resort,  war  expenses  were  paid  for  by  the 
industrial  classes.  Kings  and  statesmen  played  at  war  for  their  pleasure, 
but  the  poor  are  the  persons  who  were  knocked  down,  and  who,  in  the 
end,  i)aid  for  the  ammunition.  And  what  was  the  j^ractical  good  of  all 
this  outlay  of  blood  and  money?  In  nine  cases  out  of  ten  the  appeal  to 
the  sword  utterly  failed  to  achieve  the  end  at  first  contemplated.  All 
Europe  wan-ed  for  nineteen  years  to  crush  France,  and  yet  at  the  peace  of 
1815  France  remained  the  one  solid,  unshattercd  Power  in  Europe.  En- 
gland, -France,  and  Sardinia  combined  to  war  down  Russia,  and  to  jirop 
up  the  "sick  old  man."  To-day  Russia  is  stronger,  Turkey  is  sicker,  than 
ever.  For  results  like  these  we  fight,  and  bleed,  and  pay  our  taxes.  I 
do  not  deny  that  circumstances  may  arise  that  would  justify  war,  even  to 
the  death.  Such  circumstances  have  arisen.  Had  I  lived  in  England  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  I  would  have  fought  and  died — I  hope  so,  at  any 
rate — to  defend  our  country  against  the  fanatical  Philip  II.  Had  I  lived 
in  America  in  the  eighteenth  century,  I  would  have  fought — I  hope  I 
should — under  "Washington.  But  our  commercial  and  territorial  wars  are 
always  wicked  aud  wasteful,  and  sometimes  stu])cndously  wicked.  I  doubt 
if  the  history  of  the  whole  world  can  furnish  an  example  of  shameless  un- 
righteousness that  can  compare  with  our  opium  wars  in  C'liina.  Let  us 
learn  as  a  people  that  righteousness  alone  exalteth  a  nation ;  and  that  the 
golden  law  of  Christianity  applies  equally  to  governments  and  individuals. 

The  Rev.  J.  M.  Buckley,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  Chairman :  Nothing  so  promotes  peace  between  nations  as  travel. 
Insular  ])reju(li(es  are  lost.  One  of  the  most  beneficent  effects  of  the  first 
Ecumenical  Conference  was  the  increasing  regard  felt  by  the  people  of 
England  for  the  United  States,  and  by  the  people  of  the  United  States 
for  England.  Unquestionably,  this  Conference  will  contril)ute  to  the  per- 
petiiation  of  ])eace  between  these  two  great  Christian  nations. 

Marked  is  the  distiuctioa  that  must  be  made  between  personal  revenge 
37 


538  WAK    AND    PEACE. 

and  self-defense;  between  acts  that  spring  from  the  spirit  of  retaliation 
and  those  which  promote  justice.  It  cannot  be  sujjposed  that  Jesus  Christ 
meant  to  put  a  premium  upon  assault,  robbery,  and  murder.  It  is  the 
mistake  of  Count  Tolstoi",  in  My  Religion,  to  hold  that  the  principles 
of  Jesus  require  non-resistance.  Christianity  does  not  condemn  self- 
defense.  As  Bishop  Newman  observed,  no  nation  is  required  to  put  it- 
self in  such  a  position  as  to  tempt  any  horde  that  may  be  organized  to  lay 
waste  its  plains  and  valleys  and  to  pillage  its  towns  and  cities. 

The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  was  not  designed  by  its  terms,  literally  in- 
terpreted, to  regulate  human  conduct.  [Here  expressions  of  dissent  were 
heard.]  You  may  groan,  but  your  groans  will  not  prevent  either  th€ 
progress  or  the  expression  of  my  thought.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  was  antagonizing  the  retaliatory  principle  which 
had  prevailed  among  the  Jews — an  eye  for  an  eye,  anct  a  tooth  for  a 
tooth.  The  general  principle  upon  which  the  Christian  is  to  act  is  to  re- 
sist not  evil,  but  to  overcome  evil  with  good.  He  used  Oriental  figures  of 
speech  to  express  it.  "Whosoever  shall  smite  thee  on  thy  right  cheek, 
turn  to  him  the  other  also."  The  literal  doing  of  this  was  not  implied. 
"  And  if  any  man  will  sue  thee  at  the  law,  and  take  away  thy  coat,  let 
him  have  thy  cloak  also."  "And  whosoever  shall  compel  thee  to  go  a 
mile,  go  with  him  twain."  If  we  compare  what  our  Lord  said  on  an- 
other occasion,  we  shall  find  that  while  he  was  with  his  people  he  was 
their  example  and  protector;  when  he  threw  them  upon  their  own  re- 
sources, he  uttered  these  weighty  words,  which  I  commend  to  the  consid- 
eration of  those  who  think  that  self-defense  is  contrary  to  the  spirit  of 
Christ:  "  And  he  said  unto  them.  When  I  sent  you  without  purse,  and 
scrip,  and  shoes,  lacked  ye  any  thing?  And  they  said.  Nothing.  Then 
said  he  unto  them,  But  now,  he  that  hath  a  purse,  let  him  take  it,  and 
likewise  his  scrip :  and  he  that  hath  no  sword,  let  him  sell  his  garment, 
and  buy  one.  For  I  say  unto  you,  that  this  that  is  written  must  yet  be 
accomplished  in  me.  And  he  was  reckoned  among  the  transgressors:  for 
the  things  concerning  me  have  an  end.  And  they  said.  Lord,  behold, 
here  are  two  swords.     And  he  said  unto  them.  It  is  enough." 

And  what  did  the  apostles?  Did  not  St.  Paul  say:  "  They  have  beaten 
us  openly  uncondemned,  being  Romans,  and  have  cast  us  into  prison; 
and  now  do  they  thrust  us  out  privily  ?  nay  verily ;  but  let  them  come 
themselves  and  fetch  us  out." 

War  is  the  greatest  of  sins  unless  the  cause  is  just.  I  agree  with  Bishop 
Newman,  and  with  the  speech  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  that 
a  nation  prepared  to  defend  its  rights  is  in  the  best  condition  to  promote 
arbitration.  Let  us  every-M'here  seek  the  things  that  make  for  peace. 
When  compelled  to  defend  ourselves  as  individuals  or  a  nation,  let  us  do 
so  with  energy  sufficient  to  bring  our  enemies  as  soon  as  possible  into 
subjection.  As  judges  can  without  personal  malice  sentence  criminals  to 
prison  or  to  death,  so  nations  can  destroy  those  who  unjustly  attempt  to  con- 
quer them.  Let  the  great  movement  for  arbitration  be  put  upon  the  right 
principle.  Always  first  attempt  to  settle  questions  without  bloodshed; 
failing  in  that,  if  the  cause  be  just,  government  may  invoke  the  divine 
blessing  in  the  attempt  to  repel  invasion  or  suppress  internal  rebellion. 

Mr.    J.  J.  Maclaeen,    LL.D.,    of   the   Methodist   Church, 

Canada,  continued  the  discussion,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  I  desire  to  utter  an  emphatic  protest  against  the  doc- 
trine laid  down  by  my  friend  Dr.  Buckley,  that  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  is  not  applicable  to  nations  in  their  intercourse  with  each  other. 
The  relations  between  man  and  man  will  not  be  on  a  satisfactory  footing 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  539 

until  the  principles  of  that  sermon,  and  of  the  whole  moral  law  as  well, 
are  recognized,  not  only  l)y  individuals,  but  by  communities  and  nations. 
Men  often  do  in  their  corporate  or  collective  capacity  what  they  would 
scorn  to  do  as  individuals,  a  course  of  conduct  as  indefensible  as  it  is 
reprehensible.  There  is  no  time  now  to  discuss  the  Lord's  sermon  aa 
applicable  to  self-defense  by  individuals  or  nations.  I  claim,  however, 
that  what  is  morally  wrong  in  an  individual  cannot  be  morally  right  in  a 
nation.  The  commands,  "Remember  the  Sabbath  day,"  "Thou  shalt 
not  steal,"  "Thou  shalt  not  covet,"  are  binding  on  every  corporation, 
public  or  private,  on  every  conununity,  and  on  every  nation,  as  well  as 
on  every  man  in  his  private  capacity. 

One  anomalous  feature  of  this  discussion  this  morning  has  been  that, 
while  the  words  of  the  laymen  have  made  for  peace,  the  only  warlike 
notes  have  been  sounded  by  ministers.  We  have  been  specially  fortunate 
in  the  paper  in  which  our  lay-secretary  introduced  the  subject,  and  in 
the  admirable  address  from  the  President  of  the  United  States,  a  nation 
that  is  doing  so  much  to  put  an  end  to  war  by  so  diligently  cultivating 
the  arts  of  peace.  The  two  great  English-speaking  nations  have  by  their 
friendly  arbitrations  of  late  years  done  much  to  teach  to  other  countries 
the  better  way  and  to  render  war  between  themselves  impossible.  On 
Monday  next  there  will  be  witnessed  in  this  city  a  unique  spectacle.  In 
yonder  capitol  there  will  appear  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  the  representatives  of  Canada,  who,  with  the  sanction  and  approval 
of  the  government  of  Great  Britain,  will  sul^mit  to  that  august  body  their 
claim  against  the  government  of  the  United  States  for  an  alleged  viola- 
tion of  the  rules  of  international  law  in  the  Behring  Sea,  in  connection 
with  the  seal  fisheries.  If  such  an  international  court  as  has  been  here 
suggested  were  in  existence  that  would  have  been  the  proper  form  for  the 
decision  of  such  a  question.  Failing  this,  I  think  our  Canadian  goveru- 
'ment  has  set  a  noble  example  to  the  world,  in  submitting  its  case  to  a 
court  appointed  by  its  adversary,  thus  paying  to  that  tribunal  i^robably 
the  highest  compliment  that  was  ever  paid  to  such  a  body. 

I  do  not  think  it  a  visionary  dream  that  England  and  the  United  States, 
at  least,  shall  have  such  an  international  court  for  the  settlement  of  their 
difficulties — a  step  that  may  be  the  precursor  of  a  federation  of  these  two 
great  English-speaking  nations,  the  accomplishment  of  which  would 
constitute  them  the  moral  police  and  peace  preservers  of  the  world. 
England's  laureate  was,  I  think,  seer  as  well  as  poet,  when  he  looked 
into  the  future,  and  saw  the  time — a  time  that  may  not  be  so  far  distant 
as  some  of  us  imagine — 

"When  the  war-drum  throbs  no  longer,  and  the  battle  flags  are  furl'd, 
In  the  parliament  of  man,  the  federation  of  the  world." 

The  Rev.  William  Arthur,  M.A.,  of  theWesleyan  Method- 
ist Churcli,  offered  tlie  following  remarks : 

Mr.  President:  I  have  often  heard  persons  say  on  certain  occasions, 
"This  is  an  historic  day ; "  but  never  did  I  so  deeply  feel  on  any  occasion 
at  which  I  was  present  as  I  do  now  that  this  is  an  historic  day.  When  I 
saw  standing  there  the  representative  of  Queen  Victoria,  and  saw  yonder 
the  head  of  this  great  nation,  I  asked  myself :  Has  the  Atlantic  disap- 
peared? In  space,  the  Atlantic  holds  its  own;  in  time,  it  is  shrinking  year 
by  year  in  its  power  to  alienate.     Let  us  hope  that  it  will  soon  be  dried  up. 

I  remember  when  last  in  America, eleven  years  ago,  talking  with  Thinlow 
Weed  in  his  (juiet  study  in  Twelfth  Street,  New  York,  over  those  terril)le 
days  in  London  when  we  did  not  know  from  day  to  day  but  that  we 


540  AVAK    AND    PEACE. 

might  be  plunged  into  a  war  with  this  country  over  the  Trent  affair. 
Mr.  Weed  told  me  that  one  day  Lord  Russell  invited  him  to  lunch  at  the 
White  Lodge,  in  Richmond  Park,  and  he  thought  him  rather  cold.  He 
left  before  Mr.  Weed,  saying,  "  I  am  sorry  to  be  obliged  to  go,  but  I  have 
received  the  command  of  her  majesty,  and  am  obliged  to  attend  before 
her.  Lady  Russell  will  supply  my  lack  of  attention."  So  Lady  Russell 
and  Mr.  Weed  walked  in  the  garden,  and  she  said :  "  If  it  will  be  any 
comfort  to  you,  I  may  say  that  in  going  out  Lord  Russell  said  to  me, 
'You  may  tell  Mr.  Weed  that  the  queen  is  on  his  side.'  "  And  the  last 
act  of  a  public  kind  done  by  Prince  Albert  before  his  death  was  to  soften 
an  expression  in  the  dispatch  prepared  by  Lord  Russell  so  as  to  make  it 
more  acceptable  on  this  side  of  the  water. 

As  to  international  arbitration,  as  long  ago  as  1848,  in  discussing  it 
with  a  man  I  greatly  loved,  Elihu  Burritt,  the  learned  blacksmith— for 
we  often  talked  it  over  together  that  year  in  Paris,  amid  scenes  of  dis- 
turbance, amid  musketry  and  cannon — I  always  took  the  view  that  the 
one  thing  practical  at  which  to  aim  was  an  international  tribunal.  As  I 
thought  then,  so  do  I  think  now ;  a  tribunal  and  again  a  tribunal.  In 
reference  to  an  expression  of  my  friend,  Mr.  McLaren,  which  seems  too 
wide,  although  he  is  a  lawyer  and  I  am  not,  I  would  say  that  so  far  from 
the  duties  of  the  private  person  and  tlie  public  officer  being  identical,  it 
is  one  of  the  first  necessities  of  moral  teaching  to  train  the  individual 
not  to  take  into  his  own  hand  the  woi-k  of  public  justice. 

The  Rev.  John  Bond,  of  the  Wesleyan   Methodist  Church, 

concluded  the  discussion  of  the  day  in  the  following  words : 

Mr.  President :  The  closing  line  of  Longfellow,  just  quoted,  teaches  us 
how  peace  is  to  be  secured  among  the  nations.  The  voice  of  Christ  must 
say,  "Peace,"  the  Gospel  must  win  men  to  love  one  another,  and  then 
the  war  spirit  will  be  succeeded  by  the  spirit  of  peace  and  good-will.  The 
weak  are  willing  to  accept  arbitration,  but  not  so  the  strong.  In  a  con- 
versation that  I  had  some  years  since  with  Mr.  Gladstone,  he  said  to  me : 
"  War  is  never  to  be  justified  except  for  life  or  liberty."  With  liberty  I 
think  he  included  property.  Yet  with  all  his  detestation  of  war  he  has 
not  been  able  to  keep  the  British  nation  out  of  it.  An  army  is  a  national 
police,  and  until  national  rogues  cease  we  shall  no  more  be  able  to  do 
without  national  police  than  now  we  can  do  without  social  and  civil 
police.  But  arbitration  as  a  method  of  arranging  the  differences  between 
nations  should  be  urged  in  every  possible  case.  In  the  Alabama  case  a 
most  blessed  precedent  and  a  noble  example  were  set.  I  believe  it  was 
England  in  that  case  who  first  held  out  her  hand  and  said :  ' '  Let  us  settle 
the  case  by  arbitration."  The  United  States  accepted  the  hand.  The 
bitter  feud  was  extinguished,  and  blessed  shall  those  nations  be  that  will 
follow  that  illustrious  example.  The  world  will  bless  them  and  God  will 
honor  them. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Mitchell,  of  the  Primitive  Methodist 
Church,  rising  to  a  question  of  privilege,  on  behalf  of  the  Church 
he  represented,  expressed  satisfaction  with  the  explanatory 
statements  of  Mr.  Henry  J.  Farmer-Atkinson,  M.P.,  on  Friday. 

The  notices  were  given,  the  doxology  was  sung,  and  the  bene- 
diction was  pronounced  by  the  presiding  officer,  the  Rev.  T. 
G.  Williams,  D.D. 


BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS.  541 


ELEVENTH  BAY,  Monday,  October  19,  1891. 


TOPIC : 
THE  CHURCH  AND  PUBLIC  MORALITY. 


FIRST    SESSION 


THE  Conference  opened  at  10  A.  M.,  Mr.  William  Maes- 
den,  of  tlie  Weslejan  Reform  Union,  presiding.  The 
Scriptures  were  read  by  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Embry,  D.D.,  of  the 
African  Methodist  Episcopal  Chiircli,  and  prayer  was  offered 
by  tiie  Rev.  J.  Swann  Withington,  of  the  United  Methodist 
Free  Church. 

Tlie  Journal  of  the  session  of  tlie  tenth  day  was  read, 
amended,  and  approved. 

The  following  memorials  were  read  by  their  titles  and  re- 
ferred to  the  Business  Committee  : 

1.  A  memorial  on  the  visit  of  tlie  President  of  the  United  States,  re- 
questing that  the  Business  Committee  prepare  a  suitable  minute  thereof, 
for  entry  in  the  volume  of  proceedings. 

2.  A  memorial  of  the  conditions  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  in  relation 
to  the  imperial  pretensions  of  the  papacy. 

3.  A  memorial  on  the  combinations  of  labor  and  capital. 

4.  A  resolution  on  the  liquor  traffic. 

5.  A  memorial  as  to  the  change  of  time  for  closing  the  Conference. 

The  Business  Committee,  through  its  Secretary,  recom- 
mended that  after  the  close  of  the  present  session  no  more 
memorials  be  received  by  the  Conference.  On  motion,  this 
recommendation  was  adopted. 

The  Business  Committee  made  tlie  following  report  regard- 
ing the  memorial  previously  offered  on  a  Call  to  Prayer : 

Believing  that  the  great  need  of  the  Church  of  Christ  is  a  plentiful 
baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  that  such  a  baptism  would  give  energy  and 
efficacy  to  all  our  agencies  and  organizations  ;  and  that  -without  it  all  our 
eflforts  must  fail  of  their  one  high  purpose — the  salvation  of  men ; 

Believing,  moreover,    that  such  a  baptism  may  certainly  be  secured  by 


542  BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS. 

those  who  will  humbly  and  diligently  wait  upon  God  for  it  in  persistent 
and  faithful  prayer ; 

"We  earnestly  and  affectionately  invite  the  ministers  and  members  of  the 
Methodist  Churches  to  devote  the  week  commencing  on  Sunday,  Novem- 
ber 15,  to  special  supplication  for  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost; 

We  earnestly  beg  that  such  prayers  be  offered  in  private,  in  the  family, 
in  day  and  Sunday  schools,  and  in  such  social  or  public  services  as  may  be 
arranged  by  the  authorities  of  the  several  Churches. 

The  Committee  also  recommended  that  the  Conference  request 
the  senior  bishop  or  president  of  each  Methodist  body  represent- 
ed in  this  Conference  to  sign  the  Call  to  Prayer.  The  forego- 
ing report,  with  the  recommendation,  was  imanimonsly  adopted. 

The  Business  Committee  reported  the  nomination  of  the 
Eev.  J.  M.  King,  D.D.,  and  Professor  J.  M.  Van  Yleck,  LL.D., 
as  a  Committee  to  publish  the  proceedings  of  the  Conference 
•in  permanent  form. 

The  Business  Committee  reported  the  following  appoint- 
ments of  presiding  officers  :  Bishop  E.  R.  Hendrix,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
to  preside  at  the  second  session  of  the  eleventh  day  ;  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Allen,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church,  to  preside 
at  the  first  session  of  the  twelfth  day  ;  and  Bishop  J.  F.  Hurst, 
D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  to  preside  at 
the  second  session  of  the  twelfth  day. 

The  Business  Committee  recommended  that  after  the  deliv- 
ery of  the  appointed  addresses  at  the  second  session  of  the 
twelfth  day  the  time  be  devoted  to  closing  business,  with  the 
last  half  hour  set  apart  for  prayer  for  the  descent  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.     This  recommendation  unanimously  prevailed. 

The  Business  Committee  reported  the  nomination  of  the 
Rev.  George  Sargeant,  of  the  West  Indian  Methodist  Church, 
to  preside  at  the  Missionary  Session,  the  same  evening,  at  7:30 
P.  M. ;  also  the  nomination  of  the  Rev.  George  Patterson,  of 
the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church ;  the  Rev.  J.  Smith  Spencer, 
of  the  South  African  Methodist  Church;  the  Rev.  S.  L.  Bald- 
win, D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Ejjiscopal  Church ;  and  the  Rev. 
W.  R.  Lambuth,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South, 
as  speakers  at  the  Missionary  Session.  On  motion,  these  recom- 
mendations were  confirmed. 

J.  J.  Maclaeen,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  Canada, 
presented  the  report  of  the  Committee  previously  appointed  od 


BUSINESS    PKOCEEDINGS.  54:3 

Methodist  Statistics.      The   discussion  on  the   report  was  as 
follows : 

Dr.  Maclaren  :  Mr.  President :  To  this  report  there  are  two  schedules 
appended  iu  detail,  with  which  we  do  not  i)r()pose  to  trouble  you.  I  beg 
leave  to  move  that  the  report  on  the  Statistics  of  Methodism  be  received 
and  adopted,  and  that  the  chairman  or  secretaries  be  authorized  to  com- 
plete the  schedules  by  inserting  the  returns  to  be  obtained  from  a  few 
Churches  from  which  the  latest  official  figures  have  not  yet  been  obtained. 

Rev.  N.  CuRNOCK,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church:  We  would  be 
much  obliged  if  Dr.  Maclaren  will  tell  us  the  basis  of  calculation  where 
the  number  of  adherents  has  been  estimated. 

Dr.  Maclaren  :  I  may  say,  in  the  first  place,  that  we  have  in  Ireland, 
Canada,  and  Australasia  the  government  census,  which  checks  the  church 
returns.  A  smaller  ratio  has  been  taken  than  even  the  government  enu- 
merators have  taken.  In  other  Churches  calculations  are  made  from  the 
official  Minutes  of  the  Conference.  The  committee  put  themselves  in 
communication  with  the  secretaries  and  other  officers  of  several  Confer- 
ences. They  have  examined  the  returns  which  have  been  made  by  the 
best  and  most  authentic  writers  upon  the  subject,  and  in  every  case  they 
have  either  adopted  figures  which  have  been  already  received,  or  they 
have  adopted  a  lower  figui'e.  The  estimate  varies  between  2  and  3 
to  1  in  Ireland,  and  is  at  about  G  to  1  in  Australasia.  In  America 
3^  has  ])een  taken.  In  Canada,  where  we  have  the  government  returns, 
which  give  4.72,  we  have  taken  4^  as  a  standard.  In  England  the  re- 
turns have  been  given  as  about  5  to  1.  I  am  obliged  to  leave  by  the 
eleven  o'clock  train,  and  I  will  designate  the  Rev.  Bishoj)  Arnett  as  the 
person  to  close  this  discussion  on  behalf  of  the  committee,  if  there  should 
be  any  discussion.     I  move  the  adoption  of  the  report. 

Rev.  N.  CuRNOCK :  I  am  afraid  that,  so  far  as  England  is  concerned, 
the  percentage  is  placed  a  little  too  high. 

Rev.  TV.  MoRi.EY,  of  the  Australasian  Methodist  Church :  If  Brother 
Curuock  will  permit  me,  I  will  state  that  we  have  taken,  so  far  as  En- 
glish affairs  are  concerned,  the  number  of  sittings. 

D.  J.  Waller,  D.D.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Chm-ch:  We  have 
five  hundred  thousand  members. 

Rev.  Mr.  Curnock  :  Many  of  us  who  have  had  occasion  to  study  the 
question  carefully,  and  who  draw^  statistical  tables,  think  that  a  percent- 
ajje  of  4  would  be  just  and  safe  for  EnoUmd. 

Rev.  W.  MoRLEY :  That  is  just  what  is  taken. 

Rev.  Mr.  Curnock:  I  think  that  a  percentage  of  4  was  the  basis  of  cal- 
culation adopted  l)y  a  writer  of  a  leading  article  in  the  Times  newspaper 
iu  connection  with  the  Wesleyan  Centenary;  but  I  do  not  think  it  would 
be  prudent  for  us  to  accept  that  percentage. 

Dr.  Waller  :  I  think  no  Church  has  a  right  to  claim  that  it  has  more 
adherents  than  it  has  sittings  in  the  places  of  worship.  In  the  Wesleyan 
Methodist  Church  we  have  five  hundred  thousand  members,  and  iu  addi- 


544  BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS. 

tion  we  have  a  large  number  of  adherents ;  not  less  than  three  to  one.  If 
we  take  the  number  of  five  hundred  thousand,  and  add  three  adherents 
for  each  member,  it  gives  us  over  two  millions.  We  have  sittings  in  our 
places  of  worship  for  two  million  one  hundred  and  fifty -six  thousand.  I 
am  sure  that  is  a  basis  of  calculation  upon  which  we  may  go  to  the  world, 
and  thus  we  can  justify  it  if  any  one  calls  in  question  our  figures  upon 
such  a  basis.  It  is  of  the  greatest  importance  that  we  should  be  within, 
rather  than  outside  of,  the  number.  I  hope  that  the  basis  of  calculation 
for  England  will  not  be  that  there  are  more  Methodists  than  there  are 
places  for  them  in  the  houses  of  worship. 

Rev.  William  Arthur,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church:  I  thor- 
oughly agree  with  the  proposition  that  it  is  of  very  great  importance, 
both  as  to  public  impression  and  morally,  that  we  should  not  make  any 
statements  that  are  beyond  the  mark ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  I  totally 
dissent  from  the  position  that  no  Church  can  claim  more  adherents  than 
it  has  sittings  in  places  of  worship.  That  is  no  basis  at  all.  Apply  that 
to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  any  country  in  the  world.  Apply  it  to 
our  Church  in  Ireland.  Why,  in  the  circuit  where  I  was  brought  up  we 
had  mighty  few  sittings  in  any  place  of  worship.  Our  sittings  were  gen- 
erally in  a  farm-house  or  a  lone  house  here,  there,  and  every-where.  Ap- 
ply that  test  to  them,  and  you  would  be  at  sea.  My  impression  is  that 
our  adherents  in  England  are  very  much  greater  in  number  than  we  gen- 
erally suppose.  But  the  decision  of  that  question  depends  very  much  on 
what  you  call  adherents.  It  does  not  apply,  only  in  cases  in  which  the 
man  would  say  to  the  enumerator,  "I  am  an  adherent."  Do  you  count 
your  Sunday-school  scholars,  or  not?  Are  you  entitled  to  count  them? 
I  say.  Yes.  Then  you  have  two  ascertained  elements  of  your  adherents 
— first,  your  members  ;  secondly,  your  Sunday-school  scholars.  Now, 
how  many  do  these  two  categories  leave  out?  They  leave  out,  first,  all 
the  children  and  other  persons  in  the  families  of  your  members  who  are 
not  members.  That  is  a  tremendous  number.  That  figure  alone,  together 
with  your  members,  perhaps,  would  double  them,  or  more.  Next,  they 
leave  out  all  families  of  attendants  in  which  there  are  neither  members 
nor  Sunday  scholars,  which  in  England  forms  a  large  class.  Then,  you 
leave  out  all  those  numbers  of  looser  adherents — and  by  adherent  I  mean 
any  body  whose  ordinary  place  of  worship,  when  he  does  go  to  any,  would 
be  a  Methodist  place  of  worship.  That  is  my  definition  of  an  adherent, 
and  that  is  the  way  the  term  is  used  in  other  bodies,  and  that  is  what 
is  practically,  in  a  census,  understood  as  an  adherent.  My  impression  de- 
cidedly is  that  in  England,  taken  on  that  scale,  our  adherents  are  very 
much  more  numerous  than  we  generally  suppose.  But  I  would  rather  be 
two  millions  under,  in  any  public  statement,  than  be  ten  thousand  over 
the  mark. 

Rev.  W.  Morley:  I  would  like  to  say,  in  behalf  of  the  committee, 
that  they  went  into  all  these  questions  very  carefully,  and,  as  Mr.  Arthur 
has  suggested,  the  estimate  given  is  certainly  below  the  mark.  For  the 
British  Wesleyan  Conference  in  Great  Britain  the  estimate  is  below  the 


BUSINESS    PK0CEEDING8.  545 

mark.  For  instance,  they  return  515,000  members.  They  also  return 
938,000  Sunday-school  scholars.  I  believe  that  in  all  these  cases  the  re- 
turn is  under  the  mark — very  considerably  under  in  some,  but  certainly 
under  in  all  cases.  I  wish  to  say  that,  so  far  as  the  geographical  division 
is  concerned,  we  are  not  presenting  it  in  reference  to  every  country ;  al- 
though countries  are  named  in  connection  with  the  organization.  We 
took  Europe,  Africa,  Australasia,  and  Polynesia  as  a  basis  of  geograph- 
ical distribution. 

As  an  ecclesiastical  subdivision  we  are  following  the  order  of  the 
Churches  given  in  the  official  hand-book  of  this  Conference.  There  are 
some  organizations  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  missions  in  Africa 
which  are  yet  to  come  in,  and  there  are  also  one  or  two  other  small 
Churches  from  which  we  have  not  yet  received,  the  figures.  These  figures 
will  give  the  returns  as  of  ministers,  members,  and  adherents  in  the  several 
subdivisions,  and  perhaps  I  may  be  pardoned  for  reading  them :  Europe : 
Ministers,  4,488;  members,  915,896;  adherents,  4,312,601.  Asia:  Min- 
isters, 602;  members,  35,314;  adherents,  118,968.  Africa:  Ministers,  365; 
members,  77,234;  adherents,  295,376.  Australasia  and  Polynesia:  Minis- 
ters, 786;  members,  93,140;  adherents,  488,183.  Making  a  total  in  the 
Eastern  Section  of  5,581  ministers,  1,123,981  members,  and  5,096,867  ad- 
herents. In  the  "Western  Section  they  are  as  follows :  Ministers,  39, 702 ; 
members,  5, 379, 978 ;  adherents,  19, 803, 554.  The  totals  for  both  Sections, 
bearing  in  mind  that  there  are  some  returns  to  come  in  which  will  add  a 
few  in  every  case,  are:  Ministers,  45,283;  members,  6,503,959;  adherents, 
24,899,421.  I  think  we  can  show,  in  every  case,  that  we  are  underestimat- 
ing rather  than  overestimating. 

Eev.  Mr.  Curnock:  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  this  return  will 
vitiate  the  value,  so  far  as  England  is  concerned,  of  the  whole  of  these 
statistics.  It  will  only  expose  us  to  severis  criticism  and  place  us  in  a 
position  which  we  cannot  defend  if  that  return  goes  into  print,  because  it 
is  an  overestimate. 

Dr.  Waller  :  I  think  that  these  figures  may  be  justified. 

The  report  of  tlie  Committee  on  Statistics  was  on  motion 
adopted. 

Dr.  Stephenson  :  ;Mr.  President:  May  we  not  ask  that  a  very  brief  note 
shall  be  appended  to  the  returns,  showing  the  principle  upon  which  they 
are  based?  I  think  that  it  should  not  actually  be  in  the  report,  which  is 
too  long  for  people  generally  to  read,  but  that  under  the  statistical  tables 
a  brief  note  should  be  appended  showing  exactly  the  principle  upon 
which  we  have  been  calculating.  In  almanacs,  for  the  most  part,  such  as 
Whittaker's,  where  this  return  will  be  printed,  the  report  itself  will  not 
be  printed.  And  I  think  it  advisal>le  that  a  short  note  should  be  attached 
stating  the  principle.  We  can  stand  by  the  principle  if  we  will  only 
state  it. 

'Slv.  ^Iohley:  The  body  of  the  report  explains  the  principle  in  every 
case,  and  in  addition  to  that  a  note  will  be  appended  to  the  tables. 


646  BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS. 

Dr.  Stephenson  :  My  point  is  that  we  ought  to  ai^pend  a  note  which 
will  be  complete  in  itself  and  which  will  dispense  with  the  necessity  of 
any  reference  to  our  report  at  all.  I  think  the  principle  could  be  stated 
briefly  in  three  or  four  lines,  which  could  be  jjrinted  wherever  the  statis- 
tics are  jiriuted. 

E.  H.  Dewakt,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  Canada:  I  think  that 
is  very  important. 

Dr.  King  :  Do  I  understand  that  Brother  Morley  now  has  the  report  in 
charge. 

The  President:  Yes,  sir. 

Dr.  King  :  May  I  ask  in  the  presence  of  the  Conference  that  this  report 
be  returned  to  Brother  Morley,  and  that  it  be  sent  to  the  Secretary  with 
the  suggestions  added  that  have  been  made  here? 

Dr.  Waller  :  I  hope  that  Dr.  Stej^henson  will  put  his  suggestion  in 
the  form  of  a  motion,  and  then  I  will  be  very  glad  to  second  it.  I  think 
that  such  an  explanatory  note  should  be  appended  to  the  statistics  as  well 
as  incorporated  in  the  bodj-  of  the  report. 

Dr.  Stephenson  :  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  put  that  in  the  form  of  a  mo- 
tion. 

I  move  that  a  note  be  appended  to  the  statistics,  briefly  but  clearly 
stating  the  principles  of  calculation  upon  which  they  are  based,  so  that 
wherever  the  table  of  statistics  goes  the  explanatory  note  may  go  with  it. 

The  motion  of  Dr.  Stephenson  was  adopted.  The  report  of 
the  Committee  on  Statistics,  as  adopted,  was  as  follows : 

The  committee  has  the  honor  to  report  that  returns  have  been  obtained 
from  all  the  Churches  represented  in  the  Conference.  These  have  been 
tabulated  in  two  forms :  I.  Geographical  Distribution ;  II.  Ecclesiastical 
Organizations.  This  arrangement,  it  is  believed,  will  facilitate  reference 
and  be  of  considerable  service  in  showing  where  sj^ecial  effort  should  be 
put  forth.  The  term  "Adherents"  includes  in  every  case  the  ministers, 
members,  and  Sunday  scholars  as  well  as  the  families  connected  with  the 
several  congregations.  Nearly  all  the  figures  are  taken  from  the  Minutes 
of  the  several  Conferences ;  but  some  do  not  report  the  number  of  adher- 
ents. In  such  cases  an  estimate  is  given,  but  in  no  case  does  this  exceed 
the  returns  in  the  government  census  where  these  are  obtained,  and  in 
most  it  is  considerably  below.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  proportion  of 
adherents  to  church  members  varies  from  something  less  than  three  to  one 
in  Ireland  to  over  six  to  one  in  Australasia.  The  fact  that  in  Ireland  Meth- 
odism is  a  compact  body  in  the  midst  of  a  large  Roman  Catholic  popula- 
tion explains  the  former,  while  the  Australasian  colonies,  having  drawn 
their  population  from  all  the  world,  and  sparsely  distributed  them  over 
wide  areas,  accounts  for  the  latter.  Similar  explanations  account  for  the 
variation  in  other  cases. 

No  official  statistics  were  adopted  by  the  Ecumenical  Conference  in 
London  in  1881,  but  from  the  most  reliable  returns  obtainable  at  that  time 


BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS. 


547 


it  is  found  that  tlie  figures  now  submitted  show  an  increase  for  tlie  decade 
of  at  least  thirty  per  cent.,  a  ratio  which  is  nearly  twice  as  great  as  the 
average  increase  of  population  in  the  countries  represented. 

STATISTICS.— I.  GEOGUAI'UICAL  DISTRIBUTION. 
I.  Europe. 


a; 

a 

eft 

8 

I 

1 

ecclksiastical 
Orgamzatioxs. 

^ 

£  . 

% 

€2 
1% 

g 

a 

i 

"3 

3 
SI 

■So. 
O 

1 

S 

¥ 

938,327 

a 
■a 

British  Wesleyan  Conf .... 

2,018 

16,334 

8,000 

515,032 

6,992i  129,280 

2,250,000 

Irish  Methodist  Church. . . . 

•£iS 

439 

371  1,862 

26,346 

327!     3,853 

26,500 

72,000 

Meth.  New  Connexion 

197 

1,194 

46l| 

33,661       452    11,238 

87,308 

160,000 

Primitive  Meth.  Chiu-cli. . . 

1,080 

16,402 

4,482  1,394 

194,031    4,000   61,402 

4;35,912 

1,000,00() 

Bible  Cliristiau  Church .... 

180 

1.491 

5841      52 

27,121       6201     7,200 

39,424 

135,605 

United  Meth.  Free  Church. 

345 

3,032 

l,249l      94 

73,893 

1,222   25,.566 

191,707 

419,500 

Independent  Meth.  Church. 

1 

Wesleyan  Reform  Union . . 

23 

566 

202 

8,000      206i     3.036 

21,452 

32,000 

French  Methodist  Church.. 

31 

92 

63 

101 

1,930        41 1        257 

2,166 

10,000 

Missions  of  British  Wesley- 

an Conf.  on  the  Continent 

71 

4,271 

16,000 

Missions  of  Meth.  Episcopal 

Church  on  the  Continent. 

SaS      198 

169 

30,919      538 

8,878 

38,526 

115,496 

Missions  of  United  Breth- 

ren in  Christ 

t 

3 

702        13 

38 

390 

2.000 

4,488 

39,748 

15,584  !3,.503 

915,896  14,405 

243.748 

1,781,613 

4,212,601 

II.  Asia. 


Missions  of  British  Wesley- 
an Conf.  (with  which  the 
Irish  Meth.  Church  is  as- 
sociated in  foreign  work). 

174 

45 

3 

5 

283 

55 
87 

8,378 

1,920 

870 

5 

21,345 

979 

1,817 

25,000 

2,400 

1,500 

25 

80,043 

4,000 
6,000 

Meth.  New  Connexion  Mis's 
United  Meth.  Free  Church. 
Bible  Christian  Church  ... 
Missions  of  M.  E.  Church. . 
Missions  of  M.  E.  Church, 
South 

8 
15 

1 
277 

17 

38 

61 
5 

•235 

10 

15 

3. 

21 

3 

1 

181 

43 

33 

20 
3 

1 
1,656 

150 

114 

252 

47 

10 

44.217 

1,359 

1,545 

Missions  of  Meth.  Church, 
Canada 

602 

356 

826 

34 

35,314 

282 

1,944 

47,430 

118,968 

III.  Africa. 


South    African    Methodist 
Church,  Enfrlish. 

South    African    Methodist 
Church,  Native 

100 

71 

68 

11 

11 

1 
32 

8 

63 

365 

168 
1,815 

123 
351 

135 
1,096 

4,957 

42,264 

16,829 

6.V) 

103 
261 

1,023 
909 

7,913 
14,953 

19,828 

169.056 

67,316 

Missions  of  British  Wesley- 
an Conference 

Missions  of  Primitive  Meth. 
Church 

16 
93 

■54 

10 

19 

1 
62 

5 

10 

6 

1 
65 

20 

143 

10 
495 

400 

1,638 

10 
2,754 

1,500 

13,000 

50 

Missions  of  United   Meth. 
Free  Church 

30          .^-077 

Missions  of  French   Meth. 
Church 

3 

30 
3,367 

Missions  of  M.  E.  Church. . 

Mls-sioas  of  African  M.  E. 

Church 

12,626 

Missions  of  United  Breth- 
ren in  Christ 

6,060 

14 

70 

599 

12,000 

2,146 

571 

1,264      77,234 

450 

2,669 

28,367 

295.376 

548 


BUSINESS    PKOCEEDINGS. 


STATISTICS.-I.  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION.    (Continued.) 

IV.  America. 


Ecclesiastical 

£ 

(0 

1 

S. 
reaching- 

o 
o 

1 

X3       • 

g2 

^ 

ORGANIZATIONS. 

E 

fc 

s  ss 

0^ 

Oi 

^.•S 

^■^ 

a 

« 

,»_, 

b      *  ™ 

.Q 

oj 

ce  § 

=«  2 

t. 

c« 

a 

2,356,663 

•a 

'ij  aS 

"O-S 

S 

3 

o    o 

c 

3 

OS 

296,253 

3,266,852 

Methodist  Episcopal  Chu'h. 

15,058 

15,558 

22,853 

26,889 

8,461,746 

Meth.  Epis.  Church,  South. 

5,050 

6,366 

11,767  

1,218,561 

12,589 

88,843 

694,533 

4,.569,603 

Meth.  Church,  Canada 

1,819 

3,357 

3,093 

339,557 

0,016 

39,095 

231,561 

1,048,609 

African  Meth.  Epis.Church. 

4,150 

9,913 

4,069  

475,565 

4,275 

41,958 

335,000 

1,483,018 

African  M.  E.  Zion  Church. 

3,650 

7,926 

3,500 

425,000 

3,200 

30,560 

300,000 

1,296,750 

Colored  Meth.  Epis.Church. 

1,800 

4,034 

3,196 

130,834 

1,961 

7,731 

78,455 

490,590 

Methodist  Prot'aut  Church. 

2,153 

1,441 

2,003 

157,604 

i,8a3 

15,760 

102,663 

591,015 

United  Brethren  in  Christ 

1 

(Old  Constitution) 

3,017 

484 

2,779  

197,123 

3,760 

30,657 

214,790 

739,211 

Union  American  M.  E.  Ch. 

112 

75 

50 

3,500 

115 

1,150 

9,200 

13,125 

African  Union  M.  Prot.  Ch. 

56 

115 

50 

5,990 

50 

650 

4,000 

22,462 

Free  Methodist  Church . . . 

1,050 

613 

952 

20,998 

952 

13,376 

76,100 

178,742 

Congregational  Meth.  Ch.. 

50 

150 

50 

5,525 

50 

650 

4,000 

20,723 

Primitive  Meth.  Church . . . 

64 

143 

77 

5,620 

104 

1,402 

11,003 

21,075 

British  Meth.  Epis.  Church. 

! 

Independent  Meth.  Church. 

8 

30 

35 

2,500 

35 

455 

2,700 

9,875 

Evangelical  Association... 

1,327 

619 

2,062 

150,2;M 

2,535 

25,000 

177,839 

563,377 

Wesleyan  Methodist 

6.50 

325 

600 

19,535 

600 

7,800 

48,000 

61,968 

West  Indian  Meth.  Church. 

101 

458 

279 

58,575 

279 

2,756 

30,810 

180,000 

British  Wes.  Conf .  Missions 

19 

85 

22 

5,326 

30,904 

United  Meth.  Free  Ch.Mis's 

8 

47 

29 

3,785 
5,382,375 

30 

151 

1,973 

13,000 

39,043 

51,578 

57,465 

62,333 

593,246 

4,579,539 

19,784,293 

V.  Australasia  and  Polynesia. 


Australasian        Wesleyan 

Methodist  Church 

500 

2,303   1,628 

1,357 

48,534 

1,471 

13,774 

126,739 

310,653 

Colonial  Missions  of  Prim- 

itive Methodist  Church . . 

42 

190!      109 

140 

2,064 

105 

567 

5,117 

10,000 

Colonial  Missions  of  Bible 

Christian  Church 

94 

431 

270 

103 

6,004 

265 

1,789 

13,356 

36,024 

Colonial  Missions  of  United 

Methodist  Free  Church . . 

46 

138 

97 

73 

3,529 

97 

817 

7,609 

13,000 

Friendly    Islands    District 

and  Missions  of  Austral- 

asian Wesleyan  Method- 

ist Church  in  South  Seas. 

104 

2,313   1,146 

465 

33,009 

1,890 

2,838 

44,493 

118,506 

786 

5,375'  3,250 

2,138 

93,140 

3,828 

19,785 

197,314 

488,183 

BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS. 


549 


STATISTICS— II.  ECCLESIASTICAL  ORGANIZATIONS. 
Eastern  Section. 


s 

a 

X 

A 

u 

X3 

0 

0 

8 

Countries. 

1 

0) 

£ 

bo 

p 
9 

.2 

a 

1 

3 

O 

X3 

a 

■a 
a 
3 

1- 

Si 

a 

< 

1.  British  Wcdcumi  Conf. 

Great  Britain 

a,oi8 

16,334 

8,000 

.... 

515,032 

6,992 

129,280 

938..327 

2,250,000 

European  Missions 

71 

4,271 

16,000 

Missions  in  Asia 

174 

.... 

.... 

.... 

8,378 

2.5,000 

Missions  in  Africa 

68 

.... 

16,829 

67,316 

Missions  in  America 

19 

35 

22 

5,226 

20,904 

2,.3.50 

16,369 

8,022 

549,736 

6,992 

129,280 

938,327 

2,379,220 

2.  Irish  Mcth.  Church. 

Ireland :  Missions  associ- 

ated with  British  Wes- 

levan  conference 

^m 

439 

371 

1,862 

26,346 

327 

2,853 

26,500 

72,000 

3.  Mcih.  New  Connexion.. 

Great  Britain  .  

197 

1,194 

461 

33,661 

452 

11,238 

87,208 

160,000 

Missions  in  Asia 

45 

8 

61 

.... 

1,920 

21 

20 

252 

2,400 

342 

1,202 

522 

35,581 

473 

11,358 

87,460 

163,400 

4.  Primitive  Meth.  Ch'rch. 

fireat  Britain 

1,080 

16,402 

4,482 

1 ,394 

194,021 

4,000 

61,402 

435,913 

1,000,000 

Missions  in  Africa 

11 

16 

10 

10 

650 

20 

400 

1,500 

Missions  in  Australasia . . 

42 

190 

109 

140 

2,064 

105 

567 

5,117 

10,000 

1,133 

16,608 

4,601 

1,541 

196,735 

4,105 

61,989 

441,429 

1,011,500 

5.  Bible  Christian  Church. 

Great  Britain 

180 

1,491 

584 

,52 

27,121 

620 

7,200 

39,421 

135,605 

Missions  in  Asia 

5 

1 

4 

5 

1 

1 

10 

25 

Missions  in  Australasia. . 

94 

431 

270 

103 

6,004 

265 

1,789 

13,.356 

36,034 

279 

1,923 

854 

159 

a3,130 

886 

8,990 

52,790 

171,654 

6.  United  Meth.  Free  Ch. 

345 

3,0.32 

1,249 

!W 

73,893 

1,222 

25,566 

191,707 

419,.500 

3 
11 

15 
93 

5 
19 

30 
20 

870 
3,077 

3 
6 

3 
142 

47 
1,638 

1,.500 

Missions  in  Africa 

13,000 

Missions  in  America 

8 

47 

29;  .... 

3,785 

30 

151 

1,973 

13.000 

Missions  in  Australasia . . 

46 

im 

97j      73 

3,.529 

97 

817 

7,609 

13,000 

413 

3,325 

l,399i    217 

85,154 

1,358 

26,679 

202,974 

460,000 

7.  French  Melh.  Church. 

France  and  Switzerland. 

31 

92 

63 

101 

1,930 

41 

257 

2,166 

10,000 

Missions  in  Africa 

1 

... 

1 

3 

30 

1 

10 

10 

.50 

32 

92 

64 

104 

1,960 

42 

267 

2,176 

10,050 

8.  Australaxian  Wedemn 

ifethiKli'it  Church. 

Australia,  Tasmania,  and 

New  Zealand 

500 

2,30S 

1,6281,357 

48,.5;W 

1,471 

13,774 

126,739 

310,653 

Friendly  Islands  District 

and  South  Sea  Missions 

104 

2,313 

1,146     465 

:m,00<) 

1,890 

2,8;i8 

44,493 

118,506 

604 

4,616 

2,7744,822 

81, .54:3 

3,301 

16,612 

171,232 

429,159 

9.  Inih'ijcmlent  Methodist 

<'hurch. 

Great  Britain    

10.  Wfshiinn  Reform  IPn. 

(ireat  Britain 

23 

566 

202 

8,000 

200 

3,0;J6 

21,452 

32,000 

U.S.  African  Mcth.Ch'h. 

South   Africa,   European 

and  Native 

171 

1,98:J 

474  1,231 

47,221 

364 

1,9.32 

22,866 

188,8.84 

m.W.  Indian  Meth. Ch'h. 

101 

4.5.S 

279    ... 

.'■)S..'-.7.-) 

279 

2,75(; 

30.810 

ISD.OiH) 

550 


BUSINESS    PKOCEEDINGS. 


STATISTICS.— II.  ECCLESIASTICAL  ORGANIZATIONS. 

Western  Section. 


Countries. 


1.  Meth.  Epis.  Church. 

United  States 

Missions  in  Europe 

Missions  in  Asia 

Missions  in  Africa. . .  . .  • 

2.  M.  E.  Church,  South. 

United  States 

Missions  in  Asia 

3.  Meth.  Cliurch,  Canada. 
Dominion     of     Canada, 

Newfoundland,       and 

Bermuda 

Missions  in  Asia 

4.  African  M.  E.  Church. 

United  States 

Missions  in  Africa 

5.  African  M.  E.  Zion  Ch. 
United  States 

6.  Colored  M.  E.  Church. 
United  States 

7.  Meth.  Protest'nt  Ch'ch. 
United  States 

8.  ZJii'd  Breth'n  in  Cfirist 
(Old  Co7istitution). 

United  States 

Missions  in  Europe 

Missions  in  Africa 

9.  Un'n  Amer.  M.  E.  Ch. 
United  States 

10.  African  Un^n  Meth'st 
Protestant  Church. 

United  States , 

11.  Free  Meth.  Church. 
United  States 

12.  Co7ig.  Meth.  Church. 
United  States 

13.  Prim.  Meth.  Church. 
United  States 

14.  British  M.  E.  Church 

15.  Independ'nt  Meth.  Ch 
United  States 

16.  Evangelical  Assoc^n. 
United  States 

17.  Wish  nan  Methodist. 
United  States 


15,058 
303 
283 
32 


15,676 

5,050 
55 


c 
S 


5,105 


1,819 
3' 


0^ 

S3 


CS 

o 

o 

►J 


15,558 
198 

277 
54 


16,087 

6,366 
17 


6,383 


3,257 
38 


1,856 
4,150 


3,395 
9,913 


4,158; 
3,650 
1,800 
2,153 

2,017 
6.3 


9,913 
7,926 
4,024 
1,441 

484 


22,853 

169 

2.35 

62 


23,319 

11,767 
10 


11,777 


3,092 
15 


3,10'; 

4,069 
5 


4,074 
3,500 
3,196 
2,003 


2,779 
3 


2,0 


112' 


484 

75 


56   115 

1,050'  613 

50^  150 


64 

8 

I 

l,227j 

65o! 


142 

30 
619 
325 


2,782 
50 

50 

952 

50 

77 

35 

2,062 

600 


a 
"S 
ca 
^  .A 

I.  ^ 
So. 


a 


2,256,663 
30,919 
21,345 
3,367 


2,312,294 

1,218,.561 
979 


o 
o 

O 
I 

>1 

a 

3 


O 

o  . 

S3  m 

o  (-1 

CO 


26,889 
538 
181 
65 


296,253 

2,878 

1,656 

495 


27,673 

12,589 
43 


1,219,540  12,632 


239,557 

1,817 


241,374 
475,565 


3,016 
33 


3,049 
4,275 


.301,282 

88,842 
150 


29,095 
114 


o 
o 

*  s 

§cc 


2,266,852 

38,526 

44,217 

2,754 


2,-352,349 

694,533 
1,359 


695,892 


231,561 
1,545 


29,209 
41,958 


475,565 
425,000 
130,824 
157,604 


197,123 

702 
6,060 


203,885 
3,500 

5,990 

20,998 

5,525 

5,620 

2,500 

150,234 

19,535 


4,275 
3,200 
1,961 
1,883 


3,760 
13 
14 


3,787 
115 

50 
952 

50 
104 

35 

2,535 

600 


41,958 

30,560 

7,731 

15,760 


30,657 
38 


70 


30,765 
1,150 

650 

12,.376 

650 

1,402 

455 

25,000 

7,800 


233,106 
325,000 


325,000 

300,000 

78,455 

102,663 


214,790 
390 
599 


215,779 
9,200 

4,000 
76,160 

4,000 
11,003 

2,700 

177,&39 

48,000 


a 

s.. 
S3 


8,461,746 

115,496 

80,043 

12,626 

8,669,911 

4,569,603 
4,000 

4,573,603 


1,048,609 
6,000 

1,054,609 

1,483,018 

1,483,018 

1,296,750 

490,590 

591,015 


739,211 

2,000 

12,000 


753,211 
13,135 

22,462 

178,742 

20,723 

21,075 

9,375 

563,377 

61,968 


BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS. 


551 


SUMMARY— I.  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION. 


CONTINENTS. 

a) 

C 

t 
u 

3 

a 

3 
A 

a 

S 

SO- 

o 

2 

a 

o 
o 
a 

03 

■a 
□ 

3 

CO 

o 
o 

n 

i 

a 

EuroDe 

4,4H8 

602 

365 

39,042 

39,748 
356 

2,146 
51,578 

5,375 

15,584 
326 
571 

57,465 
3,350 

3,503 

34 

1,264 

2,'l38 

915,896 

35,314 

77,2:M 

5,382,375 

93,140 

14,405 
282 
450 

62,32.^ 
3,828 

243,7481,781,613 
l,944j  47,430 
2,669       28,267 

593,246  4.579.539 

4.212,601 

Asia 

118,968 

Africa        

395,376 

America 

19,784,293 

Australasia  and  Polj-nesla. 

786 

19,785 

197,314 

488,183 

Total   for  Churches  repre- 
sented at  the  Conference, 
so  far  as  reported 

45,283 

99,203 

77,196 

6,939 

6,503,959 

81,288  861,392  6,634,162 

24,899,421 

SUMMARV.-II.  ECCLESIASTICAL  ORGANIZATIONS. 

Eastern  Section. 


Conferences,  inclfding 
Foreign  Missions. 


British  Wesleyan  Conf 

Irish  Metliodist  Church 

Meth.  New  Connexion 

Primitive  Meth.  Church... 

Bible  Christian  Church 

United  Meth.  Free  Church. 
French  Methodist  Church . . 
Australasian    Wesleyan 

Methodist  Church 

Independent  Meth.  Church. 
Wesleyan  Reform  Union. 

South  African  Meth.  Ch 

West  Indian  Meth.  Church. 


.S3 

a 


0) 


o 


2,350  16,369 
2.33|  439 
242'   1,202 

1,13316,608 

279!  1,923 

413    3,325 

32        92 

6(M  4,616 


23  566  202 
171 ;  1,983  474 
101       4.58      279 


X3 
3 


HI 

a 
•^^ 

S3 
a 

£  . 

So. 


8,0221.    ... 

371  1,862 

522' 
4,601 

854 

1,399 

64 


2,774 


1,544 
159 
217 
104 

1,822 


1,331 


1) 

a 


o5 

o 

O 

o 

O 

•8 

f,£ 

? 

M  <o 

& 

If 

•a 

a 

3 

a^ 

M 

00 

26,346 
35,581 

196,7.35 
33,130 

•85,154 
1,960| 


327 
473 

4,105 
886' 

1,358 
42 


81,543   3,361 


8,000  200 
47,221  364 
58,575       279 


Total  Eastern  Section 5.581  47,581  19,562  6,939ll,13:?,981  18,.387  265,6.52  1,998,016  5,096,867 


2,853 
11,258 
61,989 

8,990! 

26,679 

367 


o 
o 


ioa 


to 


.549,736    6,992129.380     938,327 


20,. 500 
87,460 

441,429 
52,790 

202,974 
2,176 


16,612;    171,232 


3,036,  21,452 
1,9.32!  22,866 
2,756'      30,810 


a 

■a 


2,379,220 

72,000 

162,400 

1,011,500 

171,654 

460,000 

10,050 

429,159 


32,000 

188,884 
180,000 


Western  Section. 


Metb.  Episcopal  Church... 

li5,676|  16,087  3:3,319 



2,312,394  -,^7,673. ■^01,382 

2,352,349 

8,669,911 

Meth.  Epis.  Church,  South. 

5,105l  6,38311,777 

l,219,.54l)  12.{i32    »,s,992 

695,892 

4,573,603 

Meth.  Church,  Canada 

1,8,56!  3,295   3,107 

241,374 

3,W9    29,209 

2;M,106 

1,0.54.609 

African  Meth.  Epis. Church. 

4,158    9,913,  4,074 



475,.565 

4.375!  41,9.58 

325,000 

1,483,018 

African  M.  E.  Zi(m  Church.. 

3,6.50    7,926'  3..500 

425.0(10 

3,300 

30,560 

300,000 

1,2%,750 

Colored  M.  E.  Church 

1,800    4,024    3,196 

130,8241  1,961 

7,731 

78,455 

490,590 

Meth.  Protestant  Church.. 

2,153    1,4411  2,0031...   . 

157,(J04 

1,883 

15,760 

102,663 

591,015 

United  Brethren  in  Christ, 

(Old  Con.stitution) 

2.087 

484 

2,782 

203,aS5 

3,787 

30,765 

215,779 

75.3,211 

Union  American  M.  E.  Ch. 

112 

75 

50 

3,500 

115 

1.1.50 

9,200 

1.3,125 

African  Union  M.  I'rot.  Ch. 

56,      115 

50 

.5,990 

.50 

650 

4,000 

22,462 

Free  Methodist  Church 

1,0.50      613 

952 

20,998 

9.52 

12,.376 

76,160 

178,742 

CoDRregational  Meth.  Ch.. 

50       150 

50 

5,535 

■  50 

650 

4,{X)0 

20.723 

Primitive  Meth.  Church. . . 

64       142 

77 

5,630[      104i     1,402 

11,003 

21,075 

Independent  Meth.  Church. 

8        30 

35 

2,.5fl0 

35        455 

2,700 

9,375 

EvanRellcal  As.s()ciatioa. .. 

1,227      619!  2,062 

1.50,334 

2,.5:r.    25,000 

177,8:W 

.503.377 

Wesleyan  Methodist 

6.50      325,      600 

19,.525 

6(10     7.800 

48,0(K) 

61, %8 

Total  Western  Section 

39,702 

51,622 

57,634 



5,379,978 

62,901 

.595,740 

4,636,146 

19,803,554 

N.  B.— The  forepoinp  tables  comprise  returns  from  all  the  churches  named  except  two. 
In  a  numt)er  of  cases  blanks  will  he  found  in  cerUiiu  columns.  The  returns  of  the  nutnber 
of  ministers,  members,  and  adherents  are  the  only  ones  in  which  the  full  strength  of  the 
Church  appears. 


552  BUSINESS  PEOCEEDINGS. 

The  method  adopted  by  the  committee  and  the  representatives  of  the  Churches  in  estimat- 
ing the  number  of  adherents  was  as  follows  : 

a.  British  Wesleyan  Conference.    The  number  of  sittings  in  the  churches. 

b.  Methodist  New  Connexion,  Primitive  Methodist  Church,  Bible  Christian  Church, 
United  Methodist  Free  Church.  The  number  was  estimated  by  the  representatives  of 
those  Churches  at  about  four  other  persons  to  every  member. 

c.  The  returns  of  the  Churches  in  the  United  States  are  based  upon  the  membership. 
As  a  rule,  the  ratio  is  that  adopted  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Dorchester  and  H.  K.  Carroll,  LL.D. 
In  some  cases,  for  special  reasons,  a  lower  figure  has  been  taken. 

cl.  The  adherents  of  the  Irish  Methodist  Church,  the  Methodist  Church,  Canada  (in- 
cluding Newfoundland  and  Bermuda),  and  the  Australasian  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church  are  the  official  returns  in  the  Minutes,  checked  by  those  of  the  government 
census. 

e.  In  the  returns  of  adherents  in  the  Asiatic  and  African  Missions,  where  such  are  not 
given  in  Conference  Minutes,  the  proportion  is  that  adopted  by  those  who  have  had 
personal  experience  in  the  working  of  those  Missions. 

John  J.  Maclaeen,  Chairman. 


B.  W.  Arnett,        }  r,      t     ' 
William  Morley,  }  '^.cr.ter.... 


The  E,ev.  J.  W.  Hamilton,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Churcli,  presented  the  report  of  tlie  sub-Committee  on  a  Per- 
manent Executive  Commission.  (For  the  report  as  amended 
and  adopted,  see  pages  620-622.)  The  discussion  on  the  report 
was  as  follows : 

A  Member  :  Mr.  President :  I  desire  to  submit  a  question,  speaking  for 
the  people  whom  I  represent.  If  the  different  Conferences  will  have  to 
appoint  their  own  delegates,  what  is  the  use  in  this  Conference  apjjointing 
these  gentlemen  whose  names  have  been  read?  If  the  question  has  rela- 
tion to  an  Ecumenical  Conference  to  be  held  ten  years  hence,  will  not  it 
suffice  to  wait  until  the  different  Conferences,  in  the  different  sections, 
meet,  and  let  them  make  their  own  appointments?  Do  we  not,  by  this  act 
to-day,  if  we  pass  this  resolution,  forestall  the  judgment  of  the  different 
Conferences?  I  would  ask  that  the  committee  be  requested  to  state  some 
reason  for  this  jiarticular  arrangement. 

Dr.  Hamilton  :  Mr.  President :  Every  one  knows  that  we  had  very  great 
difficulty  in  originating  this  Conference.  As  some  one  has  said  here, 
"  What  is  every  body's  business  sometimes  happens  to  be  nobody's  busi- 
ness." We  have  already  provided  in  the  report  that  these  brethren  who 
have  been  named  shall  only  act  until  the  various  Churches  shall  determine 
on  their  appointments.  This  makes  a  line  of  continuity  between  this  and 
the  next  Ecumenical  Conference.  In  questions  of  fraternal  greetings,  for 
instance,  and  in  arrangements  which  may  be  necessary  looking  to  the  loca- 
tion of  another  Conference,  such  a  commission  would  be  very  valuable. 
There  are  a  great  many  things  which  we  are  not  able  to  determine  in  this 
body  which  could  be  referred  to  this  commission.  Again,  some  matters 
have  come  before  this  Conference  which  it  will  be  impossible  for  the  Busi- 
ness Committee  to  recommend  for  your  action  in  any  satisfactory  form; 
but  such  consultation  might  go  forward  if  such  a  commission  as  this  were 
in  existence,  and  it  would  lead  to  very  important  results;  not  only  in 


BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS.  553 

relation  to  the  matter  of  fraterual  greetings  with  other  bodies,  but  possi- 
bly to  a  closer  union  among  ourselves. 

J.  E.  E.MBUY,  D.D.,  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church:  Mr. 
President :  I  wish  to  observe  that,  first  of  all,  I  am  opposed  to  this  arrange- 
ment. It  seems  remarkable  to  me  that  so  elaborate  an  arrangement  could 
have  been  mtide  by  the  Business  Committee  without  my  knowing  any 
thing  about  it.  I  have  been  at  all  of  the  sessions,  save  that  of  Saturday 
night.  I  do  know  that  our  business  has  proceeded  very  slowly,  and  I  do 
not  know  where  time  has  been  found  to  make  such  an  arrangement  as 
this.  In  the  first  jilacc,  I  do  not  believe  that  we  have  any  authority  to 
make  such  an  arrangement.  We  have  no  legislative  powers  whatever,  and 
I  doubt  whether  the  Churches  will  recognize  it  after  it  shall  have  been 
done.  In  the  second  place,  the  representation  assigned  to  the  African 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  is  not  fair.  By  any  fair  provisions  our  Church, 
representing  half  a  million  members,  should  not  be  giveu  only  three  rep- 
resentatives, while  the  mother-Church  is  given  eighteen  and  the  Church, 
South,  five.  They  are  not  five  times  three,  I  am  sure ;  nor  is  the  mother- 
Church  six  times  three.  We  should  certainly  have  had  four  representatives 
on  this  commission.  I  was  not  present  on  Saturday  at  the  session,  and  I  am 
a  stranger,  therefore,  to  this  arrangement.  I  wish  to  suggest  that  a  fourth 
member  be  giveu  to  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  I  doubt 
the  propriety  of  this  thing.  Of  course,  my  judgment  does  not  go  for 
much ;  but  it  does  seem  to  me  that  we  have  started  out  upon  principles  of 
general  voluntary  action,  and  that  we  came  here  to  exercise  no  authority 
further  than  to  suggest  and  recommend.  I  think  it  should  be  only  rec- 
ommended to  our  Churches  at  their  next  general  assemblies  to  nominate 
members  of  this  commission  and  clothe  them  with  power  to  act. 

Mr.  Henry  J.  Farmer-Atkinson,  M.P.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church:  Mr.  President:  It  appears  to  me,  sir,  that  most  of  the  English 
members  of  the  committee  must  have  been  away  on  Saturday  night,  as 
some  of  them  left  here  to  sail  for  Europe.  It  also  appears  from  what  our 
friend  of  the  African  Church  says,  that  he  and  other  Americans  were 
away.  I  do  agree  to  some  extent  with  those  who  have  criticised  the  re- 
port. I  think  there  has  not  been  consideration  enough  given  to  the  mat- 
ter by  the  Business  Committee.  But  there  is  another  point  that  I  think  it 
quite  right  to  suggest  to  you,  in  the  consideration  of  such  a  proposal. 
There  seems  to  be  some  confusion  in  the  minds  of  the  delegates  with  re- 
gard to  the  members  who  would  be  elected  to  attend  five  years  hence,  and 
those  who  are  nominated  as  members  of  the  present  committee.  If  they 
will  examine  the  names,  they  will  find  that  most  of  those  nominated  have 
already  been  members  of  committees.  For  instance.  Dr.  Bond  has  been 
on  the  London  General  Committee,  and  he  is  on  this  one.  I  was  on  the 
London  General  Committee  ten  years  ago,  and  I  should  have  been  on  this 
if  I  had  liecn  well  enough  to  accept  it.  I  do  not  see  why  there  should  be 
fifty  to  thirty.  I  should  not,  however,  criticise  that,  as  I  am  standing  in 
America.  I  can  see  that  with  their  usual  appreciation  of  their  own  coun- 
trv,  which  is  verv  great,  they  will  consider  that  fiftv  of  them  should  be  * 
38     '  ^  ' 


554  BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS. 

elected  out  of  a  total  of  eighty.  If  I  were  standing  in  England,  I  should 
say  that  fifty  of  us  should  be  elected.  But  let  them  elect  fifty  and  we  will 
elect  thirty  that  will  be  equal  to  them,  and  in  that  way  keej}  the  balance 
of  power. 

There  is  another  thing  to  which  I  desire  to  call  attention,  and  to  which 
I  object,  and  that  is,  that  Australia  is  given  but  one  delegate.  In  my 
opinion,  we  shall  meet  in  Australia  at  the  next  Conference.  I  hope 
so,  and  shall  work  heartily  to  that  end.  If  so,  it  seems  to  me  a  very  scant 
compliment  to  them  that  but  one  person  is  named  to  represent  that  coun- 
try. It  seems  to  me  to  be  absvird,  and  I  therefore  move  that  this  matter 
be  referred  back  to  the  committee  for  reconsideration,  with  the  request 
that  they  will  be  good  enough  to  modifj'^  the  report  in  accordance  with 
the  suggestions  made,  including  also  the  suggestion  of  our  friend  from 
the  African  Church. 

Dr.  Hamilton:  I  do  not  care  to  take  up  the  time  of  the  Conference  in 
"discussing  this  matter.  I  think,  however,  that  the  committee  should  be 
fairly  represented.  This  matter  has  been  reported  in  the  Business  Com- 
mittee a  great  many  times  since  the  beginning  of  the  Conference,  and  this 
committee  has  been  in  existence  for  a  number  of  days.  We  have  been 
before  the  Business  Committee  and  asked  for  suggestions.  Of  course,  we 
could  not  base  any  representation  upon  the  quality  of  the  delegates,  and 
we  did  have  to  have  some  basis.  We  thought  the  numerical  one  the  best 
one,  and  we  have  taken  the  various  statistics  which  have  been  reported 
here  this  morning  as  a  basis.  Acting  upon  that  basis,  we  have  done  the 
very  best  we  could  in  selecting  properly  the  delegates  from  every  Church. 

The  Rev.  J.  M.  Buckley,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  : 
Mr.  President  :  I  never  found  myself  in  a  more  unpleasant  position  than  I 
am  now  in.  My  sympathies  are  with  the  Business  Committee  and  the 
projectors  of  this  movement.  My  judgment  is  entirely  against  its  wis- 
dom. I  think  it  is  unnecessary,  and  I  believe  that  it  is  dangerous.  It  is 
unnecessary,  because  we  have  succeeded,  whatever  trouble  it  took,  in  pro- 
viding a  programme  for  two  Ecumenical  Conferences,  and  we  can  do  the 
same  thing  again.  The  trouble  is  amply  compensated  for  by  the  results, 
and  it  is  trouble  without  personal  friction  or  aggravation  to  causes  of  irri- 
tation. What  propriety  is  there  in  a  body  originated  as  this  was,  and 
constituted  as  this  is,  establishing  a  permanent  organization  to  c6ver  a 
period  of  ten  years?  It  involves  altogether  too  much  assumption  of  the 
permanency  of  individual  character  and  representative  standing.  When 
men  are  apj^ointed  in  due  form  by  their  own  bodies,  or  where  all  the 
bodies  unite  in  ordering  a  permanent  organization,  the  case  is  entirely 
changed.  I  am  aware  that  these  persons  are  appointed  pro  tern.  I  am 
also  aware  that  their  appointment  by  this  body  takes  them  entirely  out  of 
the  category  of  spontaneous  appointees  at  the  hands  of  their  respective 
denominations.  Questions  of  representation  are  already  raised,  and  you 
may  be  sure  they  will  be  widely  raised.  It  is  impossible  to  make  a  repre- 
sentation entirely  satisfactory. 

Furthermore,   the  pushing  of  such  a  thing  as  this  puts  all  the  denomi- 


ESSAY    OF    HON.    W.    i).    HILL.  555 

nations  in  an  unfair  and  improper  aspect  before  the  world.     I  care  not  to 
go  into  this  matter  further. 

Now,  Mr.  President,  we  wish  to  promote  a  spirit  of  unity.  We  wish 
that  organic  union,  if  it  ever  comes,  shall  come  first  as  the  blade,  then  as  the 
ear,  and  then  the  full  corn  in  the  ear.  I  regard  this  proposition  as  tending 
to  needlessly  irritate  the  situation  by  perpetuating  differences  that  ought  to 
subside  with  the  adjournment  of  this  Conference.  I  will  say  no  more. 
If,  however,  the  Conference  sees  fit  to  adopt  this,  they  will  find  me  ready 
to  represent  it  in  the  very  best  as2)ect  and  using  my  best  efforts  to  sup- 
press all  causes  of  irritation.  But  I  believe  it  to  be  entering  upon  a  course 
which  will  operate  against  us. 

The  time  for  tlie  programme  of  the  day  having  arrived,  the 
further  consideration  of  the  report  was  postponed. 

The  topic  of  the  day  was  taken  up.  In  the  unavoidable  ab- 
sence of  the  Hon.  W.  B.  Hill,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  his  appointed  essay,  discussing  "  Legal  Restraint 
on  the  Vices  of  Society,"  was  read  by  the  Rev.  W.  Y.  Tudor, 
D.D.,  of  the  same  Cluirch.     The  essay  was  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President  :  We  are  sometimes  told  by  those  who  admit  that  legal 
restraint  of  the  vices  of  society  is  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  State  that 
such  legislation  is  nugatory.  "  You  cannot  make  men  moral  by  act  of 
Parliament " — so  runs  the  threadbare  pathos  of  this  worn-out  pastoral. 
Now,  if  this  means  that  law  cannot  generate  inward  righteousness,  it  is 
true.  But  those  who  saw^  the  air  with  this  old  saw  very  well  know  that 
the  friends  of  moral  legislation  do  not  propose  to  accomplish  by  it  any 
such  result;  for  statutes  of  every  kind  assume  to  deal  only  with  men's 
acts,  not  with  intentions  or  motives.  What  those  who  use  this  saying 
mean  is  that  law  has  no  efficacy  in  promoting  morality  of  external  con- 
duc;t,  and  when  uttered  with  this  meaning  it  is  the  most  preposterous  and 
self-evident  falsehood  that  ever  crept  into  currency  by  the  coinage  of  an 
epigram.  If  it  were  true,  it  would  be  an  argument  against  church  rules 
and  social  regulations  as  well  as  against  statutes.  Rules  of  the 
Churches  never  created  inward  holiness;  that  is  not  their  function  in 
church  economy ;  but  they  serve  as  an  influential  and  wholesome  disci- 
pline of  conduct,  and  thus  they  help  to  make  men  moral  by  law. 

The  falsity  of  this  hoary-headed  error  is  best  exposed  by  reversing  its 
application.  Those  who  quote  it  so  flippantly  commit  themselves  by  logical 
conclusion  to  the  statement  that  you  cannot  make  men  immoral  by  law. 
But  this  is  notoriously  untrue.  Did  not  the  law  that  chartered  the 
Louisiana  lottery  and  authorized  its  roving  commission  of  infamy  through 
mails  and  newspapers — did  not  such  legislation,  l)y  furnishing  the  means 
and  inducements  of  an  immoral  temptation,  make  men  immoral  by  law  ? 
Can  there  be  a  doubt  that  the  acts  of  Congress  which  have  closed  the 
mails  and  press  to  the  lottery's  nefarious  schemes  have  diminished  this  im- 
morality, and  therefore  made  moral,  with  respect  to  this  vice,  the  conduct 


556  THE  CHUKCH  AND  PUBLIC  MOBALITY. 

of  many  whose  conduct  the  opposite  state  of  the  law  made  immoral  ? 
Do  not  the  laws  that  set  up  saloons  in  Washington  thick  as  the  leaves  in 
Vallombrosa,  presenting  to  the  lip  of  every  youth  the  allurement  of  a  per- 
secuting opportunity ;  subsidizing  by  pecuniary  profit  the  greed  of  every 
publican  in  creating  a  patronage  of  drunkards;  thrusting  before  the  vic- 
tim of  every  inherited  weakness  and  depraved  appetite  an  ever-present 
and  multiplied  temptation ;  creating  and  extending  the  social  visage  of 
treating  as  the  means  of  doubling  indulgence ;  bringing  into  partnership 
the  suggestions  and  excitement  of  kindred  vices  by  lewd  pictures  on  the 
walls  and  the  gambling-rooms  secreted  above — do  not  the  laws  which 
license  these  institutions  jjropagate  and  foster  and  multiply  and  intensify 
propensities  to  intemperance,  and  thus  make  thousands  upon  thousands 
of  men  immoral  by  law  ?  As  long  as  they  are  permitted  by  law  to  carry 
on  this  deadly  work  in  Christian  England  and  America,  Anglo-Saxon 
civilization  must  be  content  to  rest  under  the  shame  of  the  terrific  indict- 
ment of  that  observer  who  called  it  a  "hideous  mixture  of  beer  and 
Bible." 

Let  him  who  doubts  that  men  can  be  made  immoral  by  law  imagine 
the  results  of  applying  the  license  system,  with  unlimited  publicity  and 
freedom  of  catering  for  patronage,  to  the  gambling-saloon ;  or  let  him 
imagine  the  effect  upon  society  of  laws  permitting  in  our  cities  what  was 
permitted  in  Pomjoeii.  Just  so  far  as  present  laws  save  us  from  such  re- 
sults, by  their  prohibitions  and  restrictions,  they  make  men  moral  by  law, 
although  it  is  freely  admitted  that  they  fail  to  suppress  entirely  the  vices 
at  which  they  are  aimed.  All  statutes  against  crime,  so  far  as  they  oper- 
ate as  restraints  upon  human  conduct,  make  men  moral  by  law.  And  so 
all  laws  against  the  vices  of  society,  by  the  condemnation  of  such  vices, 
by  registering  the  voice  of  public  conscience  and  public  opinion  against 
them,  as  well  as  using  the  machinery  of  punishment  against  the  violators, 
become  an  important  factor  in  promoting  morality  of  conduct. 

May  the  law  precede,  or  must  it  simply  follow,  public  sentiment  in 
attempting  to  control  the  vices  of  society?  This  is  a  question  which, 
under  different  forms,  has  provoked  much  discussion.  There  are  two 
schools  of  thought,  one  insisting  that  the  law  should  hold  aloft  a  standard 
of  conduct  sufficiently  above  the  level  of  average  ojoinion  to  become  a 
guide  and  a  beacon,  the  other  insisting  that  the  standard  should  be  below 
the  level  of  average  public  sentiment,  or  at  most  only  parallel  with  it,  in 
order  to  prevent  the  scandal  which  arises  from  a  breach  of  law  in  its  non- 
enforcement.  The  history  of  the  progressive  growth  of  the  common  law 
of  England  is  an  instance  of  the  evolution  of  law  which  followed,  and, 
by  a  series  of  successive  precedents,  established  what  was  assumed  by  the 
judges  to  have  already  the  force  of  social  custom,  although  their  declara- 
tion might  for  the  first  time,  as  was  admitted,  become  the  evidence  that 
it  was  law.  Bentham  comj^lained  of  this  system  of  judge-made  law  as  un- 
just. "  You  make  laws  for  men,  "  said  he, "  as  you  make  law  for  your  dog. 
You  first  let  him  do  wrong,  and  then  you  whip  him  for  it."  But  the  ad- 
vocates of  the  system  would  reply  that  the  judges  merely  declared  the 


ESSAY    OF    HON,    W.    B.    HILL.  557 

law,  already  pre-existing  in  men's  thoughts  and  in  social  usage,  though 
unwritten,  and  that  the  law  which  was  thus  the  product  of  the  habits  and 
customs  of  the  community  must  be  binding  upon  every  one. 

Totally  different  from  this  evolution  of  law  was  the  mode  of  deliverance 
of  the  ^losuic  code.  That  came  from  a  source  distinctly  external  to  the 
people.  It  rested  upon  an  authority  higher  than  their  consent.  In  the 
moral  law  of  Israel  that  lofty  code  of  ethics  was  a  pillar  of  cloud  by  day 
and  of  fire  by  night,  leading,  guiding,  uplifting  the  thought  of  the  people. 
Grievous  indeed  were  the  lapses  of  conduct  by  the  chosen  peoj)le,  but  for 
aught  that  we  can  tell  of  human  history  it  seems  at  least  probable  that  if 
Jehovah  had  waited  until  public  sentiment  among  mankind  was  ready  for 
his  laws  and  prepared  to  enforce  them  without  infractions,  we  should 
probably  not  yet  have  had  the  Ten  Commandments. 

Legal  restraint  is  by  no  means  to  be  thought  of  as  a  panacea  for  the 
vices  of  society.  There  are  some  who  rush  for  a  statute  as  they  would 
make  haste  in  disease  to  apply  a  blister,  and  expect  a  specific  cure.  Our 
best  social  and  religious  endeavors  will  leave  a  large  residuum  of  truth  in 
that  pessimistic  couplet : 

"How  small,  of  all  that  human  hearts  endure. 
That  part  which  kings  or  laws  can  cause  or  cure." 

There  is  a  Spanish  proverb  that  an  ounce  of  mother  is  worth  a  pound  of 
clergy — and  I  would  add,  worth  a  ton  of  law.  But  while  law,  as  a  re- 
straint on  immorality  of  conduct,  may  be  of  small  relative  value  to  these 
other  influences,  yet  it  has  undoubtedly  a  positive  value  and  an  important 
function.  In  so  far  as  law  is  efficacious,  the  truth,  as  between  the  con- 
flicting views  which  have  .been  stated,  seems  to  be  with  those  who  hold 
that  law  may  very  properly  go,  to  some  extent,  in  advance  of  public  sen- 
timent ;  not,  indeed,  so  far  in  advance  as  to  make  a  great  gulf  between  the 
working  beliefs  of  men  and  the  law,  but  far  enough  for  the  law  itself  to 
become,  as  the  voice  of  the  community's  higher  conscience,  an  educator  of 
public  thought,  and  thus  in  a  new  sense  a  school-master  to  lead  us  to  Christ. 
The  truth  is  that  there  is  very  little  danger  of  the  enactment  of  Lnvs  in 
advance  of  public  opinion — almost  no  possibility  of  the  enactment  of  a 
law  under  representative  government  in  advance  of  the  working  beliefs 
of  at  least  a  majority  of  the  community.  And  yet,  to  cite  an  instance  in 
the  current  discussions  and  campaigns  relating  to  the  suppression  of  the 
saloon,  we  find  many  persons  who  profess  to  be  sincerely  in  favor  of  the 
suppression  opposing  it  on  the  ground  that  the  public  mind  is  not  ready 
for  the  movement.  If  they  honestly  favor  the  movement,  their  business 
is  the  single  one  of  endeavoring  to  bring  the  pxiblic  mind  to  agree  with 
their  own  convictions.  The  result  of  the  ballot  can  be  depended  on  to 
ascertain  where  the  majority  is;  and  yet  we  find  them  assuming  in  ad- 
vance that  saloon  sentiment  will  be  in  the  ascendancy,  and  on  that 
assumption  actually  contributing  to  its  ascendancy.  There  are  prominent 
religious  journals  in  the  United  States  whose  course  on  this  question  in- 
volves them  in  this  grievous  inconsistency. 


558  THE  CHUKCH  AND  PUBLIC  MORALITY. 

Mr.  William  T.  Stead,  who  is  famous  in  connection  with  movements 
to  sup2)ress  certain  vices  of  society,  recently  cited  as  an  illustration  of  the 
power  of  law  to  raise  public  opinion  to  the  level  of  the  law  the  case  of  a 
member  of  Parliament  who  was  expelled  for  accomplishing  the  ruin  of  a 
young  girl.  The  details  of  the  law,  the  case,  and  the  penalty  may  not 
be  very  well  understood  on  this  side,  and  I  shall  not  attempt  any  elabo- 
rate interpretation  of  them;  but  I  gather  this  much  from  Mr.  Stead's  ar- 
ticle: that  the  provision  by  virtue  of  which  the  expulsion  was  accom- 
plished was,  at  the  time  of  its  enactment,  in  advance  of  the  sentiment 
even  of  those  by  whom  it  was  enacted,  and  certainly  above  the  average  of 
public  sentiment ;  but  in  time,  and  perhaps  in  part  because  of  the  educa- 
tive influence  of  the  law  itself,  public  opinion  was  brought  to  the  point 
of  enforcing  the  provision  when  a  case  within  its  terms  arose.  At  any 
rate,  it  is  undeniably  true  that  this  case,  and  the  eclij^se  in  the  careers  of 
two  prominent  leaders  in  British  politics,  have  fixed  a  standard  for  the 
private  conduct  of  public  men  which  a  hundred,  or  even  fifty,  years  ago 
would  have  been  decried  as  hypocritically  over-pious. 

The  phrase  "legal  restraint"  in  the  subject  assigned  me  is  broad 
enough  to  include  the  whole  subject  of  enactment  and  enforcement  of 
law  designed  to  restrain  or  suppress  the  vices  of  society.  Under  repre- 
sentative governments,  the  ultimate  responsibility,  both  for  the  enactment 
of  good  laws  by  the  Legislature  and  the  enforcement  of  law  by  public  of- 
ficers, rests  with  the  people.  Public  opinion,  as  expressed  through  the 
methods  provided  for  its  ascertainment,  is  the  power  behind  the  law — 
from  its  high  crown  in  the  royal  ruler  or  president  to  its  "miry  toes"  in 
the  constables  of  low  degree.  To  the  extent  that  Christian  people  make 
up,  or  can  mold,  public  opinion,  they  are .  therefore  responsible  as  to 
whether  law  imposing  due  restraint  upon  the  vices  of  society  is  enacted, 
and  if  so,  whether  such  laws  are  faithfully  enforced. 

It  will  be  objected  that  this  statement  ignores  the  separation  between 
religion  and  politics.  It  does,  for  I  deny  the  validity  of  any  such  separa- 
tion. "Why  is  not  the  political  conduct  of  the  Christian  citizen,  under  a 
system  wherein  that  conduct  affects  the  righteousness  of  the  public  law, 
subject  to  religious  obligations,  as  much  as  domestic  life  or  business  life? 
Why  are  not  those  who  hold  that  moral  issues  are  of  paramount  and  su- 
preme importance  bound  to  act  on  that  belief  in  their  political  relations? 
The  answer  to  these  questions  would  seem,  on  principle,  to  be  plain 
enough;  and  yet,  just  as  horse-trading  has  established  for  itself  a  special 
code  of  ethics  framed  on  debased  morality,  so  the  great  business  of  poli- 
tics claims  exemption  from  moral  interference.  The  result  is  that  Chris- 
tian voters  every-where  are  ranged  in  parties  whose  rallying-cries  are 
either  strangely  silent  concerning  the  insistent  moral  questions  of  our 
time,  or  else  positively  hostile  toward  them.  If  the  views  now  urged 
were  generally  adopted,  we  should  see  important  changes  in  public  af- 
fairs. Christian  citizens  would  not  abandon  politics  to  bad  men  to  the 
extent  they  now  do.  Under  a  system  of  popular  government,  every  citi- 
zen's vote,  or  failure  to  vote — his  influence,  or  failure  to  exercise  that 


KSSAv  OF  HON.  w.  15.  iiir.r-.  559 

influence — affects  the  commuuity  for  good  or  evil.  It  is  therefore  the  duty 
of  all  good  citizens,  at  the  expense  of  personal  convenience,  or  even  of 
personal  business  interest,  to  use  both  their  votes  and  influence  in  behalf 
of  pul)lic  welfare.  This  is  the  patriotism  of  peace..  This  is  ])ul)lic  spirit 
iu  its  most  important  sphere.  To  withdraw  selfishly  from  political  duties 
is  as  unworthy  of  tlic  true  man,  and  as  disastrous  to  his  community,  as  it 
■would  be  in  time  of  war  to  shirk  his  part  in  maintaining  the  common 
defense. 

And  yet,  potent  as  these  truths  seem  to  be,  there  is  but  one  class  of  citi- 
zens who  live  up  to  their  privileges  as  factors  in  popular  government — one 
class  alone  who  not  only  always  vote,  but  always  influence  votes  in  behalf 
of  their  convictions  or  interests  to  the  full  extent  of  their  power.  They 
have  been  well  described  by  au  American  statesman  as  consisting  of  "the 
saloon-keepers,  the  thugs,  the  shoulder-hitters :  all  the  fraternity  of  the 
bucket-shops,  the  rat-pits,  the  hells,  and  the  slums."  These  be  thy  gods,  O 
Israel !  False  gods  as  they  are,  there  will  be  no  cleansing  of  the  nation's  pub- 
lic life  until  the  children  of  light  learn  a  lesson  from  these  children  of  this 
world,  and  oppose  to  their  zeal  a  spirit  of  patriotic  consecration ;  to  their 
craft  a  prayer ;  inspired  wisdom  to  their  solidity ;  a  co-operation  cemented 
by  intense  conviction  of  the  sujireraacy  of  moral  interests. 

Assuming  that  good  laws  for  the  restraint  of  the  vices  of  society  have 
been  enacted,  the  question  of  their  enforcement  involves  consideration  of 
the  attitude  toward  these  laws  of  the  public  officers  to  whom  are  dele- 
gated their  administration  and  execution.  If  these  officials  are  unfriendly 
to  such  laws,  it  is  vain  to  hope  for  any  good  result.  Such  is  undoubtedly 
the  attitude  of  many  public  officials.  Mr.  Anthony  Comstock,  who  is  the 
"  Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Crime,"  and  whose  earnest  fight  against 
obscene  literature  and  art  is  all  the  more  honored  by  good  men  because 
of  its  persistent  misrepresentation  by  the  press,  has  had  almost  as  hard 
conflicts  with  those  on  w'hom  the  duty  of  enforcing  the  laws  devolves  as 
with  the  criminals  against  whom  the  laws  are  directed.  The  statement 
was  made  years  ago  by  Dr.  Howard  Crosby,  that  there  were  more  than  one 
thousand  cases  for  the  violation  of  the  excise  laws  pigeon-holed  in  the 
office  of  the  district  attorney  of  New  York,  awaiting  a  day  of  judgment 
apparently  as  remote  as  the  dies  irce.  This  statement  has  remained  mi- 
challenged.  Unless  every  metropolitan  newspaper  bears  false  witness, 
many  of  the  police  of  the  same  city  are  iu  the  pay  of  its  dens  of  iuicpiity, 
and  receive  current  compensation  in  return  foi  protection  from  the  lavr. 

In  many  places  Christian  sentiment  has  been  aroused  by  facts  like 
these,  and  "law  and  order  leagues"  have  been  formed — societies  for  the 
enforcement  of  law.  Their  object  is  worthy  of  all  praise.  For  what  they 
can  do  let  us  be  duly  grateful;  but  the  fact  that  they  can  accomplish  so 
little,  relative  to  the  much  that  ought  to  be  done,  suggests  the  fearful  dif- 
ficulty which  hampers  all  such  efforts.  The  very  existence  of  a  law  and 
order  league  assumes  that  the  officers  of  the  law  are  themselves  criminals. 
The  assumption  is,  in  many  cases,  only  too  well  founded;  for  indifference 
to  official  duty,  laxity  in  executing  laws  which  the  official  has  sworn  to 


560  THE  CHUKCH  AND  PUBLIC  MORALITY. 

enforce,  and,  in  still  greater  degree,  sympathy  and  collusion  with  oifend- 
ers,  constitute  as  great  a  crime  against  the  law  and  the  peace  of  society  as 
the  offenses  which  are  thus  neglected  or  condoned  or  jjrotected.  The 
whole  machinery  of  the  law  is  in  the  hands  of  public  officers.  The  proper 
use  of  this  machinery  is  the  business  and  the  duty  of  the  officers  of  the 
law.  They  are  paid  for  the  business ;  they  are  sworn  to  the  duty.  It 
ought  never  to  be  necessary  for  private  citizens  to  employ  their  time^ 
money,  and  exertions,  either  individually  or  in  organized  societies,  to  do 
the  work  of  paid  and  pledged  officials.  And  they  cannot  do  it,  with  any 
considerable  success. 

Besides,  the  machinery  of  law  is  complex.  There  are  so  many  steps 
from  detection  to  accusation,  from  accusation  to  trial,  from  trial  to  penal- 
ty, that  if  there  is  a  balk  at  any  stage  in  the  progress  of  justice  it  is  fatal. 
These  considerations  suggest  that  the  efforts  of  Chi-istian  citizens  in  secur- 
ing the  due  administration  of  those  laws  designed  to  serve  as  restraints 
upon  the  vices  of  society,  the  enforcement  of  which  is  resisted  by  a  crimi- 
nal class  having  a  strong  political  "  pull,"  would  better  be  directed  toward 
the  election  of  officials  friendly  to  such  laws  than  toward  compelling  an  in- 
different or  hostile  or  bribed  body  of  officials  to  do  their  duty.  Such  of- 
ficials are  themselves  law-breakers,  and  no  pressure  of  public  opinion  will 
long  make  them  even  "go  through  the  motions"  of  a  vigorous  enforce- 
ment of  the  law.  They  may  occasionally  make  a  demonstrative  raid,  or 
single  out  some  scapegoat,  designed  to  gratify  public  opinion  during  some 
"  spasm  "  of  municipal  morality ;  but  they  do  this  only  because — as  the 
mayor  of  one  city  explained  to  some  gambling  constituents  whose  punish- 
ment he  temporarily  decreed — "it  is  occasionally  necessary  to  pander  ta 
the  morals  of  the  community."  The  mayor  and  the  criminals  understood 
perfectly  that  in  a  few  weeks  they  would  resume  "the  same  business  at 
the  same  stand."  Law  against  social  vices  is  not  legal  restraint,  except 
when  administered  by  those  who  are  in  sympathy  with  it. 

I  regret  to  offer  an  opinion  on  a  much-controverted  subject;  but  I 
should  fall  short  of  loyalty  to  what  seems  to  me  to  be  the  whole  truth  on 
this  subject  if  I  did  not  add  that  legal  restraint  upon  the  vices  of  society 
will  never  be  what  it  ought  to  be  until  the  conscience  of  Chi'istian  woman- 
hood is  recognized  in  the  agencies  both  for  enactment  and  enforcement  of 
law.  I  see  nothing  less  than  this  as  the  consummation  of  that  great  move- 
ment which  has  been  so  well  described  by  Dr.  Storrs:  "  It  is  a  fact  sig- 
nificant for  the  past,  prophetic  for  the  future,  that  even  as  Dante  meas- 
ured his  successive  ascents  in  the  Paradise — not  by  immediate  conscious- 
ness of  movement,  but  by  seeing  an  ever  lovelier  beauty  in  the  face  of 
Beatrice^ — so  the  race  now  counts  the  gradual  steps  of  its  spiritual  prog- 
ress out  of  the  ancient  heavy  glooms  toward  the  glory  of  the  Christian 
millennium,  not  by  mechanism,  not  by  cities,  but  by  ever  new  grace  and 
force  exhibited  by  the  woman  who  was  for  ages  either  the  decorated  toy 
of  man  or  his  despised  and  abject  drudge." 

Legal  restraint  is  law ;  and  what  is  law  in  these  days,  either  in  England 
or  America,  except  the  will  of  the  people?     My  subject,  then,  raises  the 


ESSAY    OF    HON.    \V.    B.    HILL.  561 

grave  question.  What  is  to  be  tte  will  of  the  people?  What  is  it  to  be  ia 
England,  "that  mighty  nation,  before  whose  feet  the  worlds  divide?" 
One  of  her  statesmen  and  scholars,  Mr.  Bryce,  has  asked  this  (juestion  of 
this  younger  nation,  and  I  believe  has  indicated  the  true  answer  in  these 
grave  words  with  which  I  close  this  paper  : 

"  No  one  is  so  thoughtless  as  not  to  sometimes  ask  himself  what  should 
befall  mankiud  if  the  solid  fabric  of  belief  on  which  their  morality  has 
hitherto  rested,  or  at  least  been  deemed  by  them  to  rest,  were  suddenly 
to  break  up  and  vanish  under  the  influence  of  new  views  of  nature,  as  the 
ice-fields  split  and  melt  when  they  have  floated  down  into  a  warmer  sea. 
Morality,  with  religion  for  its  sanction,  has  hitherto  been  the  basis  of  so- 
cial polity,  except  under  military  despotisms.  Would  morality  be  so  far 
weakened  as  to  make  social  polity  unstable  ?  and  if  so,  would  a  reign  of 
violence  return?  In  Europe  tliis  question  does  not  seem  urgent,  because 
in  Europe  the  physical  force  of  aniied  men  which  maintains  order  is 
usually  susjiicious,  and  because  obedience  to  authority  is  every-wliere  in 
Europe  matter  of  aucieut  habit,  having  come  down  little  impaired  from 
ages  when  men  obeyed  without  asking  for  a  reason.  But  in  America 
the  whole  system  of  government  seems  to  rest,  not  on  anned  force,  but 
on  the  will  of  the  numerical  majority ;  a  majority  most  of  whom  might 
well  think  that  its  overthrow  would  be  for  them  a  gain. 

"So  sometimes,  standing  in  the  midst  of  a  great  American  city,  and 
watching  the  throngs  of  eager  figures  streaming  hither  and  thither,  mark- 
ing the  sharp  contrast  of  poverty  and  wealth — an  increasing  mass  of 
wretchedness  and  an  increasing  display  of  luxury — knowing  that  before 
long  a  hundred  millions  of  men  will  be  living  between  ocean  and  ocean 
under  this  one  government — a  government  which  their  own  hands  have 
made,  and  which  they  feel  to  be  the  work  of  their  own  hands — one  is 
startled  by  the  thought  of  what  might  befall  this  huge  yet  delicate  fabric 
of  laws  and  commerce  and  social  institutions  were  the  foundations  it 
has  rested  on  to  crumble  away.  Suppose  that  all  these  men  ceased  to  be- 
lieve that  there  was  any  power  above  them,  any  future  before  them,  any 
thing  in  heaven  or  earth  but  what  their  senses  told  them  of;  suppose 
that  their  consciousness  of  individual  force  and  responsibility,  already 
dwarfed  by  the  overwhelming  power  of  the  multitude,  and  the  fatalistic 
submission  it  engenders,  were  further  weakened  by  the  feeling  that  their 
swiftly  fleeting  life  was  rounded  by  a  perpetual  sleep — 

Soles  occidere  et  redire  possunt: 
Nobis,  quum  semel  occidit  brevis  lux 
Nox  est  perpetua  una  dormienda — 

•would  the  moral  code  stand  unshakened,  and  with  it  the  reverence  for 
law,  the  sense  of  duty  toward  the  commimity,  and  even  toward  the  gen- 
erations yet  to  come?  Would  men  say,  'Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to- 
morrow we  die?'  Or  would  custom  and  sympathy  and  a- perception  of 
the  advantages  which  stable  government  offers  to  the  citizens  as  a  whole, 
and  which  orderly  self-restraint  offers  to  each  one,  replace  supernatural 


562  THE  CHUKCH  AND  PUBLIC  MORALITY. 

sanctions,  and  hold  in  check  the  violence  of  masses  and  the  self-indulgent 
impulses  of  the  individual?  History,  if  she  cannot  give  a  complete  answer 
to  this  question,  tells  us  that  hitherto  civilized  society  has  rested  on  re- 
ligion, and  that  free  government  has  prospered  best  among  religious 
peoples." 

The  first  invited  address  of  the  morning,  on  "  Lotteries,  Bet- 
ting, Gambling,  and  Kindred  Vices,"  was  given  bj  tlie  Rev. 
Joseph  Posnett,  of  the  Wesley  an  Methodist  Church,  as  fol- 
lows : 

Mr.  President :  The  question  of  betting  and  gambling  is  a  present-day 
question,  and  one  of  all-concerning  importance.  There  is  no  evil  of  our 
times  vi^hich  is  so  wide-spread,  so  rapid  in  its  development,  so  colossal  in 
its  proportions,  and  so  prophetic  of  ruin  to  personal,  domestic,  social, 
and  national  character  and  morals,  wherever  it  is  indulged.  It  is  a  cor- 
rupting leaven.  It  is  a  contaminating  leprosy  very  dangerous  to  the  well- 
being  and  Christian  civilization  of  our  times.  It  has  become  an  interna- 
tional social  blizzai'd,  causing  desolation  and  misery,  ruin  and  wreckage, 
wherever  it  prevails. 

It  is  difficult  to  define  gambling.  Substantially  it  is  an  attempt  to  gain 
by  chance  or  hazard,  or  supposed  information,  the  monej^  or  property  of 
others,  without  giving  any  fair  equivalent,  any  valuable  consideration,  for 
the  gain  sought.  The  man  who  stakes  five  pounds  on  a  horse-race  hopes 
to  receive  a  very  much  larger  sum  for  the  money  he  has  staked.  But  it 
is  not  honest  to  acquire  your  neighbor's  money,  mostly  to  his  ruin  and 
degradation,  and  always  in  such  transactions,  without  rendering  a  just 
equivalent,  a  fair  and  valuable  consideration,  for  that  which  has  been  re- 
ceived. The  transaction  is  essentially  unjust,  and  partakes  of  the  nature 
of  dishonesty.  It  is,  in  short,  a  sort  of  veiled  robbery,  a  theft,  which 
though  in  a  manner  condoned  before  society  by  long-established  evil  cus- 
tom, is  none  the  less  a  wrongful  acquisition  of  that  which  of  right  belongs 
to  another.  The  act  is  intrinsically  an  unrighteous  one,  and  "  All  un- 
rigliteousness  is  sin."  In  its  ultimate  outworking  gambling  cannot  mean 
any  thing  less  than  the  practical  abolition  and  dethronement  of  the 
tenth  commandment.  The  passion  for  gambling  has  its  deepest  roots  in 
selfishness  and  covetousness,  indolence  and  idleness.  Unhappily,  it  pos- 
sesses a  strange  and  marvelous  fascination  over  its  spell-bound  victims, 
leading  them  onward  under  its  terrible  bewitchment,  from  which  escape 
is  almost  impossible,  to  certain  and  hopeless  perdition.  The  heart  of  the 
gambler  all  the  world  over  gets  hardened  into  adamant,  and  before  he  is 
aware  of  it  becomes  possessed,  not  only  with  seven,  but  seventy  times 
seven,  devils.  "  The  turf,"  says  the  Pcdl  Mall  Gazette,  "  has  degenerated 
into  a  dishonest  gambling  hell."  The  late  Lord  Beaconsfield  described  it  as 
"a  vast  engine  of  national  demoralization."  A  fair  and  beautiful  young 
mother,  with  -two  or  three  little  children  clinging  to  her  apron,  but  on 
whose  faces  gaunt  famine  was  writing  its  sad  lines,  said  in  my  hearing,  for 
she  was  the  wife  of  a  gambler,  "  We're  fair  hungered  to  death  with  it," 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.  JOSEPH    POSNETT,  563 

Now,  if  what  I  have  said  bo  true,  and  if,  further,  all  the  evil  associations 
and  results  of  gambling  be  cousidered,  then  it  follows  that  all  gambling — 
gambling  of  every  kind  and  degree — is  essentially  immoral.  Its  immorality 
is  to  be  found,  not  only  in  the  degree  or  extent  to  which  it  is  carried,  but 
in  the  nature  of  the  act  itself.  The  actiuisition  sought,  namely,  the  posses- 
sion of  another  man's  estate  without  giving  to  him  a  full  and  valuable  con- 
sideration for  that  which  has  been  ol)tained,  is  essentially,  fundamentally, 
and  radically  wrong.  A  man  can  no  more  be  a  moral  gambler  because  the 
degree  of  his  gambling  is  not  so  excessive  as  that  of  some  others  than  he 
can  be  a  moral  thief  because  his  theft  is  not  so  large  in  its  proiiortions  as 
may  be  the  case  with  some  others.  The  evil  consists  not  in  the  degree  or 
excess  in  which  the  practice  is  indulged,  but  in  the  indulgence  of  it  at 
all.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  forbidden  territory,  all  trespass  into  which,  even 
though  the  trespasser  should  never  venture  far  beyond  the  line  of  demar- 
kation,  is  a  transgression  of  the  law.  The  question  to  be  answered  is  not, 
"How  came  you  to  wander  so  far  into  a  distinctly  forbidden  territory?" 
but,  "Why  are  you  there  at  all? "  It  is  in  the  very  act  and  at  the  very  mo- 
ment that  a  man  overleaps  the  boundary-line  between  that  which  is  lawful 
and  permissible  and  that  which  is  unlawful  and  forbidden,  and  not  sim- 
ply in  any  larger  and  further  after-encroachment  and  trespass  into  such 
forl>idden  territory — it  is  then  and  there  that  principle  strikes  her  surren- 
der, and  the  wrongful  deed  is  committed. 

Hence  the  recent  language  of  Sir  James  Stephens  in  the  July  number 
of  the  Nineteenth  Century  is  utterly  fallacious  and  misleading.  Sir  James 
says:  "The  principle  on  which  gambling  is  morally  objectionable  is  not 
difficult  to  apply.  It  is  that  gambling,  like  any  other  thing,  is  a  question 
of  degree.  A  bet  for  one  man  is  unobjectionable,  if  it  is  a  matter  of 
shillings;  for  another  man  it  maybe  of  no  harm  if  it  is  a  matter  of  pounds. 
But  (picstions  of  degree  of  this  sort  must  by  the  very  nature  of  things  be 
decided  by  the  people  whom  they  actually  affect.  A  man  must  decide  for 
himself  how  much  he  can  afford  to  lose."  Now,  to  this  statement  of  the 
case  I  strongly  l)ut  respectfully  demur.  For  if  gambling  be  essentially 
wrong — wrong  in  principle — it  cannot  possibly  be  right  in  degree.  If  it  be 
wrontr  in  the  abstract  it  cannot  be  ri'Aii  in  the  concrete.     If  in  its  under- 

CD  O 

lying  spirit  and  principle  it  is  to  be  condemned,  then  no  external  circum- 
stances, no  possible  varying  conditions  of  life,  no  questions  of  degree  can 
change  the  essential  character  of  that  action  and  transform  wrong  into 
right.  Sir  James  Stt'pheus  opens  a  door  which  it  will  be  found  impossi- 
ble to  shut.  Every  man  is  to  do  that  which  is  right  in  his  own  eyes ;  "  a  man 
must  decide  for  himself  how  much  he  can  afford  to  lose."  A  poor  man 
with  the  claims  of  wife  and  family  upon  him  will  be  condemned  if  he 
gaml)les  away  half  a  crown,  whereas  a  wealthy  rascal  will  escape  all  con- 
demnation thou'di  he  should  fjaml>le  awav  hundreds  of  thousands.  Lesr- 
islation  on  the  principles  of  Sir  James  is  legislation  for  the  cla.sses  and 
against  the  masses.  It  practically  condones  gam])ling  in  the  prince,  but 
condemns  it  in  the  peasant.  Sir  James  says  in  effect  to  the  bloated  aris- 
tocrat, "All  right,  my  lord;    go  on,  and  prosper!"     But  to  the  hard- 


564  THE  CHURCH  AND  PUBLIC  MORALITY. 

handed  son  of  toil  he  says  substantially,  ' '  You  deserve  to  be  run  in !  "  It  is 
not  equal  and  fair.  It  has  no  solid  foundation  in  righteousness.  It  favors 
the  rich  and  bears  hardly  on  the  poor.  On  such  premises  gambling  never 
has  been,  and  never  can  and  never  will  be,  jjut  down.  "And yet  show  I 
unto  you  a  more  excellent  way." 

Moreover,  these  principles  apply  as  broadly  and  strongly  to  the  success- 
ful hazardous  plunger  in  stocks  and  shares,  who  has  no  objection  to  sanc- 
tify his  speculative  audacity  by  a  liberal  contribution  to  church  funds,  as 
they  do  to  the  unsuccessful  and  bankrupt  victim  of  his  own  rashness,  who 
is  held  up  before  society  as  a  paragon  of  folly  and  crime.  The  one  has 
just  escaped  in  the  very  nick  of  time  and  only  by  a  hair's  breadth  from  the- 
Argentine  crash,  but  the  other  "poor  devil,"  as  he  is  called,  has  been 
caught  in  the  sloping  and  vitreous  sides  of  the  financial  whirlpool.  But 
apparent  and  temporary  success  cannot  be  accepted  as  any  justification  for 
wrong-doing.  The  victorious  though  blood-stained  duelist  is  just  as  bad  as 
the  vanquished  and  murdered  duelist.  A  successful  plunger  in  stocks 
and  shares  may  be  just  as  culpable  before  God  as  an  unsuccessful  and 
ruined  one,  though  the  effects  and  consequences  of  such  a  course  may  be 
very  different  toward  others.  But  the  moral  quality  of  actions  is  not  deter- 
mined by  either  success  on  the  one  hand  or  non-success  on  the  other.  The 
common  adage,  "There  is  nothing  succeeds  like  success,"  needs  vast 
qualification  in  the  world  of  finance.  Moreover,  if  gambling  be  what  the 
late  Archbisliop  of  York  termed  it,  "  the  purchase  of  a  chance,"  then  for 
one  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  gambler  has  no  more  right  to 
purchase  the  chance  of  ruining  his  neighbor  than  has  the  duelist  to  purchase 
the  chance  of  killing  his  neighbor. 

Possibly  one  of  the  very  worst  forms  of  gambling — gambling  practiced 
on  a  colossal  scale  and  gambling  indulged  in  by  not  a  few  Christian  pro- 
fessors— is  the  gambling  of  the  Stock  Exchange.  Talk  of  a  frantic,  fanat- 
ical, uproarious  enthusiasm  in  matters  religious  as  something  to  be  con- 
demned !  For  my  part,  I  have  never  seen  or  heard  any  thing  in  connection 
with  the  wildest  religious  excitement  I  have  ever  witnessed  at  all  com- 
parable with  what  I  saw  for  the  space  of  half  an* hour  about  a  fortnight 
since  on  Wall  Street,  New  York.  The  shouting,  bawling,  screaming, 
frantic,  almost  mad  uproariousness  of  those  fanatical  dervishes  of  finance 
may  well  be  said  to  ' '  lick  creation ! "  No  doubt  the  gambling  of  the 
Stock  Exchange  differs  widely  in  form  and  expression  from  the  gambling 
of  the  turf  and  the  dice.  But  in  spirit  and  the  manifestation  of  an  ever- 
grasping,  all-devouring,  all-consuming  covetousness  it  is  one  and  the 
same  thing.  These  gamblers  truly  fulfill  the  memorable  words  of  the  great 
prophet,  "  They  are  drunken,  but  not  with  wine;  they  stagger,  but  not 
with  strong  drink."  Yes,  this  huge  and  tremendous  inconsistency  have  I 
known,  for  a  man  never  to  be  "  drunk  with  wine,  wherein  is  excess,"  but 
daily  and  almost  every  hour  of  the  day,  the  year  through,  to  be  dead 
drunk,  steeped  in  a  dipsomania  of  worldliness;  never  to  be  seen  intoxi- 
cated and  inflamed  with  strong  drink,  but  daily  to  be  seen  intoxicated 
and  inflamed  with  that  "covetousness  which  is  idolatry;"  never  to  be 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    JOSEPH    POSNETT.  565 

known  as  a  reeling  and  staggering  devotee  at  the  shrine  of  Bacchus,  l)ut 
habitually  to  be  well  known  us  a  notorious  and  most  devout  worshiper  in 
the  temple  of  mammon;  almost  to  scorn  the  slavery  which  holds  the  poor 
and  pitiable  inebriate  or  opium-eater  spell-bound  by  the  witchery  of  his 
drug,  and  yet  himself  the  more  to  be  pitied  inebriate  that  is  cursed  with 
drinking  early,  drinking  late,  drinking  deeply,  drinking  always — drinking 
draughts  that  might  suffice  for  common  millions,  and  then  dying  of  thirst 
because  there  is  no  more  to  drink. 

No  doubt  much  more  might  be  done  in  restraint  of  this  evil  by  moral 
forces — the  holy  influences  of  the  home,  the  school,  the  pulpit,  and  the 
press.  Only  in  this  way,  and  by  the  united  force  of  all  these  methods, 
shall  we  be  able  to  educate  the  conscience,  which  is  the  moral  barometer 
of  the  nation,  and  so  create  an  overpowering  national  sentiment  suf- 
ficiently strong  to  force  legislation  in  restraint  of  the  growing  enormity 
of  this  vice.  But  when  we  have  done  all  we  can  in  this  way  there  will 
yet  remain  a  very  large  class  of  persons  who  need  to  be  saved  and  defended 
by  the  yet  further  restraints  of  legislation  out  from  the  hands  of  those 
who  are  continually  seeking  to  destroy  them.  Society  needs  protection 
against  its  greatest  scoundrels  and  vagabonds.  They  have  the  wild-beast 
nature  in  them,  and  are  perpetually  preying  upon  the  weak  and  the  de- 
fenseless ;  and  parliaments,  congresses,  and  legislative  assemblies,  justly 
concluding  that  certain  acts  and  practices  are,  wherever  done,  against  the 
true  common  weal  of  the  nation,  may  rightly  determine  the  performance 
and  practice  of  such  things,  subversive  as  they  are  of  the  true  well-being 
of  the  nation,  to  be  penal. 

Nay,  further,  are  these  not  forms  of  evil  so  gigantic,  oppressive,  and 
antagonistic  to  social  jirogress  that  the  removal  of  them  can  only  be  hoped 
for  by  the  restraints  of  legislation  inspired  by  Christian  sentiment  ?  What 
of  slavery,  that  sum  of  all  villainies,  cursed  at  both  ends,  and  blasted  in 
the  middle  ?  "Was  not  the  majesty  of  the  law  rightly  invoked  both  in 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  by  such  men  as  Wilberforce  and 
Abraham  Lincoln,  to  overthrow  that  pestilent  and  life-and-liberty-destroy- 
ing  monster?  When  Lord  Ampthill,  for  some  time  a  British  embassador, 
was  on  a  mission  at  Rome,  he  possessed  a  huge  boa-constrictor  and  in- 
terested himself  in  watching  its  habits.  One  day  the  monster  escaped 
from  the  box  where  it  was  supposed  to  be  asleep.  Slowly  it  began  to 
wind  itself  round  the  body  of  Lord  Ampthill  and  to  tighten  its  folds.  He 
felt  the  commencement  of  its  crushing  force.  It  was  a  moment  of  ex- 
treme peril.  The  consummate  coolness  of  the  diplomatist  helped  him. 
He  remembered  from  his  knowledge  of  anatomy  that  there  was  a  bone  in 
the  throat  of  the  monster  which,  if  he  could  find  and  break,  he  would 
save  himself.  Not  a  moment  did  he  hesitate.  Straightway  he  seized  the 
head  of  the  devouring  monster,  and  into  its  oi)ened  mouth  he  drove  his 
hand,  now  firm  as  a  bar  of  steel.  He  knew  he  must  slay  or  be  slain, 
conquer  or  die.  He  sought  and  found  and  smashed  the  vital  bone.  In- 
stantly its  coils  were  relaxed,  the  monster  fell  at  his  feet,  and  he  was  free. 
Even  so  more  than  fifty  years  ago  the  emancipating  hand  of  old  England, 


566  THE  CHURCH  AND  PUBLIC  MORALITY. 

and  more  recently  the  emancipating  hand  of  the  stars  and  stripes,  each 
hand  welded  by  high  Christian  purpose  and  principle  into  a  bar  of  steel, 
was  driven  straight  into  the  flaming  mouth  of  the  devouring  slave  dragon. 
And  with  what  result  ?  "Why,  this  result :  that  on  this  very  day,  uncoiled 
and  prostrate  and  dead,  the  form  of  the  infernal  slave  foe  is  to  be  seen  at 
the  feet  of  every  son  and  daughter  in  whose  veins  the  Anglo-American 
blood  is  flowing. 

And  as  we  have  dealt  with  the  slave  dragon,  even  so  we  must  deal  with 
the  drink  demon.  Into  the  mouth  of  that  cruel  and  sateless  monster, 
rightly  symbolized  on  the  old  crown  coins  of  England  by  a  representation 
of  St.  George  and  the  dragon,  the  united  hands  of  these  two  great  na- 
tions which  God  has  so  joined  together  that  they  ought  never  to  be  put 
asunder,  having  made  them  of  one  blood,  given  them  one  language,  filled 
them  very  much  with  one  spirit,  and  bestowed  upon  them  a  common  lib- 
erty and  inspired  them  with  a  common  purpose,  must  be  thrust,  till  the 
pride  of  the  old  tyrant  is  broken  and  its  horrible  form  lies  forever  pros- 
trate and  dead !  And  so  we  must  deal  with  the  dragons  of  lust,  cruelty 
to  women  and  little  children,  and  esjiecially  with  the  hydra-headed  mon- 
ster of  gambling  and  betting  that  in  ouj"  times  is  throwing  its  destructive 
coil  around  individuals  and  society  and  nations  and  kindreds  and  peoples. 
No  half  measures  will  avail.  We  must  vanquish  or  be  vanquished,  slay 
or  be  slain.  In  the  name,  therefore,  of  that  holy  God  whose  servants  we 
are,  and  that  divine,  redeeming  Lord  whose  name  is  above  every  name, 
let  us  enter  upon  this  holy  warfare,  and  God  defend  the  right ! 

It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted,  in  spite  of  all  that  was  said  a  few  days 
since  so  favorably  touching  the  public  press,  that  the  daily  press  of  my 
own  country  is  largely  responsible  for  this  great  evil.  It  is,  very  unfortu- 
nately, the  pecuniary  interest  of  newspaper  proprietors  to  encourage  bet- 
ting and  gambling.  By  it  they  have  their  great  gains.  The  public  press 
of  my  own  country  is  largely  responsible,  not  only  for  the  growth  of  bet- 
ting and  gambling  generally,  but  especially  for  the  growth  and 
multiplication  of  a  vast  army  of  tipsters,  swindlers,  sharpers,  black- 
legs, and  bookmakers.  "Before  the  eyes  of  all  their  readers,"  says 
Mr.  Stead,  "day  by  day,  are  flourished  forth,  with  every  appetizing 
detail,  all  the  items  of  information  that  can  tempt  men  to  bet.  Pro23hets 
are  paid  handsome  salaries  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  the  credulous 
to  put  their  money  on  horses  warranted  to  win."  And  thus  that  very 
instrument  which  beyond  all  others  ought  to  be  the  first  and  chiefest  in 
jDutting  down  this  gigantic  evil  is  in  reality  to-day  the  mightiest  instru- 
ment for  its  wider  and  yet  wider  extension. 

But  why  plead  for  legislative  restraint?  First,  because  of  the  enormous 
injustice  done  against  society  by  the  legalized  facilities  which  at  present 
obtain  for  the  practice  of  this  evil  without  almost  the  slightest  danger  of 
any  penal  consequences  whatever.  Secondly,  because  of  the  unprece- 
dented rapidity  of  the  growth  and  extension  of  this  demoralizing  practice. 
Thirdly,  because  of  the  confusion  and  uncertainty  of  the  law,  especially  in 
England,  as  it  now  stands,  touching  exactly  what  is  and  what  is  not  for- 


ADDRESS   OF    HON.    HIKAM  L.    SIBLEY.  567 

bidden.  At  present,  it  seems,  a  bet  can  be  recovered  in  our  courts  of  law 
if  made  through  an  agent.  Sir  James  Stephens  says:  "Parliament  will 
not  have  done  what  it  can  to  discourage  gambling  and  betting  until  it  has 
condemned  it  in  general  terms,  which  it  would  be  perfectly  easy  to  do  by 
reciting  that,  'Whereas  gambling  is  a  practice  opposed  to  public  interests, 
it  is  liereby  declared  to  be  illegal,  and  all  bets,  whether  made  by  agents 
or  between  principals,  and  all  contracts  ancillary  to  gambling,  shall  be  void.' 
The  existence  of  such  a  person  as  a  betting  agent  appears  to  me  to  be  an 
insult  to  the  law." 

What,  then,  could  legislation  do  ?  1.  It  could  make  illegal  and  indict- 
able all  betting  advertisements.  2.  It  could  greatly  cleanse  the  periodical 
literature  of  our  times  by  making  it  a  penal  offense  for  any  newspaper  to 
publish  "the  odds"  on  racing  transactions.  3.  It  could  effectually 
stamp  out  all  betting  and  gambling  clubs,  beginning  at  Tattersall's.  So 
long  as  betting  in  clubs  and  by  agents  is  allowed,  the  terribleness  of  the 
plague  will  continue.  4.  It  could  unrelentingly  put  down  the  whole 
system  and  curse  of  bookmaking  by  enjoining  imprisonment  on  all  per- 
sons convicted  of  bookmaking,  without  the  option  of  fine.  5.  It  could 
prohibit  the  shouting  by  little  boys  in  our  public  streets,  for  the  sake  of 
selling  their  evening  papers,  of  the  result  of  the  races.  6.  It  could  make 
the  advertisements  of  plausible  touting  and  reckless  stock-brokers  pun- 
ishable at  law.  7.  And  lastly,  it  could  prohibit  the  transmission  of  book- 
makers' circulars  through  the  post  and  also  the  use  of  the  telegraphic  wires 
for  all  gambling  purposes. 

The  second  invited  address  of  the  morning,  on  "  Marriage 
and  Divorce  Laws,"  by  the  Hon.  Hiram  L.  Sibley,  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Cliurch,  was  given,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  The  branch  of  marriage  laws  which  relates  to  divorce 
touches  at  the  core  a  vital  question  of  our  times.  With  regard  to  an  in- 
stitution so  deeply  affecting  moral  and  social  well-being  as  does  marriage, 
that  its  State  regulation  should  embody  the  principles  of  sound  ethics 
it  seems  needless  to  argue.  Government  being  the  instrument,  and  civil 
law  the  act  of  society,  they  evidently  must  conform  to  the  retjuirements  of 
morality,  or  in  ruinous  conflict  thrust  the  social  organism  against  them. 
Obvious  as  this  appears,  however,  on  the  simple  statement,  that  legislators 
either  have  not  fully  felt  its  force,  or  have  been  influenced  by  erroneous 
ethical  conceptions,  is  evidenced  by  the  general  state  of  the  civil  law  re- 
specting the  permanence  of  the  marriage  union.  A  hopeful  portent,  how- 
ever, is  seen  in  the  call,  becoming  "  trumpet-tongued,"  for  its  amendment. 
Hence  time  will  better  be  spent  in  endeavor  to  ascertain  and  state  the 
doctrine  of  morals  involved,  thus  making  clear  the  principles  which 
should  mold  the  civil  law,  than  in  sketching  its  history  or  giving  a  digest 
of  its  provisions.  One  reason  for  this  course  is  that  the  true  form  of  mar- 
riage is  so  generally  agreed  to  as  to  have  become  a  postulate  of  the  insti- 
tution. The  beautiful  jiicture  in  Genesis,  of  the  first  of  human  nuptials, 
mirrors  it  to  our  race  forever;  while  the  wedding  immortalized  by  miracle 


568  THE  CHURCH  AND  PUBLIC  MORALITY. 

at  Cana  of  Galilee  crowns  marriage  in  its  pristine  form  with  the  glory  of 
Christian  benediction.  The  latest  word  of  science,  by  the  pen  of  Herbert 
Spencer,  also  is  that  ' '  the  monogamous  form  of  the  sexual  relation  is 
manifestly  the  ultimate  form,  and  any  changes  to  be  anticipated  must  be 
in  the  direction  of  comjjletion  and  extension  of  it."  At  this  point,  then, 
nature  and  revelation  with  one  voice  declare  a  great  truth,  immovably 
rooted  in  each.  But  a  stronger  reason  for  the  line  of  discussion  indicated 
is  the  conflict  of  moral  teaching  respecting  the  permanence  of  marriage 
unions.  Obviously,  before  the  civil  law  can  be  right  the  ethical  rule  must 
be  settled.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  asserts  the  absolute  indissolu- 
bility of  the  marital  bond,  except  by  death.  Very  able  agnostic  sociolo- 
gists, on  the  other  hand,  urge  that  when,  between  a  married  coujDle,  the 
natural  bond  of  affection  ends,  the  legal  bond  also  should  be  severed. 
Protestantism  rejects  these  as  untenable  extremes,  but  divides  upon  the 
ground  which  lies  between  them.  That  adultery  is  in  morals  a  valid 
cause  for  divorce  it  always  has  held,  and  the  great  preponderance  of  its 
scholarship,  as  well  as  its  general  practice,  sustains  the  doctrine  that  de- 
sertion is  also.  Of  late,  however,  the  ominous  frequency  and  increasing 
ratio  of  divorces  has  caused  some  growth  in  a  disposition  to  limit  the 
dissolution  of  marriage  to  the  one  case  put  by  Christ,  and  to  insist  upon 
that  as  the  true  ethical  principle.  "We  are  profoundly  convinced  that  this 
tendency,  like  the  intense  individualism  against  which  it  arises  in  protest 
is  wrong,  and  the  proposition  it  advances  unsound.  Moreover,  if  made 
the  moral  basis  of  the  changes  in  divorce  law,  which  we  all  agree  are 
needed,  it  certainly  must  defeat  its  own  object. 

Care  should  be  exercised  lest  in  zeal  to  rejjress  an  evil  we  wrest 
from  the  Scriptures  truth  which  to  "  plain  people  "  they  clearly  reveal, 
and  load  our  proposed  reform  with  the  burden  of  trying  to  break  the 
great  body  of  Protestantism  from  its  old  moorings  by  vain  effort  to  revo- 
lutionize, in  an  integral  part,  its  historic  teaching  and  practice  respecting 
divorce.  Here,  also,  to  a  class  who  strangely  incline  to  the  notion  that 
civil  restriction,  which  the  moral  law  does  not  require,  can  be  a  proper 
remedy  for  an  undue  license,  permit  the  suggestion  that  denial  of  an  eth- 
ically true  liberty  never  will  subserve  moralit}'.  On  the  contrary,  refusal 
to  men  and  women  of  rights  in  this  matter,  which  God  by  his  law  gives  to 
them,  is  itself  immoral,  and  therefore  of  necessarily  bad  tendency. 

The  force  of  a  powerful  appetite  and  divine  command  impels  the  race 
to  propagate  its  kind.  To  this  end  union  of  man  and  woman  is  necessary. 
Marriage  alone  furnishes  the  conditions  under  which  that  righteously 
may  take  place.  Hence,  excepting  special  cases  needless  to  specify,  God 
and  nature  have  made  marriage  the  universal  ris^ht  of  mature  men  and 
women.  Manifestly,  this  includes  the  right  of  each  party  to  the  union  to 
all  its  essential  benefits.  On  these  grounds  also  society,  in  corporate 
capacity,  has  a  right  to  the  advantages  which  may  flow  to  it  through  the 
marriage  of  its  capable  members.  But  in  multitudes  of  instances,  by 
wrong,  a  husband  or  wife  has  cut  off  an  innocent  partner  from  all  real 
benefit  of  the  union,  while  in  form  it  yet  subsisted.     Hence,  if  we  deny 


ADDKEftS    OF    HON.    HIKAM    L.    SIBLEY.  509 

any  divorce,  the  naked  bond  of  marriage  cnijiowers  a  bad  mate,  who  dis- 
owns it,  to  deprive  an  innocent  and  grievously  suffering  one  of  the  benefits 
thu  relation  is  designed  to  give.  Society,  too,  in  that  event  is  defrauded 
by  the  wicked  action.  Thus  to  the  good  so  held  marriage  is  made  a  sword 
instead  of  a  shield.  With  divorce  restricted  to  adultery  alone  the  same 
consecjuence  follows  from  desertion.  Our  jjroposition,  therefore,  is,  that 
a  right  to  divorce  is  complemental  to,  and  demanded  by,  the  right  to 
marriage,  not  only  in  case  of  adultery,  but  also  of  desertion. 

Marriage,  according  to  the  Master's  teaching,  is  an  institution  of  pro- 
bationary life  ;  hence  far  more  a  means  than  an  end.  With  utmost  deli- 
cacy it  opens  the  door  to  pure  gratification  of  natural  passion,  and  thereby 
to  righteous  propagation.  When  the  parties  to  the  relation  are  faithful 
to  each  other  it  also  gives  the  first,  best  form  of  society — its  true  type  and 
preparatory  discipline — in  that  "institute  of  the  affections,"  the  family 
life  which  it  creates.  But  one  primal  law  of  the  union  is  sexual  jjurity  ; 
another,  mutual  society  and  helpfulness.  These  are  clearly  deduceable 
from  the  account  of  the  first  marriage,  the  teachings  of  Christ  and  the 
apostles,  and  the  nature  of  the  institution.  Both  are  palpably  vital  to 
the  union,  regarded  as  a  means  to  great  moral  and  social  ends. 

The  reason  for  sexual  purity  in  the  relation,  it  may  be  remarked,  is  not 
merely  to  identify  the  parentage  of  children  born  in  wedlock.  That  ap- 
plies only  to  the  wife.  Morally,  far  more  potent  as  to  both  parties  is  the 
deep  depravity  and  utter  corruption  to  which  sexual  vice  leads  ;  the  fact 
that  life  begins  in  a  iiuion  of  living  germs,  male  and  female,  hence,  that 
the  accursed  taint  of  a  sin  which  has  been  a  bane  to  the  race — more  de- 
nounced in  the  Scriptures  than  almost  any  other — by  the  law  of  heredity, 
may  mark  offspring  with  its  infernal  blight, if  it  blackens  the  life  of  either 
parent.  Christ  emphasized  the  wickedness  of  sexual  impurity,  and  made 
it  a  ground  of  divorce,  we  may  believe,  not  only  because  of  its  awful  nature, 
but  in  warning,  to  save  mankind  from  the  pollution  which  brought  the 
destroying  storm  upon  the  moral  lepers  in  the  rich  "  cities  of  the  plain." 

With  sexual  purity  each  party  to  marriage  has  the  right  to  offspring 
— a  source  of  new  affections  and  hope  of  age — and  to  the  other's  society 
and  help.  Except  in  cases  of  issue  already  Ijegotten,  desertion  denies  all 
these  to  the  forsaken  partner,  in  wicked  defiance  of  the  second  great  law 
of  the  relation.  Clearly  in  reason,  therefore,  it  is  a  just  cause  for  divorce, 
on  the  principle  which  gives  the  right  to  marriage  at  all.  Our  claim  also 
is  that  in  1  Corinthians  vii,  15,  St.  Paul  teaches  on  this  point  precisely  what 
we  deduce  from  the  right  to,  and  laws  of,  the  institution.  Let  us  then 
shortly  consider  this  passage,  with  the  thought  happily  expressed  by  an- 
other, that  the  "  Bible  is  eminently  a  sociological  book,"  and  so  adapted 
to  throw  light  upon  what  is  at  once  a  moral  and  social  problem. 

Critically  considering  the  text,  in  his  System  of  Theology  Dr.  Charles 
Ilodge  says:  "With  regard  to  those  cases  in  which  one  of  the  parties  was 
a  Christian  and  the  other  an  unbeliever,  he  teaches,  first,  that  such  mar- 
riages are  lawful,  and  therefore  not  to  be  dissolved.  But,  secondly,  that 
if  the  unbelieving  partner  defeats,  that  is,  repudiates,  the  marriage,  the 
39 


570  THE  CHUKCH  AND  PUBLIC  MORALITY. 

believing  partner  is  not  bound ;  that  is,  is  no  longer  bound  by  the  marriage 
compact.  This  seems  to  be  the  plain  meaning.  ...  In  other  words,  the 
marriage  is  thereby  dissolved." 

President  Raymond,  inhis  Lectures  on  Theology,  tersely  declares :  "Divorce 
is  an  exception  to  that  part  of  the  law  of  marriage  which  requires  that 
the  union  be  for  life.  Two,  and  only  two,  causes  are  allowed  by  Scripture 
authority  to  annul  the  marriage  contract — adultery  and  desertion.  If 
either  party  commit  adultery,  or  take  final  leave  of  the  other,  the  union 
is  severed ;  the  injured  party  is  morally  at  liberty  to  form  another  connec- 
tion; the  guilty  one  God  will  judge." 

Dr.  Pope's  treatise  on  theology  states  that  the  Scriptures  do  not  say 
what  the  extent  of  the  freedom  given  in  this  text  is,  but  asserts  that  "  it 
has  generally  been  held  that  desertion  is  equally  with  adultery  valid 
ground  of  divorce  under  the  new  law." 

From  Dr.  Hodge  we  further  learn  that  this  is  "  the  doctrine  held  by  Lu- 
ther, Calvin,  Zwingle,  and  almost  without  exceiJtion  by  all  Protestant 
Churches;"  and  that  "this  interpretation  is  given  not  only  by  the  older 
Protestant  interpreters,  but  also  by  the  leading  modern  commentators,  as 
De  Wette,  Meyer,  Alford,  and  Wordsworth,  and  in  the  Confessions  of  the 
Lutheran  and  Reformed  Churches."  It  is  the  view,  furthermore,  always 
taken  by  the  Greek  Church.  On  this  weight  of  authority,  therefore,  we 
accept  it  as  sound  doctrine,  based  on  true  exegesis.  The  result,  of  course, 
is  that  Christ  gives  one  ground  of  divorce,  and  St.  Paul  another,  wholly 
different.  Consequently,  neither  nor  both  stated  the  law  of  divorce, 
though  each  gave  a  case  within  and  which  illustrates  that  law.  Hence  it 
follows  that  the  law  itself  is  not  a  matter  of  scriptural  statement,  and  so 
must  be  deduced  from  the  right  to  and  nature  of  the  marriage  union,  and 
the  two  causes  given  justifying  its  severance.  In  substance  we  think  it  is 
this:  Adultery,  desertion,  and  other  acts  which,  like  the  first,  destroy  the 
sexual  purity  of  the  relation,  or,  like  the  second,  operate  to  deny  to  an 
innocent  party  and  to  society  the  substantial  benefits  of,  and  so  what  is 
essential  in  the  right  to  the  relation,  if  its  bond  be  held  indissoluble,  are 
valid  causes  for  annulling  it. 

The  crime  which  made  the  cities  of  the  plains  infamous,  and  just  life 
Imprisonment  for  crime,  are  additional  instances.  Properly  speaking,  the 
former  is  not  adultery,  nor  the  latter  desertion.  But,  as  grounds  for 
divorce,  who  can  say  they  are  not  the  moral  equivalents  of  these  ? 

The  gist  of  it  all  is  in  the  principle,  deduceable  alike  from  reason  and 
Scripture,  that  the  right  to  marriage,  in  its  essential  benefits  and  as  the 
only  condition  for  righteous  propagation,  becomes  paramount  to  the  rule 
of  its  permanence  in  cases  of  wrong  to  an  innocent  partner,  whereby  the 
fundamental  obligations  of  the  relation  are  abnegated. 

This  view  of  the  institution  makes  its  great  ends,  moral  and  social,  more 
important  than  technical  preservation  of  its  naked  bond,  as  manifestly 
they  are.  It  looks  upon  the  union  also  in  its  real  character  of  a  means 
divinely  adapted  to  work  out  noble  results  for  those  within  its  bond,  and 
not  in  any  case  a  chain  to  bind  the  good  after  the  bad  have  broken  and 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  571 

repudiated  it.  Moreover,  we  believe  it  accords  perfectly  with  the  Script- 
nri's  so  read  as  to  give  the  life  of  their  sjjirit  ou  the  whole  subject  of  mar- 
riage. Finally,  it  leaves  to  innocent  parties  an  escape  from  ])ropagation 
with  the  foulness  of  known  adultery,  and  from  being  forced  by  the 
wickedness  of  desertion  into  the  life  of  a  celibate. 

The  result  of  our  discussion  clearly  is  that  the  State,  ever  enforcing  the 
monogamic  form  of  marriage,  should  on  ethical  grounds  require  continu- 
ance of  the  relation,  when  entered  into,  until  death  ends  it,  except  in 
cases  where  on  principles  stated  the  right  to  marriage  demands  its  sever- 
ance; and  Avhcn  they  occiu'  it  should  grant  to  the  innocent  party  a  civil 
liberty  commensurate  with  the  moral,  by  annulling  tlie  bond.  The  guilty 
one  may  be  left  bound,  as  having  forfeited  by  wrong  the  right  to  renew  the 
union.  Thus  in  these  important  particulars  would  the  civil  law  accord 
with  what  sound  morals  require,  and  become  promotive  of  social  welfare. 

AVe  observe,  in  conclusion,  that  States  which  deny  a  part  of  the  moral 
law  of  marriage,  by  refusing  any  divorce,  must,  as  they  ever  have  done, 
pay  the  penalty,  by  seeing  their  marital  life  peculiarly  darkened  by  the 
baleful  excrescences  of  "lover"  and  "mistress."  Those  that  refuse  it 
in  case  of  desertion  in  a  measure  will  share  the  same  fate.  "God  is  not 
mocked."  Morality  can  be  advanced  neither  by  denial  of  what  itself 
allows  nor  by  license  of  what  it  forbids. 

The  discussion  of  the  morning  was  introduced  by  the  Rev, 
J.  H.  A.  Johnson,  D.D.,  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  I  think  that  this  convention  has  before  it  no  more  im- 
portant subject  than  the  one  now  under  consideration.  Lotteries,  bet- 
ting, gambling,  and  kindred  vices  foiTQ  a  topic  which  I  think  is  so  im- 
])ortant  that  it  should  engage  the  attention  of  this  entire  body.  We,  in 
this  part  of  the  world,  think  that  very  often  there  are  provided  means  for 
the  purpose  of  getting  money  which  do  not  have  the  most  salutary  effect 
in  the  end.  These  prize  entertainments  which  are  so  often  instituted  in 
the  churches  do  but  cultivate  an  appetite  to  engage  in  chance.  I  was 
never  in  my  life  more  forcibly  struck  by  this  fact  than  I  was  some  months 
ago,  when  I  Avas  in  the  lower  part  of  Maryland,  attending  to  my  duties  as 
presiding  elder.  I  saw  a  piece  of  paper  pasted  upon  a  wall  of  a  house, 
and  I  went  and  read  it.  It  was  this:  There  was  a  young  man  who  was 
incarcerated  because  he  had  committed  a  forgery.  He  was  a  member  of  a 
Svmday-school  and  of  a  church.  The  pastor  of  that  church  went  to  visit 
him  in  his  incarceration,  to  console  him  and  extend  unto  him  the  sympa- 
thies of  the  church  and  the  Sunday-school.  He  listened  to  him,  and  then, 
with  a  tone  of  sternness  and  a  great  deal  of  significance  in  his  eye,  he 
said  unto  the  pastor:  "Do  you  not  know  that  you  were  the  cause  of  my 
being  here?"  It  startled  the  pastor,  and  he  said:  "Why,  what  is  the 
matter?"  The  boy  said:  "Do  you  not  remember  that  prize  entertain- 
ment you  had  in  your  church?  I  was  one  of  the  participants  for  the  prize, 
and  I  obtained  it.  That  .sharpened  my  appetite  for  engaging  in  under- 
takings of  chance.  There  was  another  case,  and  I  had  no  money.  I  was 
determined  to  have  the  prize,  and  I  was  determined  to  have  money  to  get 
a  chance  for  that  prize,  and  I  committed  this  forgery."  Does  not  that 
teach  us  that  when  we  have  in  the  churches  these  enterprises,  they  are 
likely  to  take  effect  upon  the  mind  of  the  young,  and  cause  them  to  go 


572  THE  CHURCH  AND  PUBLIC  MORALITY. 

right  iuto  these  forbidden  fields?  I  well  remember  that  when  I  was  a 
boy  I  went  one  day  to  shovel  off  some  snow.  In  shoveling  off  that  snow 
I  got  sixty-two  cents.  I  thought  I  wanted  some  more  money.  I  went 
and  invested  that  sixty-two  cents  in  a  lottery  ticket.  That  lottery  ticket 
drew  me  a  ten-dollar  prize.  That  made  a  great  impression  on  my  mind, 
and  if  it  had  not  been,  I  suppose,  for  the  degree  of  moral  culture  to  which 
I  had  been  subjected,  that  very  success  would  have  given  me  an  aspira- 
tion, and  would  have  tended  more  and  more  to  lead  me  in  the  wrong 
direction,  and  I  might  have  been  a  gambler  and  indulging  in  lottery 
tickets  until  I  would  have  been  ruined. 

I  think  that  the  Church  cannot  but  be  doing  wrong  in  giving  its  atten- 
tion and  sanction  to  measures  that  may  lead  to  these  bad  results. 

The  Rev,  J.  S.  Simon,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Churcli, 
concluded  tlie  discussion  of  tlie  session  in  the  following;  remarks  : 

Mr.  President :  There  is  one  subject  that  I  think  will  give  a  practical 
turn  to  our  discussion  of  this  morning.  When  we  crossed  the  Atlantic 
the  other  day,  the  sjiirit  of  a  number  of  the  English  delegates  was  very 
much  stirred  within  them  by  the  prevalence  of  betting  and  gambling  on 
board  the  ocean  steamer.  I  think  it  would  be  who  for  us,  as  an  Ecumen- 
ical Conference,  to  express  our  ojjiuion  upon  this  practice,  which  is  a  most 
dangerous  one.  I  do  not  profess  to  understand  the  mysteries  of  pool- 
making;  but  I  think  I  understand  the  mischiefs  of  pool-making.  I  was 
talking  with  a  gentleman  on  board  the  steamer  on  which  I  crossed  who  did 
not  profess  to  have  a  great  many  scrujiles,  and  who,  und  erstanding  the  way  in 
which  pools  were  made,  very  strongly  denounced  the  practice,  consideriug 
it  to  be  most  unfair.  I  think  that  the  making  of  pools  on  board  our  ocean 
steamers  leads  to  results  which  are  very  reprehensible,  to  some  that  are  to 
be  deplored,  and  to  some  results  that  are  exceedingly  annoying.  It  was 
almost  impossible  to  obtain  information  from  the  officers  of  our  ship  as 
to  the  progress  of  the  ship,  or  as  to  the  position  of  the  ship.  In  fact,  a 
policy  of  silence  was  pursued,  and  our  comfort  as  passengers  was  very 
much  interfered  with  because  of  the  reticence  of  the  officers.  The  only 
explanation  that  was  given  to  us  was  this :  that  a  pool  M^as  being  made, 
and  therefore  no  information  could  be  given.  At  last,  after  receiving 
no  information  about  the  ship's  course  or  the  position  of  the  ship,  I  vent- 
ured to  coin  an  aphorism :  that  a  certain  company  never  lost  a  shij)  and 
never  answered  a  passenger.  However  annoying  it  may  be,  it  is,  I  think, 
exceedingly  dangerous  to  the  young  man  who  crosses  the  ocean.  We 
have  a  great  deal  of  time  on  our  hands,  and  the  young  men  now  and  again 
go  iuto  the  smoking-room,  and  little  by  little  they  are  decoyed  to  join  a 
pool,  and  through  that  influence  they  begin  what  may  prove  to  be  a  very 
disastrous  career. 

I  am  told  that  there  is  a  law  of  the  company  against  gambling.  I  look 
upon  that  as  almost  worse  than  nothing.  It  would  be  almost  better  not 
to  have  a  law  at  all  than  to  have  one  which  is  continually  disobeyed  and 
ignored.  There  is  a  power  that  can  reach  these  companies.  It  is  the 
power  of  public  opinion;  and  I  believe  that  public  opinion,  directed 
against  those  companies  that  permit  gambling  on  board  the  steamers,  should 
do  something  to  influence  men  of  position,  which  would  lead  them  to  ar- 
rest this  evil,  if  it  did  not  entirely  destroy  the  practice.  I  contribute  this 
thought  to  this  discussion  in  order  that  something  practical  may  be  done, 
and  that  our  voices  may  be  heard  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

The  session  of  the  morning  was  closed  witli  the  benediction 
bj  the  Rev.  John  Bond,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 


ESSAY    OF    REV.   T.    G.    STEWARD.  573 


SECOND  SESSION. 

The  Conference  opened  at  2:30  P.  M.,  the  Rev.  Bishop  E.  R. 
IIendkix,  D.J).,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  presiding.  The  Scripture  lesson  was  read  by  the  Rev. 
C.  F.  Rkid,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  and 
prayer  was  offered  by  the  Rev.  Bishop  Isaac  Lane,  of  the  Col- 
ored Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

The  programme  of  the  afternoon  was  taken  up.  In  the  ab- 
sence of  the  Rev.  T.  G.  Steward,  D.D.,  of  the  African  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church,  the  first  appointed  essay  of  the  afternoon, 
on  "  The  Lord's  Day,"  was  read  by  the  Rev,  J.  H.  A,  John- 
sox,  D.D.,  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  as  fol- 
lows : 

Mr.  President :  This  title  is  applied  by  common  consent  to  what  may 
be  called  the  Christian  Sabbath,  to  especially  distinguish  it  from  the  Sab- 
bath of  the  Old  Testament.  This  phrase  occurs  but  once  in  the 
New  Testament.  In  Revelation  i,  10,  where  the  apostle  is  speak- 
ing of  his  experiences,  he  says:  "I  was  in  the  Spirit  on  the  Lord's 
day."  The  reasonable  inference  is  that  this  was  the  first  day  of  the  week; 
for  there  is  sufiicient  evidence  in  the  gospels,  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles, 
and  in  the  epistles  to  show  that  this  day  was  kept  sacred  by  the  early 
Christians  in  honor  of  our  Lord's  resurrection. 

Rekition  to  the  Olden  Sabbath. — The  Sabbath  as  a  day  of  rest  began  at 
creation,  and  was  instituted  to  celebrate  the  completion  of  a  work.  It 
continually  looked  backward,  and  served  to  impress  the  great  truth  that 
the  heavens  and  the  earth  were  created  by  the  God  of  the  universe. 
When  secured  by  the  commandment  at  Sinai,  the  Sabbath  still  reposed 
upon  the  same  reason.  "In  six  days  God  made  the  heavens  and  the 
earth,  and  rested  upon  the  seventh  day ;  therefore,  in  honor  of  him  as 
Creator,  you  are  on  that  day  commanded  to  refrain  from  all  work  and 
keep  that  day  as  sacred."  The  same  general  idea  was  enforced  in  the 
Sabbatic  year,  and  in  the  year  of  jubilee.  The  Lord's  day  looks  backward 
to  the  resurrection  of  our  blessed  Lord  from  the  dead,  it  is  true ;  but  in  a 
much  more  vivid  sense  does  it  look  forward  to  the  general  resurrection, 
and  to  the  new  creation.  On  the  Lord's  day  we  are  taught  rather  to  look 
for  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness,  than 
to  rejoice  over  the  completion  of  this  wonderful  material  universe.  It 
points  us  to  the  glory  of  the  latter  house,  rather  than  to  the  earthly  glory 
of  the  former  house.  The  Lord's  day  is  rather  anticipative  than  com- 
memorative. 

The  JjonVs  Bay  and  the  Fourth  Commandment. — The  fourth  command- 
ment guards  the  seventh  day,  and  this  commandment  was  in  force  with 
the  people  of  God  until  the  coming  of  John.     The  question  with  relation 


574  THE    CHURCH    AND    PUBLIC    MOKALITY. 

to  it,  fairly  before  us  as  Christians,  is :  How  was  it  affected  by  the  coming 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven?  The  answer  of  our  Saviour  to  the  queries  of 
the  men  of  his  day  in  my  mind  settles  the  question  for  us,  if  we  will 
hearken  respectfully  to  his  voice.  His  words  were:  "Think  not  that  I 
am  come  to  destroy  the  law,  or  the  prophets :  I  am  not  come  to  destroy, 
but  to  fulfill."  The  commandment  was  not  a  temporality  of  the  Jewish 
economy,  but,  like  marriage,  was  from  the  beginning ;  hence  it  belonged 
to  the  wheat  which  was  to  be  gathered  into  the  Christian  garner.  The 
Sabbath  was  not  made  for  the  Jew,  as  such,  but  was  made  for  man  before 
Abraham  was  called  or  the  promise  to  his  seed  given.  Hence  the  temj^o- 
rary  narrowing  of  religion  which  occurred  during  the  Jewish  era  did  not 
ailect  the  Sabbath  any  more  than  it  affected  marriage.  The  Sabbath, 
therefore,  may  be  regarded  as  a  permanent  institution  designed  for  man 
generally,  as  long  as  man  shall  endure. 

Essentials  of  the  Sahhath. — The  essentials  of  the  Sabbath  are  threefold. 
First,  that  it  shall  be  one  day  in  every  pei-iod  of  seven  days;  second,  that 
it  shall  be  the  same  day  as  to  all  the  people  of  the  community ;  and,  third, 
that  it  shall  be  kept  sacred  with  respect  to  God.  It  must  be,  I  empha- 
size, not  only  a  day  of  rest,  certainly  not  a  day  of  amusement,  but  a  Sab- 
bath unto  the  Lord.  In  all  of  these  essentials  the  Sabbath  remains  to-day 
as  binding  as  it  was  in  patriarchal  times  upon  all  men ;  as  binding  as  it 
was  ujDon  the  Jewish  race  from  the  days  of  Moses  to  those  of  the  Macca- 
bees. The  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  the  establishment  of 
the  Lord's  day  did  not  abrogate  the  Sabbath  in  these  solemn  essentials.      ' 

The  Seventh  Day  and  the  First  Day. — The  Lord  himself  after  his  resur- 
rection, and  his  disciples  afterward,  kept  the  first  day  of  the  week  as  a  day 
of  worship.  The  movement  was  sanctioned  as  thoroughly  as  was  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  Jewish  Church,  or  the  appointment  of  Christ  himself 
to  his  ministry;  for  on  this  first  day  of  the  week,  as  the  disciples  were  all 
assembled  in  one  place,  the  Holy  Ghost  came  down  upon  them;  and  on 
this  day  they  opened  the  Gospel  to  the  strangers  of  the  world  assembled 
at  Jerusalem.  It  was  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  now  fairly  consecrated 
as  the  Lord's  day,  that  the  Spirit  came  to  John  in  Patmos  and  Jesus  him- 
self appeared  as  the  alpha  and  omega  of  all  things.  The  Lord's  day, 
then,  by  the  authority  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  becomes  the  Christian's 
Sabbath.  The  essentials  of  the  Sal)bath  are  transferred  from  the  seventh 
day  of  the  week  to  the  first  day  of  the  week,  but  the  Sabbath  remains.  It 
is  a  day  of  rest  to  be  kept  by  all  people,  and  to  be  kept  unto  the  Lord. 

The  Loi'dh  Day  and  the  Church. — To  the  Christian  Church  the  Sabbath 
is  almost  every  thing.  On  this  day  the  people  of  God  can  go  out  from 
their  various  labors  and,  like  Israel,  serve  Jehovah.  They  for  the  time  be- 
ing cease  to  be  subjects  of  any  earthly  potentate,  and  go  up  from  all  kin- 
dreds and  tongues  and  races  to  testify  their  loyalty  to  the  great  God  who 
is  the  "great  King  above  all  gods."  On  this  day  they  offer  up  their 
united  prayers,  thanksgiving,  and  praise.  On  this  day  the  voice  of  coun- 
sel and  instruction,  of  invitation  and  warning,  goes  out  to  the  thoughtless 
and  prayerless,  it  may  be,  but  also  to  the  young  and  impressible.     By  the 


ESSAY    OF    REV.   T.    G.    S'l'KWARD.  575 

Sabbath  the  Church  lives,  developing  the  spiritual  life  and  power  of  its 
own  members,  and  constantly  winning  from  the  ranks  of  sin.  So  essen- 
tial is  the  Sabbath  to  the  existence  of  the  Church  that  to  my  mind  its 
continued  existence  without  it  seems  impossible.  I  need  hardly  add,  that 
without  the  existence  of  an  organized  Church,  moving  itself  as  such,  re- 
ligion can  scarcely  exist  at  all.  When  the  Church  was  jjractically  aban- 
doned, as  in  the  days  of  Elijah,  God  nevertheless  preserved  for  himself 
a  seed  which  in  due  time  exerted  itself  in  the  w^ork  of  reproduction,  but 
in  the  meantime  general  corruption  prevailed. 

Without  instancing  periods  in  mediieval  or  modern  liistory,  let  me  but  call 
attention  to  one  more  relevant  general  fact.  Experience  shows  that  moral- 
ity does  not  exist  long  separate  from  religion.  The  order  in  the  matter  seems 
to  be  this:  practical  morality  depends  upon  theoretical  morality,  and 
theoretical  morality  depends  upon  religion.  When  fair  moral  principles 
and  habits  remain  with  a  negation  of  religion,  they  are  usually  an  inherit- 
ance from  religious  parentage,  the  mere  effects  which  survive  the  depart- 
ure of  the  cause,  the  echo  of  departed  holiness.  No  Sabbath  means  no 
Church;  no  Church  means  no  religion;  no  religion  means  no  morality; 
and  no  morality  means  death. 

The  Lord's  Day  and  the  State. — And  this  brings  us  to  the  point  of  con- 
sidering the  relation  of  the  Lord's  day  to  the  State.  Without  in  any  sense 
touching  upon  the  controversies  which  have  existed,  respecting  the  rela- 
tion which  should  obtain  between  State  and  Church ;  and  without  vent- 
uring a  word  as  to  the  form  of  church  government  or  of  State  govern- 
ment which  ought  to  obtain  in  this  laud  or  in  that  land,  I  think  it  safe  to 
hold  that  every  government  should  concern  itself  supremely  about  the 
welfare  of  its  subjects.  Only  upon  this  ground  is  it,  in  my  judgment, 
justly  entitled  to  the  respect  and  support  of  the  people.  Now,  the  life  is 
more  than  meat,  and  the  body  is  more  than  raiment.  It  is  important  that 
the  people  be  well  clothed,  housed,  and  fed ;  but  it  is  more  important  that 
they  be  preserved  in  health  and  vigor.  The  strength  of  a  nation  really 
depends,  other  things  being  considered,  upon  the  producing  and  defend- 
ing ability  of  the  people  who  compose  it.  The  power  of  the  people  is  the 
power  of  the  nation.  The  State  may  organize  and  direct,  but  it  cannot 
create.  Without  entering  into  obvious  details,  it  is  enough  to  say  that 
virtue  and  intelligence  are  the  ever  necessary  supports  to  popular  strength. 
The  people  who  are  intelligent  and  virtuous  are  strong.  The  people  who 
are  ignorant  and  vicious  are  weak.  The  physical  soon  partakes  of  the 
character  of  the  moral.  If  we  find  strong  physical  constitutions  in  connec- 
tion with  vicious  principles  and  habits,  it  is  usually  the  same  as  when  we 
find  good  morals  with  irreligion — the  result  of  causes  now  disappeared, 
the  inheritance  from  parents  whose  lives  were  well  regulated — the  echo  of 
past  aljstemiousness.  If  the  position  held  aljove  be  correct,  that  the  Sab- 
bath is  the  practical  base  of  popular  morality,  the  duty  as  well  as  the  in- 
terest of  the  State  with  respect  to  the  sacred ness  of  this  day  is  clear.  It  is 
but  another  instance  of  the  interlocking  of  real  interest  with  plain  duty. 
All  Christian  nations  should  guard  the  Christian  Sabbath  with  all  ueces- 


576  THE  CHUECH  AND  PUBLIC  MORALITY. 

sary  authority  and  power.  This  is  the  consensus  of  the  teaching  of  sound 
political  economy,  of  enlightened  statesmanship,  of  wise  philosophy,  and 
of  real  philanthropy ;  and  to  tlie  correctness  of  this  teaching  the  experience 
of  history  bears  witness. 

Sources  of  Danger  to  the  Christian  Sabbath. — The  sources  of  danger  to 
the  sanctity  of  the  Christian  Sabbath  may  be  reduced  to  about  four  classes. 
First,  the  desire  of  gain  which  leads  public  and  private  corporations  and 
individuals  to  carry  on  an  ordinary  business,  and  sometimes  extraordinary 
business,  under  the  plea  of  necessity,  or  even  without  this  plea,  on  that 
day ;  second,  the  false  teaching  that  the  Sabbath  is  only  a  day  of  rest 
from  labor,  and  that  working-men  of  all  classes  may  embrace  it  as  a  weekly 
holiday,  devoting  its  hours  merely  to  rest  and  pleasure ;  third,  the  dispo- 
sition on  the  part  of  Christian  governments,  too  often,  both  by  their  sanc- 
tion and  by  their  actions,  to  disregard  the  day  of  the  Lord.  The  power- 
ful example  of  the  government  is  practically  a  license  to  all  the  citizens. 
These  remarks,  however,  are  not  intended  to  apjily  to  the  plain  works  of 
charity  or  necessity  which  all  may  engage  in  without  fault;  but  to  those 
acts  carried  on,  either  by  the  government  or  under  sanction  of  the  gov- 
ernment, on  that  day  which  could  as  well  be  done  on  any  other  day; 
fourth  and  lastly,  and  I  say  it  with  sadness,  the  Cliurch  itself,  by  its  ac- 
tions sometimes  and  by  its  sanction  at  others,  becomes  a  menace  to  that 
day  of  the  Lord  upon  which  its  very  being  depends.  When  the  Church 
partakes  in  or  encourages  unnecessary  travel  or  traffic  on  the  Lord's  day, 
it  unconsciously,  perhaps,  joins  hands  with  those  who  assault  in  its  essen- 
tials the  idea  of  the  Sabbath. 

Such  are  the  views,  my  brethren,  that  this  brief  paper  would  lay  before 
the  assembled  Methodism  of  the  world;  and  I  would  venture  the  sugges- 
tion of  a  real  holy  alliance  of  all  bodies  of  Christians  organized  to  ef- 
fectually rescue  the  Sabbath  from  the  dangers  which  now  threaten  it.  I 
would  call  upon  united  Methodism  especially,  and  through  it  upon  the 
Christians  of  all  nations,  to  urge  upon  rulers  by  every  just  consideration 
the  duty  of  lending  their  powerful  influence  in  this  direction,  that  thereby 
they  may  fitly  recognize  and  glorify  that  God  who  in  his  providence  has 
placed  them  at  the  head  of  the  nations,  and  at  the  same  time,  by  seeking 
thus  to  conserve  the  temporal  and  immortal  interests  of  the  peoi^le  over 
whom  they  rule,  may  prove  themselves  worthy  of  the  high  honor  where- 
unto  they  are  called. 

Tlie  following  invited  address,  on  "  The  Lord's  Daj,"  was 
given  by  the  Kev.  Thomas  Bromage,  of  the  Wesleyan  Reform 
Union : 

Mr.  President,  Fathers,  and  Brethren :  The  subject  before  us,  I  conceive, 
is  one  of  the  most  important  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  this  great 
Conference;  and  I  have  at  least  one  great  regret  concerning  it — that  it  is 
not  in  abler  hands  than  mine.  The  Sabbath  is  one  of  God's  greatest  and 
oldest  gifts  to  man.  Its  institution  dates  back  to  the  creation,  when  God 
"rested  on  the  seventh  day  from  all  his  work  which  he  had  made.     And 


ADDRESS  OF  KEV.  THOMAS  BKOMAGE.  577 

God  blessed  the  seventh  day,  and  sanctiiietl  it :  Ijecausc  that  in  it  he  had 
rested  from  all  his  work/'  This  divine  institution  was  confirmed  in  the 
givin"  of  the  law  on  Sinai,  when  God  said,  "  Remember  the  Sabbath  day, 
to  keep  it  holy."  In  these  Scriptures  w-e  have  the  institution  of  the  Sab- 
bath. But  its  divine  authority  does  not  rest  upon  these  only.  As  Pro- 
fessor Beet  has  put  it,  it  rests  upon  the  unique  dignity  given  to  the  day  in 
the  five  books  of  Moses. 

Neither  do  we  think  that  its  authority  rests  only  on  the  Scriptures,  but 
upon  that  divine  fitness  which  the  day  has  to  meet  the  necessities  of  our 
nature.  The  law  of  adaptation  which  marks  all  the  works  of  the  Creator 
is  seen  in  the  Sabbath  day  in  a  pre-eminent  degree.  The  earth  is  not 
more  suitable  for  man  as  his  home— the  light  of  the  sun  is  not  more 
adapted  to  the  human  eye — than  is  the  Sabbath  fitted  to  the  nature  of 
man.  There  is  no  part  of  man's  nature  to  which  it  does  not  come  as  God's 
great  blessing.  His  physical,  mental,  social,  and  spiritual  nature  all  need 
this  day.     The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man. 

The  first  reason  given  for  the  institution  of  the  day  is  "rest."  "  God 
rested  on  the  seventh  day,  and  sanctified  it :  because  that  in  it  he  had 
rested  from  all  his  work."  And  again,  in  the  giving  of  the  law,  he  says: 
"  Thou  shalt  do  no  manner  of  work."  And  this  command  in  the  cere- 
monial law  was  fenced  in  by  the  penalty  of  death.  Although  it  be  ob- 
jected that  this  law  was  binding  only  upon  the  Jew,  it  must  not  be  for- 
gotten that  it  had  in  it  a  great  truth  for  all  time— God's  ordination  of 

rest and  universal  experience  has  shown  that  man  needs  it ;  and  where- 

ever  they  disobey  this  law,  they  must  pay  the  penalty,  even  the  death 
penalty,  in  a  shortened  life.  The  fearful  wrecks  that  are  made  of  some 
of  the  finest  constitutions  are  a  witness  to  the  law  of  God  in  this  respect. 
Then  in  our  social  life  this  day  is  a  great  factor,  inasmuch  as  it  con- 
tributes to  the  cultivation  of  our  social  nature,  and  that,  too,  in  its  purest, 
strono-est  form.  It  conserves  the  home  life,  which  is  the  fountain  of  all 
good  society.  True  home  life  would  be  practically  unknown  to  the  mill- 
ions of  our  toilers  and  their  families  were  it  not  for  the  rest  of  the 

Sabbath. 

But  it  is  to  man's  spiritual  n-.iture  that  this  day  most  appeals,  and  it  is 
divinely  fitted  to  help  him  in  this,  the  highest  part  of  his  being.  It  is  as 
a  relio-ious  institution  that  we  have  the  greatest  concern  for  it.  God's 
great  purpose  in  dealing  with  us  as  fallen  creatures  is  to  renew  and  develop 
in  us  the  life  of  God;  and,  among  the  agencies  that  he  has  called  into  ex- 
ercise for  this  purpose,  we  have  the  Sabbath  day.  As  we  look  back  upon 
the  history  of  the  Church,  both  Jewish  and  Christian,  we  find  this  day 
wrapped  up  in  that  history,  and  so  closely  associated  with  it.  It  has  been 
one  of  the  means  by  which  the  Church  has  accomplished  her  work,  and 
by  which  she  has  glorified  God,  whom  she  represents.  We  want  to  re- 
member that  this  day  is  God's  witness  to  the  world;  one  day  out  of 
seven.  We  want  to  remember  that  it  is  his  claim  upon  its  consideration, 
upon  its  time,  and  upon  its  worship. 

The  first  day  of  the  week  has  been  sanctified  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 


578  THE    CHUKCH    AND    PUBLIC    MORALITY. 

and  set  apart  as  the  Clu-istiau  Sabbath.  As  the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath,  he 
has  placed  a  threefold  seal  uijon  it  by  his  resurrection  from  the  dead,  his 
appearance  to  his  disciples,  and  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost.  By  these  three  things  Jesus  has  put  his  own  impress  upon 
this  day,  and  has  so  marked  it  that  the  Church  has  designated  it  the 
Lord's  day.  It  is  on  this  day  that  the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath  gave  to  the 
Church  a  resurrection  life  and  his  divine  presence ;  and  has  imbued  his 
Church  with  power  from  on  high,  by  which  he  is  able  to  accomplish  his 
mission  and  fultill  his  gracious  purjioses.  What  he  gave  to  this  Church  in 
the  setting  apart  of  the  day,  he  has  continued  to  her. 

Pre-eminently  on  this  day  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  has,  more  than 
on.  any  other,  realized  her  high  vocation,  and  has  consecrated  all  her 
powers  to  his  service.  It  is  on  this  day  that  the  Church  has  done  hei 
greatest  work,  and  has  reaped  her  greatest  and  most  blessed  harvests.  It 
is  the  birthday  of  millions  of  souls ;  and  the  richest  experiences  of  Chris- 
tian life  are  connected  with  this  day,  and  grow  out  of  it.  We  want  to 
remember  that  this  is  the  Lord's  day;  and  as  the  Church  has,  in  the  past, 
consecrated  it  to  the  Lord's  use,  and  experienced  the  power  and  grace  of 
the  Lord,  so  it  is  for  us,  in  the  present,  to  regard  it  still  as  a  sacred  trust, 
and  to  use  it  for  the  high  and  holy  purpose  for  which  the  Lord  has  given 
it.  We  must  remember  that  only  in  proportion  as  we  jealously  guard  it 
in  this  religious  aspect  can  we  expect  to  retain  its  innumerable  blessings, 
which  come  to  us  both  in  the  physical  and  in  the  social  life. 

I  want  to  observe  that  we  have  a  very  great  duty  to  perf onn  in  refer- 
ence to  this  day,  and  that  is  to  regard  it  from  a  religious  stand-point  and 
to  use  it  in  a  religious  spirit.  I  am  fearful  that  some  of  the  mistakes, 
some  of  the  looseness  that  prevails  in  reference  to  this  day,  is  because  of  the 
fact  that  -we  do  not  take  that  high  ground  that  we  ought  to  take,  as 
Christian  men,  and  that  we  do  not  follow  the  obligations  that  rest  upon 
us  in  reference  to  it.  A  great  deal  of  the  looseness  that  prevails  in  society 
to-day  may  be,  and,  indeed,  I  know  is,  to  be  traced  in  many  instances  to 
the  lax  observance  of  the  day  in  our  homes.  This  day  at  home  should  be 
observed,  not  with  a  long  face  and  a  sad  spirit,  but  we  should  strive  to 
make  it  a  bright,  happy  day,  as  God  intended  it  to  be.  Let  our  homes  be 
characterized  with  singing  of  the  Loi'd's  praises,  and  with  cheerful  happy 
conversation  upon  religious  subjects.  Let  them  be  occupied  with  the 
reading  of  God's  word  and  the  offering  of  prayer.  Let  there  be,  in  the 
true  social  sense,  religion  in  our  homes  as  well  as  in  our  sanctuaries,  and 
I  think  we  shall  do  something  toward  perpetuating  the  day  as  the  Lord's 
day. 

I  think  it  is  important  for  us,  as  representing  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ, 
to  have  divine  teaching  upon  this  subject  from  our  pulpits.  Let  us  un- 
derstand that  we  have  some  authority  for  believing  that  this  day  should 
be  consecrated  to  the  Lord.  Let  our  people  know  that  it  has  the  seal  of 
God  upon  it — that  it  has  the  seal  of  Christ  upon  it.  Let  them  know  that 
there  is  a  supreme  blessedness  in  keeping  it,  and  that  there  is  a  penalty 
attached  to  the  breach  of  this  law.    It  is  the  duty  of  the  Christian  Church 


ESSAY    OK    T.    KUDDLE.  579 

to  del'eud  the  Lord's  day  from  the  assaults  which  are  made  upon  it  by 
those  who  only  seek  pleasure  or  greedy  gain  on  this  day.  All  such  efforts 
should  be  met  by  the  united  opposition  of  the  Christian  Cliurch.  Here 
we  should  combine,  and,  feeling  how  important  this  day  is  to  us  in  the 
prosecution  of  our  work,  say  to  all  who  would  secularize  it,  "Hands  off; 
it  is  the  Lord's  day. " 

The  second  appointed  essay  of  the  afternoon,  on  "  The  Atti- 
tude of  the  Church  toward  Amusements,"  was  read  by  Mr.  T. 
Ruddle,  B. A.,  of  the  Bible  Christian  Church,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President  :  To  prevent  confusion  and  misconception  it  will  be 
well,  before  dealing  with  this  su])ject,  to  define  accurately  what  is  liere 
meant  by  the  word  "amusement."  I  assume  that  the  meaning  of  the 
word  "church"  when  used  in  such  a  connection  is  too  obvious  to  need 
definition.  By  amusements,  then,  I  shall  imply  such  occupations  as  are 
entered  upon  for  the  sake  of  the  jjleasure  they  afford  us  while  we  are  en- 
gaged in  them,  and  with  no  view  to  profit,  either  material  or  mental. 
Such  a  definition  will  in  the  opinion  of  some  people  settle  the  question  at 
once.  "In  all  labor  there  is  profit."  In  well-directed  material  labor 
there  is  material  profit,  in  intellectual  labor  intellectual  profit,  and  in 
moral  and  spiritual  labor  spiritual  profit;  and  these  profits  are  to  such 
people  the  one  all-sufficient  reason  for  labor.  They  are  willing  to  work 
hard  six  days  in  the  w-eek,  for  they  hope  to  rise  in  the  world;  and  on 
Sundays  they  are  prepared  to  teach  in  our  Sabbath-schools,  to  visit  the 
sick,  or  to  do  any  similar  religious  or  philanthropic  work,  because  "  god- 
liness is  profitable  unto  all  things,  having  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is 
and  of  that  which  is  to  come."  Their  very  religion  is  a  question  of  arith- 
metic. "  What  profit  should  we  have  if  we  pray  unto  him  ?"  is  the  prob- 
lem tiiey  have  set  themselves  to  solve ;  and  their  attitude,  not  to  amuse- 
ments, but  to  the  most  serious  business  of  human  life,  depends  on  the 
solution  at  which  they  arrive.  People  of  this  turn  of  mind  will  be 
impatient  wuth  the  present  discussion.  Let  me  venture  to  remind  such 
that  patience,  by  common  consent,  is  admitted  to  be  wonderfully  profit- 
able in  many  ways,  and  here  is  an  excellent  opportunity  for  their  increas- 
ing their  stock-in-trade.  Amusements,  then,  are  occupations  entered 
upon  for  the  .sake  of  physical  or  mental  enjoyment.  At  poorest  they  are 
methods  of  killing  time  and  relieving  a  feeling  of  weariness  and  ennui; 
at  richest  they  are  the  enthusiasm  of  delight. 

Our  discussion  must  lie  strictly  limited  to  what  we  may  technically 
name  pui'e  amusements ;  that  is,  amusements  that  have  no  other  aim  and 
no  other  effect  than  the  pleasure  they  afford  us  while  we  are  engaged  in 
them.  Practically,  almost  every  amusement  has  indirect  tendencies  which 
to  a  very  large  extent  stamp  its  character  for  good  or  evil.  A  carefully 
played  game  of  chess  sharpens  the  wit ;  a  game  of  cricket  strengthens 
the  anns  and  legs  and  develops  bodily  agility;  and  a  play  by  H.  A.  Jones 
is  believed  by  that  gentleman's  ardent  disciples  to  be  a  lesson  in  ethics  and 
sound  philosophy.     But  to  defend  these  amusements  on  these  grounds 


580  THE  CHUKCH  AND  PUBLIC  MORALITY. 

would  only  be  to  defend  wit  and  physical  activity  and  moral  philosophy, 
and  would  leave  the  problem  we  have  undertaken  to  solve  untouched. 
By  narrowing  our  discussion  to  this  simple  issue  we  entirely  exclude 
the  question  of  gambling.  However  great  the  evils  of  gambling  may  be 
— and  I  do  not  think  it  possible  to  overstate  them — they  are  no  argument 
against  amusements.  At  bottom  gambling  is  business  rather  than  amuse- 
ment ;  for  it  is  entered  upon  with  a  view  to  pecuniary  gain.  When  four 
persons  play  whist  with  no  other  end  in  view  than  the  enjoyment  of  each 
other's  company  and  of  the  movement  and  surprises  of  the  game,  whist  is. 
simply  an  amusement ;  but  if  they  play  for  stakes  the  mental  and  moral 
aspect  of  the  game  is  essentially  changed.  It  is  no  longer  an  amusement, 
but  a  business — a  business  as  likely  to  prove  a  loss  as  a  gain,  it  is  true — 
because  entered  upon  and  persisted  in  in  the  hope  of  gain,  but  still  a 
business. 

What,  then,  is  the  attitude,  or,  rather,  what  should  be  the  attitude,  of 
the  Church  toward  amusements  as  such  ?  What  should  we  say  to  the 
young  man  who  says ;  "I  have  worked  hard  to-day  in  the  close  atmos- 
phere of  the  factory  or  the  shop,  and  now  I  mean  to  enjoy  myself.  I 
shall  not  go  to  see  '  Lear  '  or  '  Macbeth ' — that  would  be  too  severe  a 
strain  on  nerves  already  over-strung  •,  but  there  is  a  concert  at  St.  James's, 
where  Sir  H.  Bishop's  glees  or  Pearsall's  ballads  are  likely  to  be  tastefully 
rendered ;  and  there  I  shall  go.  I  do  not  feel  equal  to  a  game  of  chess, 
but  am  ready  for  a  game  of  backgammon,  or,  better  still,  of  croquet  or 
tennis  ?  " 

The  first  instinct  of  a  Protestant  Christian  is  to  turn  to  the  Bible.  But 
it  must  be  confessed  that  unless  we  are  prepared  to  do  as  our  fathers  and 
grandfathers  did — to  open  our  Bibles  at  random  and  apply  the  first  text 
the  eye  lights  upon  to  the  question  at  issue,  in  utter  disregard  to  the  con- 
text— we  may  find  no  direct  aid  therefrom.  A  Christian  has  the  explicit 
promise  of  the  abiding  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  that  very  promise 
implies  that  he  will  need  such  divine  guidance  for  the  decision  of  ques- 
tions which  mere  texts  of  Scripture  have  not  settled  and  could  never  settle. 
And  yet  we  can  never  search  the  Scriptures  in  vain,  provided  only  that 
we  are  prepared  honestly  to  accept  the  teachings  we  find  there,  and  do 
not  go  there  to  confirm  opinions  and  prejudices  already  formed.  And  if 
we  read  the  New  Testament  in  this  spirit,  with  a  view  to  answering  the 
question  we  have  set  ourselves,  the  first  and  most  obvious  fact  that  is  forced 
upon  us  is  this  :  that  there  have  been  people  in  the  world  who  have  had 
absolutely  no  time  for  amusements.  "I  must  work  the  works  of  him  that 
sent  me,"  is  the  burden  of  the  life  of  Jesus.  Every  hour  of  that  brief, 
tragic  existence  was  devoted ;  every  moment  had  its  allotment  of  vicarious 
labor  or  vicarious  suffering.  With  earnest,  pitying  eyes  he  looked  on  a 
world  where  some  men  labored  and  some  stood  idle  in  the  market-place  ; 
where  children  romped  and  played,  and  men  and  women  murmured  and 
sinned  and  suffered ;  and  his  life  was  one  sacrifice.  Every  step  was  a  step 
to  the  cross;  and  he  was  straitened  till  that  final  work  was  accomplished. 

Nor  was  it  very  different  with   St.  Paul.     What  time  for  amusement 


ESSAY    OF    T.    RUDDLE. 


581 


■was  tlicrc  to  a  uiau  whose  work  was  such  that  the  labor  of  Nehemiah's 
niasous,  who  built  with  the  sword  in  one  luuul  and  the  trowel  iu  the 
other,  seems  light  in  comparison  ?  Let  us  tirst  glance  at  that  hasty  sum- 
mary of  his  labors  and  sulTeriugs  in  the  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians, 
and'then  read  carefully  through  the  two  Corinthian  epistles  and  that  to 
the  Galatians,  and  we  shall  be  convinced  that  there  was  no  time  for  amuse- 
ment to  a  man  whose  life  was  on  the  one  hand  a  perpetual  mission  to  the 
unconverted,  and  on  the  other  a  perpetual  conflict  with  the  foes  of  spirit- 
ual freedom.  At  any  rate,  if  there  ever  was  an  hour  when,  forgetting  the 
devices  of  Judaizing  ritualists  and  the  mute  appeals  of  heathen  idolaters, 
he  dared  to  indulge  his  natural  tastes,  and  read  his  "  Cleanthes,"  or  his 
books  of  rabbinical  wisdom,  with  no  other  aim  than  that  of  recreation, 
such  moments  were  so  few  and  so  far  between,  and  were  so  absolutely  un- 
essential, that  the  New  Testament  does  not  record  them  nor  recognize 
them,  directly  nor  indirectly.  The  New  Testament,  however,  does  teach, 
"both  indirectly  and  directly,  too,"  that  though  some  men  may  feel 
called  upon  to  mutilate  themselves  for  the  kingdom  of  God's  sake,  they 
have  no  warrant  to  press  the  same  conditions  on  others;  for  such  a  com- 
mandment belongs  only  to  him  who  can  receive  it. 

From  the  fact  that  amusements  had  no  part  in  the  lives  of  our  Lord  or  of 
St.  Paul  no  argument  against  them  can  be  drawn  that  would  not  be  equally 
valid  against  commercial  and  industrial  pursuits.  When  our  Lord  began 
his  public  ministry  he  had  to  abandon  his  work  at  the  carpenter's  bench. 

The  same  divine  mandate  that  summoned  Paul  away  from  the  common 
enjoyments  of  life  greatly  interfered  with  his  tent-making.  With  the 
utmost  inconvenience  and  self-sacrifice  he  generally  earned  his  living  at 
his  own  trade  ;  but  his  mission  left  him  no  more  time  for  money-making 
than  for  merry-making.  The  truth  is  that  in  this  matter  also,  "  fie  that 
was  rich  for  our  sakes  became  poor,  that  we  through  his  poverty  might 
be  rich."  Good  Dr.  Primrose  very  justly  says  that  "The  lowliest  man 
that  ever  trod  the  earth  was  He  who  came  to  save  it."  And  he  was  thus 
lowly  that  we  might  not  be  lowly ;  his  life  was  bereft  of  the  ordinary 
sources  of  human  enjoyment  in  order  that  we,  his  disciples,  might  be 
happy.  And  the  same  principle  holds  good,  though  of  course  in  a  differ- 
ent sense,  of  his  greatest  apostle.  And  if  we  only  remember  our  Lord's 
defense  of  his  disciples  when  they  plucked  the  ears  of  corn,  and  his  pref- 
erence of  the  clean  face  and  anointed  head  to  the  sackcloth  and  gloomy 
countenance  of  the  ostentatious  Pharisee,  and  at  the  same  time  remember 
St.  Paul's  ever-vigilant  defense  of  spiritual  liberty,  and  his  precept  to  the 
Colossians:  "  Let  no  man,  therefore,  judge  you  in  meat,  or  in  drink,  or 
in  respect  of  a  holy-day,  or  of  the  new  moon,  or  of  the  Sal)bath" — that  is, 
in  rofard  to  unessentials — we  shall  be  constrained  to  admit  that  there  is 
nothing  in  the  spirit  of  the  New  Testament  teaching  which  is  opposed  to 
a  moderate  and  rational  use  of  amusements.  Voluntary  severity  to  the 
flesh  was  a  practice  which  always  aroused  St.  Paul's  aversion  and  contemjit. 

Yet  this  voluntary  severity  is  an  evil  from  which  the  Christian  Church 
has  never  been  entirely  free.     Men  have  skulked  into  dark  convents  who 


582  THE  CHURCH  AND  PUBLIC  MOEALITY. 

were  intended  by  their  Creator  to  see  and  enjoy  the  light  of  day.  Men 
have  scourged  their  own  flesh  with  a  view  to  expel  the  demon  of  lust, 
and  have  only  succeeded  in  driving  in  the  demon  of  narrowness  and  per- 
secution to  keep  him  company.  And  in  this  matter  it  must  be  acknowl- 
edged that  many  of  the  Puritans  have  offended  quite  as  grievously  as  the 
Romanists.  Wliile  the  latter  have  held  it  to  be  a  "  counsel  of  perfection  " 
to  live  unnaturally  and  to  forswear  heaven's  kindest  blessings,  for  no  con- 
ceivable good,  the  former  have  endeavored  to  fasten  a  yoke  unbearable  on 
every  single  member  of  the  Church.  They  have  declared  that  croquet 
and  lawn-tennis  are  not  for  the  glory  of  God.  They  have  denounced  and 
execrated  the  drama.  They  have  not  only  forbidden  dancing,  but  de- 
clared that  every  step  in  the  dance  is  a  step  to  perdition.  They  have 
discouraged  music,  declaring  that  secular  concerts  are  "worldly" — a 
word  of  easy  condemnation — and  that  sacred  ones  by  unconverted  singers 
are  profane.  In  short,  they  have  hardened  their  faces  against  all  amuse- 
ments as  the  prophet  Ezekiel's  was  hardened  against  sin.  They  have 
grouped  together  in  one  comprehensive  curse  the  seller  of  indulgences  and 
the  buyer  of  mince-pics. 

In  all  this  the  attitude  of  the  Church  has  not  been  wise  nor  natural,  and 
therefore  not  truly  Christian.  Nothing  in  all  the  Scriptures  countenances 
this  hatred  of  mirth.  ' '  Why  am  I  evil  spoken  of  for  that  for  which  I 
give  thanks  ?  "  On  one  principle,  and  on  only  one  principle,  can  this 
hatred  of  mirth  be  justified,  namely,  that  the  one  business  of  man  on 
this  earth  is  to  save  his  own  soul  from  the  wrath  to  come.  I  make  no 
apology  whatever  for  deciding  at  once  that  that  principle  is  false.  It  not 
only  ought  not  to  be  the  single  business  of  every  man  to  save  his  own  soul, 
it  ought  not  to  be  the  single  business  of  any  man.  Every  page  of  the 
Bible,  every  aspect  of  nature,  every  epoch  in  every  nation's  history,  every 
day's  experience  in  every  good  man's  life  proclaims  that  the  lines, 

"Nothing  is  worth  a  thought  beneath. 
But  how  I  may  escape  the  death 
That  never,  never  dies," 

when  applied  universally,  as  they  often  are,  are  mistaken  and  dangerous 
— all  the  more  dangerous  because  closely  allied  to  a  vital  truth. 

The  same  mind  that  created  Hamlet  and  Lady  Macbeth  and  lago  created 
Beatrice  and  Dogberry  and  Falstaff.  These  latter  creations  are  as  mar- 
velous as  the  former  ones.  Molifere  is  as  great  a  teacher  as  Bossuet  ;  and 
there  is  not  only  more  wit,  but  more  perennial  wisdom  in  Don  Quixote 
than  in  all  the  Spanish  philosophers  put  together.  And  so  God  has  not 
only  given  men  faculties  for  mirth — to  Tom  Hood  a  most  grotesque  fancy 
and  a  never-failing  facility  of  rhyme  ;  to  Charles  Lamb  an  inimitable 
humor;  and  to  Douglas  .lerrold  and  Thackeray  an  incisive  wit — but  he  has 
created  a  world,  even  the  earth  on  which  we  dwell,  where  mirth  finds 
a  fitting  home.  England's  hills  and  valleys  and  skies  and  streams  sug- 
gest and  half-create  the  buoyant  activities  of  mirth,  of  which  they  are 
liappily  so  often  the  resort.  "  The  valleys  also  are  covered  over  with  corn; 
they  shout  for  joy,  they  also  sing."     The  means  of  mirth  are  every-where. 


ESSAY    OF    T.    KUDDLE.  583 

God  ia  infinite  mercy  has  ordained  that  every  hollow  reed  may  become 
a  musical  pipe,  every  passing  cloud  a  theme  for  laughter  or  for  deeper  joy, 
and  every  field  a  i)leasure-ground.  And  as  the  dullest  observer  might 
know  if  he  accidentally  twitched  the  strings  of  a  harp,  though  he  had 
never  seen  uor  heard  one  before,  that  it  was  intended  to  give  forth  sweet 
sounds,  so  every  man  and  woman,  not  wofuUy  blind  nor  willfully  perverse 
might  learn  from  the  spontaneous  laughter  of  the  child,  the  tunefulness  of 
birds,  the  freshness  of  the  breeze,  the  beauty  of  the  landscape,  the  broad 
laughter  of  the  ocean,  and  the  faculties  of  his  own  mind  that  the  world  is 
intended  for  enjoyment — that  amusements  have  their  right  place  in  the 
economy  of  the  world.  "There  is  a  time  to  laugh,"  as  well  as  to  weep 
and  work  and  pray. 

The  discouragement  of  amusements  has  often  led  to  the  very  faults 
that  are  most  abhorrent  to  the  genuine  Puritan — profanity  and  hypocrisy. 
By  cutting  off  opportunities  for  enjoyment,  by  imitating  the  wise  man  in 
his  utter  im wisdom,  and  saying  of  laughter,  "  It  is  mad;  and  of  mirth. 
What  doth  it?"  Puritanism  has  driven  young  people  to  pretend  a  seri- 
ousness and  sanctity  which  at  heart  they  detested,  and  has  sometimes 
provoked  them  to  seek  for  secret  and  unlawful  means  of  diversion ;  and 
the  terrible  result  has  been  that  young  men  and  young  women,  too,  who 
would  not  have  dared  to  sing  an  honest  song  in  public  have  indulged  in 
lewd  readings  or  lewd  conduct  when  alone,  or  with  otliers  as  corrupt  as 
themselves.  In  like  manner  Puritanism  has  encouraged  profanity.  Fac- 
ulties that  could  find  no  jiroper  vent  elsewhere  have  found  profane  exer- 
cise in  religious  meetings.  Many  young  people  have  only  dared  to  in- 
dulge in  roars  of  laughter  at  such  meetings.  Comic  anecdotes  and  comic 
rhymes  that  would  have  been  denounced  as  wicked  and  worldly  if  found 
in  a  newspaper  or  a  novel  have  been  thoroughly  enjoyed  when  used  to 
spice  a  missionary  speech.  I  have  read  passages  in  religious  monthlies 
and  heard  them  in  sermons  that  with  very  little  alteration  mio-ht  serve  as 
a  scoff  in  an  atheist  periodical.  Of  late  years  there  has  been,  it  is  true,  a 
great  improvement  in  this  respect;  but  it  is  still  true  that  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  risible  faculties,  and  their  exercise  almost  exclusively  on  relif- 
ious  questions,  has  had  a  direct  tendency  to  create  a  spirit  of  distmst  and  in- 
difference toward  all  things  religious.  What  was  at  first  only  a  feeling  of 
whimsical  incongruity  has  hardened  into  aversion. 

Whatever,  therefore,  may  be  the  duty  of  the  Church  toward  amuse- 
ments, it  is  clearly  not  her  duty  to  be  hostile  to  them  and  sup])ress  them. 
It  is  not  her  duty  to  lay  upon  men  a  burden  which  the  Almighty  has  not 
laid,  nor  to  put  a  yoke  upon  those  whom  Christ  has  set  free.  On  the 
other  hand,  ought  the  Church  to  provide  amusements  for  her  young  people  ? 
Ought  there  to  l)e  a  cri(ket-clul>  in  connection  with  the  Bible-class  a  flee- 
class  m  connection  with  the  Mutual  Improvement  Society,  a  brass  band  in 
connection  with  the  Temperance  Society,  and  a  system  of  objectionable 
round  games  at  our  Sunday-school  anniversaries  ?  The  items  are  not 
drawn  from  imagination.  The  tendency  is  strongly  in  this  direction  in 
many  quarters.     The  argument  is  this:   "  We  do  not  altogether  approve 


584  THE  CHUECH  AND  PUBLIC  MORALITY. 

of  these  things ;  but  our  young  people  will  have  them,  and  so  we  provide 
them  lest  they  should  go  further  and  fare  worse."  In  short,  we  attempt 
to  cure  one  fault  by  another  and  immeasurably  graver  one.  The  willful- 
ness of  the  young  people  is  set  off  by  the  unfaithfulness  of  the  elders.  The 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  hardly  attained  in  that  way.  Those  who  only  half 
believe  in  amusements  are  not  precisely  the  best  persons  to  provide  them. 
What  is  worth  doing  at  all  is  worth  doing  well ;  and  amusements  can 
never  be  well  chosen  l)y  those  who  are  not  yet  freed  from  a  strong  preju- 
dice against  them.  "Tools  to  the  man  who  can  use  them."  It  is  not  the 
work  of  the  Church  to  provide  amusements.  ' '  But  our  young  jjeople 
will  have  them."  Be  it  so.  Our  young  people  will  also  have  pocket 
money.  Must  the  Church  provide  them  pocket  money  also  ?  They  will 
have  amusing  periodicals.  Is  it  wise  in  the  Church  to  attempt  to  compete 
with  Tid-lits?  "Hands  off!"  is  the  safest  watch-word.  The  religious 
novel  has  been,  I  am  quite  sure,  a  nuisance  to  literature ;  I  do  not  be- 
lieve it  has  been  helpful  to  religion.  The  Church  will  do  wisely  to  accept 
amusements  as  a  factor — a  not  unimportant  factor — in  human  life;  to  re- 
gard them  as  at  least  as  necessary  as  kid  gloves  or  condiments.  She  must 
use  amusements  as  occasion  demands,  but  on  no  account  permit  them  to 
use  her.  Her  energy  ought  not  to  be  wasted  on  work  which  others  can 
do  far  better  than  she  can. 

The  work  of  the  Church,  after  all,  is  to  save  souls,  or,  to  use  a  phrase 
quite  as  scriptural,  to  build  up  spiritual  character.  The  closer  she  sticks 
to  this  work  the  better.  And  whenever  she  has  a  doubt  concerning  her 
next  duty,  let  her  refer  to  the  old  summaries  of  duty,  which,  amid  the 
wood,  hay,  and  stubble  of  ritualism,  remains  the  one  piece  of  solid  ma- 
sonry in  the  English  Episcopal  catechism.  Let  her  endeavor  at  all  times 
and  by  all  means  to  teach  her  children  "  To  hurt  nobody  by  word  or  deed ; 
to  be  true  and  just  in  all  their  dealings;  to  bear  no  malice  nor  hatred  in 
their  hearts ;  "  and,  above  all,  ' '  to  put  their  whole  trust  in  Him  [God] ;  and 
to  serve  him  truly  all  the  days  of  their  life."  When  our  children  have 
learnt  these  lessons  they  may  be  safely  trusted  with  amusements.  Not  to 
denounce  recreation,  but  to  make  unchastity  impossible,  is  the  work  of  the 
Church ;  not  to  ojipose  laughter,  but  to  opjjose  sin.  And  she  should  look 
forward  to  the  time  that  is  certainly  coming  when  sin  shall  be  utterly  abol- 
ished, and  happiness  shall  abound  on  every  side ;  because  there  shall  be 
delight  without  degradation.  Then  shall  the  kingdom  of  heaven  be  es- 
tablished on  the  earth ;  and  this  world  shall  become  a  vestibule  of  that 
temple  where  sin  and  sorrow  are  both  unknown,  and  where  Puritan  mo- 
roseness  and  cavalier  licentiousness  are  alike  burnt  ujj  in  the  purifying  fire 
of  the  love  of  God. 

The  following  invited  address,  on  "  The  Attitude  of  the 
Church  toward  Amusements,"  was  given  by  the  Rev.  Bishop 
C.  D.  Foss,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  : 

Mr.  Chairman :  For  almost  two  weeks  this  august  body  of  Christian  men 
gathered  from  many  lands  has  been  filling  up  the  days  with  earnest  con- 


ADDKESS    OF    BISHOP    C.    D.    FOSS.  585 

sideration  of  great  themes — themes  relating  to  the  prof  oundest  interests  of 
the  human  race — such  as  the  status,  doctrines,  conflicts,  work,  and  unity 
of  the  Church  of  Christ.  Possibly  a  casual  reader  of  our  programme 
might  wonder  whether  the  subject  for  this  hour  deserves  any  place  in  such 
a  list.  But  no  godly  pastor,  especially  in  a  large  city,  could  for  a  mo- 
ment raise  such  a  question.  And  every  earnest  and  consecrated  layman, 
who  is  ever  on  the  alert  to  build  living  stones  into  the  walls  of  God's 
spiritual  temple,  must  keenly  feel  that  few  subjects  here  considered  are  of 
such  urgent  practical  moment.  Satan  has  no  more  successful  arts  for 
alienating  young  people  from  the  Church  and  from  religion  itself  than 
some  of  the  popular  amusements  of  our  time ;  and  one  of  the  commonest 
incidents  and  surest  evidences  of  every  genuine  revival  is  confession,  hu- 
miliation, and  abjuration  in  respect  to  such  amusements,  as  being  among 
the  "  things  of  the  world  "  which  Christians  are  commanded  not  to  love, 
and  addiction  to  which  is  a  clear  token  of  that  ' '  friendship  of  the  world  " 
which  is  "  enmity  against  God." 

The  attitude  of  the  Church  toward  amusements  must  cover  the  practice 
of  its  members,  the  teaching  of  its  pulpit  and  press,  and  the  discipline  it 
administers.  All  these,  I  think,  should  be  determined  under  the  regu- 
lative influence  of  the  following  general  principles  and  precepts  which, 
because  my  limits  of  time  will  render  it  impossible  for  me  to  remark  upon 
them  all,  I  will  state  all  together  at  this  moment  :  1.  Candid  recognition 
of  the  need  of  amusements.  2.  Cordial  approval  of  all  amusements  within 
due  limits  which  are  in  themselves  innocent,  and  which  experience  proves 
to  have  no  injurious  associations  or  tendencies.  3.  Firm,  clear,  bold  con- 
demnation of  manifestly  demoralizing  amusements.  4.  The  utilization  of 
the  home  as  the  world's  great  pleasure-garden.  5.  Such  employment  of 
all  Christian  and  moral  people  in  beneficent  activities  as  shall  pre-occupy 
their  minds  and  polarize  their  hearts  into  instinctive  repulsion  of  debasing 
amusements;  thus  illustrating  what  Chalmers  termed  "the  expulsive 
power  of  a  new  affection."  6.  A  standard  based  on  the  ethics  of  the  New 
Testament,  which  allows  large  personal  liberty,  and  yet  enjoins  in  some 
things  the  surrender  of  personal  liberty  for  the  general  good.  7.  The  final 
practical  test  to  be,  as  it  is  stated  in  those  General  Rules  which  we  have  in- 
herited from  that  wonderful  man  whose  ecclesiastical  statesmanship  was 
excelled  only  by  his  "  genius  for  godliness,"  the  taking  of  only  "such  di- 
versions as  can  be  used  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus." 

At  the  outset,  then,  we  must  frankly  recognize  the  need  of  amusement. 
Asceticism  was  one  of  the  most  grievous  blunders  religion  ever  made. 
Its  day  has  passed  away  forever,  with  that  of  the  rack  and  the  thumb- 
screw. God  meant  this  for  a  happy  world — I  had  almost  said  for  a  jolly 
world.  Birds  chant,  lambs  frisk,  kittens  gambol,  l)rookssing,  and  now  and 
then  "  mountains  skip  like  rams,"  and  "  all  the  trees  of  the  field  clap  their 
hands."  Play  is  the  great  business  of  young  children  and  the  urgent  need 
of  many  a  tired  man.  Zechariah  predicted  of  Jerusalem  restored,  that 
"The  streets  of  the  city  shall  be  full  of  boys  and  girls  playing  in  the 
streets  thereof."  Man  is  the  only  laughing  animal.  At  the  best  those 
40 


586  THE  CHUKCH  AND  PUBLIC  MORALITY. 

supposed  ancestors,  assigned  us  by  such  as  trace  our  origin  not  to  the  gar- 
den of  Eden,  but  to  a  zoological  garden,  can  only  grin.  We  have  no  proof 
that  any  other  animal  but  man  can  "  take  in  a  joke "  with  or  without  "a 
surgical  operation."  Mirth  and  wit  are  faculties  of  man,  just  as  truly  as 
reason  and  conscience;  and  are  faculties  to  be  used  and  richly  enjoyed. 
At  least,  let  such  as  have  only  the  faintest  rudiments  of  these  faculties  be 
modest  enough  to  pass  charitable  judgment  on  such  as  luxuriate  in  them. 
Robert  Hall's  question  to  a  criticising,  tombstone  clerical  brother  was 
profoundly  philosophical:  "Brother,  suppose  it  had  pleased  the  Almighty 
to  endow  you  with  wit,  what  would  you  have  done  with  it?" 

Next,  we  must  give  cordial  approval  to  all  harmless  amusements;  " ap- 
proval," not  wry-faced  sufferance.  You  cannot  keep  your  hold  on  young 
people  in  that  attitude.  Encourage  them  to  seek,  and  help  them  to  con- 
trive, such  amusements  as  are  easily  kept  within  due  limits,  and  so  have 
no  injurious  associations  or  tendencies.  You  will  then  be  in  position  to 
show  them  that  these  qualifying  considerations  apply  to  amusements  be- 
cause they  inhere  in  the  fundamental  conception  of  all  human  actions  and 
determine  their  character.  What  concrete  act  is  there  that  is  wrong  per  se  ? 
Not  pulling  a  trigger,  nor  taking  a  purse,  nor  writing  another  man's  name. 
These  may  or  may  not  be  murder,  theft,  or  forgery — their  associations  de- 
termine that  question. 

These  rules  furnish  ample  ground  for  the  unsparing  condemnation  of 
some  popular  amusements ;  that  is,  such  as  break  over  all  due  limits  of 
time,  or  lead  to  gambling,  lewdness,  moral  degeneracy,  and  perdition. 
They  rule  out  the  theater  and  the  promiscuous  dance,  and  have  brought 
these  under  the  ban  of  the  highest  councils  of  almost  every  branch  of  the 
Christian  Church,  and  also  of  the  foremost  philosophic  moralists  of  every 
age.  They  are  also  full  of  suggestion  as  to  some  forms  of  college  athlet- 
ics. All  honor  to  wise  physical  culture.  The  body  is  the  temple  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  should  be  made  and  kept  as  strong  and  alert  and  healthy 
and  enduring  as  possible.  But  honor,  also,  to  the  plain  farmer  who  wrote 
to  a  president  of  Yale  College,  when  boat-racing  was  the  rage:  "I  am 
thinkin'  of  sendin'  my  boy  to  your  schule,  and  I  want  to  know  if  you  will 
charge  any  thing  extra  if  you  teach  him  readin'  and  writin',  as  well  as 
rowin'."  Let  every  college  encourage  gymnastics,  and  all  forms  of  open- 
air  athletic  sports— the  jollier  the  better — if  they  are  harmless.  But  if 
base-ball  and  foot-ball  must  re(]uire  such  overtraining  as  shall  make  a 
young  man  merely  a  splendid  brute,  developing  his  muscle  at  the  expense 
of  his  brains  and  his  health,  and  if  they  must  be  so  played  as  to  encour- 
age betting,  then  every  college  should  frown  them  down,  and,  if  need  be, 
put  them  out. 

The  standard  set  up  by  the  Church  in  relation  to  amusements  should  be 
a  Christian  standard ;  that  is,  a  standard  based  on  the  principles  of  Chris- 
tian liberty  and  Christian  motive.  Turn  men  over  from  Moses  to  Christ. 
Not  "thou  shalt  not,"  "thou  shalt  not,"  but  "thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  The  Puritans 
— "  clarum  et  venerabile  nomen  " — had  far  more  charged  to  them  than 


GENERAL    REMARKS,  587 

tliey  deserved.     Men  think  of  them  as  a  grim  race  of  ascetics,  who  busied 
themselves  with 

"Hanging  cats  of  a  Monday 
For  chasing  mice  of  a  Sunday." 

It  has  long  been  known  that  the  notorious  "  Blue  Laws"  were  a  pure  fic- 
tion of  a  later  age ;  yet  the  Puritans  did  make  Sunday  a  hard  day  for 
children,  and  the  world  a  difficult  place  to  live  in.  Let  us  profit  by  their 
follies  as  well  as  by  their  virtues.  Let  us  teach  the  yoimg  that  Christian- 
ity forbids  nothing  that  will  not  harm  ourselves  or  others.  Let  us  appeal 
to  our  Christian  youth  to  jiress  forward  into  a  i:)ersonal  experience  of  per- 
fect consecration  and  joyful  union  with  Christ,  and  to  hate  as  worse  than 
death  any  thing  that  dulls  the  zest  of  a  rich  spiritual  expeiieuce,  or  tar- 
nishes the  luster  of  a  positive  Christian  profession.  Fill  the  measure  with 
wheat,  and  thus  keep  out  the  tares.  I  look  upon  the  Epworth  League  as 
a  God-inspired  training-school  for  our  young  people  in  personal  experience 
and  in  applied  Christianity.  I  trust  that  tens  of  thousands  of  them  will 
come  from  its  meetings  so  girded  with  holy  purpose  that,  after  strenuous 
work  or  study,  they  can  enjoy  unharmed  hours  of  delightful  recreation 
in  the  home,  and  in  the  next  larger  social  circle  made  up  from  several 
homes,  in  merry  conversation,  reading,  music,  and  games. 

As  for  the  question  of  the  discipline  to  be  exercised  by  the  Church  for 
the  violation  of  the  Christian  law  concerning  amusements,  I  have  two 
things  to  say:  First,  I  would  have  no  long  black-list  of  forbidden  amuse- 
ments. No  such  list  can  possibly  be  complete  for  every  time  and  place. 
Any  such  list  is  quite  likely  to  be  unwise,  being  made  by  persons  at  the 
furthest  remove  from  those  for  whose  guidance  it  is  designed ;  and,  more- 
over, the  safest  standard — indeed,  the  only  practicable  standard — is  the 
collective  conscience  and  godly  judgment  of  the  Church  by  which  disci- 
pline must  be  administered.  Secondly,  I  conceive  of  a  pastor  not  as  a 
lynx-eyed  critic  or  a  stern  police  justice,  with  an  uplifted  club  in  his  hand, 
waiting  to  strike  down  the  first  offender  for  the  first  ofl"ense,  but  as  a 
watchful  shepherd,  fierce  to  wolves  but  gentle  to  sheep;  full  of  yearning 
tenderness  for  the  flock,  and  most  of  all  for  the  wandering  sheep,  going 
after  that  one  with  loving  and  untiring  assiduity,  and  calling  on  earth 
and  heaven  to  rejoice  with  him  when  he  brings  home  the  torn  and  bleed- 
ing wanderer.  Until  he  has  done  his  utmost  on  this  line,  let  him  never 
ask,  What  next?  With  him,  as  with  the  Great  Shepherd,  no  sterner  step 
can  be  taken,  except  at  the  dictate  of  exhausted  and  hopeless  love.  O, 
for  more  of  "the  beauty  of  holiness"  in  Christian  living  and  in  pastoral 
oversight ! 

Tlie  general  discussion  of  the  afternoon  was  introduced  by 
tlie  Rev.  Joseph  Nettleton,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  as  follows : 

Mr.  Chairman :  I  would  like  to  say  just  a  few  words  on  the  subject  of 
amusements.     I  take  it  that  amusement  is  what  we  may  call  recreative 


588  THE  CHURCH  AND  PUBLIC  MORALITY. 

repose,  and  thus  amusement  will  be  necessary  if  we  would  retain  a  sound 
mind  in  a  healthful  body.  The  difficulty  lies  in  drawing  a  line  where 
amusements  lead  to  that  which  will  lower  the  moral  tone.  Questions 
arise  and  are  put  to  me  as  a  Christian  pastor  in  this  form :  Is  it  right  to 
attend  the  race-course?  It  is  just  as  natural  for  a  horse  to  run  as  it  is  for 
a  bird  to  fly.  What  is  the  harm,  therefore,  in  attending  the  race-course? 
Is  it  right  to  dance,  and  especially  to  dance  in  the  public  ball-room?  Is 
it  right  to  play  billiards  in  bar-rooms,  or  to  attend  the  theater?  Now,  all 
these  things  are  more  or  less  environed  by  that  which  is  evil  or  perilous. 
Some  will  say,  in  reply :  To  the  pure,  all  things  are  pure.  My  reply 
would  be  again:  Yes;  but  are  you  pure?  and  if  so,  are  you  likely  to  retain 
your  whiteness  of  soul  in  that  environment  of  defilement  and  perilous 
surroundings? 

I  have  studied  this  question  myself,  as  Bishop  Foss  puts  it,  on  New 
Testament  principles.  First,  I  find  this  principle  embodied  in  these  words : 
All  things  are  lawful  for  me,  but  all  things  edify  not.  All  things  are  law- 
ful, but  all  things  are  not  expedient.  I  am  limited  not  only  to  that  which 
is  lawful,  but  to  that  which  is  expedient  and  to  that  which  edifies.  I  ask 
about  an  amusement,  whether  it  will  relieve  the  tired,  wearied  man  after  a 
day's  toil,  and  the  next  question  I  ask  is:  Will  it  edify?  There  are  other 
principles  which  I  act  on  bt-sides  these ;  I  have  no  right  to  do  that  by 
which  my  brother  stumbleth  and  is  brought  to  sin ;  for  in  sinning  against 
his  weak  conscience,  I  sin  against  Christ. 

My  next  question  is  this:  "Does  it  lead  another  man  to  sin?  The  third 
principle,  I  gather  again  from  St.  Paul:  "  Whether  therefore  ye  eat,  or  drink, 
or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God."  I  ask  again  concerning 
the  question  of  amusement:  Does  it  glorify  God?  When  Cardinal  Bor- 
romeo,  with  some  friends,  was  playing  a  game  of  chess,  some  one  put  the 
question :  If  within  an  hour  each  one  of  us  sliould  stand  before  the  throne 
of  God,  what  would  we  do?  One  said  that  he  would  go  to  confession  and 
get  absolution.  Another  one  said  that  he  would  go  and  settle  some  quar- 
rel. Cardinal  Borromeo  said :  I  would  go  on  with  my  game  of  chess.  I 
needed  recreation.  I  commenced  this  game  of  chess  when  I  was  weary  and 
in  need  of  recreation,  for  the  gloi'y  of  God. 

With  reference  to  amusements,  do  not  dogmatize ;  but  these  three  ques- 
tions may  be  put  and  be  left  to  be  settled  by  men,  with  an  enlightened 
conscience,  and  according  to  New  Testament  principles:  Does  it  edify? 
Does  it  lead  another  man  to  sin?  Does  it  glorify  God? 

All  amusements  which  will  stand  these  tests  satisfactorily  may  be  sanc- 
tioned. 

The  Eev.  B.  M.  Messick,  D.D.,  of  tlie  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  made  the  following  remarks : 

Mr.  President :  Of  all  the  enemies  of  the  Sabbath  day,  none  is  more  in- 
sidious and  deadly  than  the  Sunday  paper ;  and  the  Church  is  largely  re- 
sponsible for  the  Sunday  paper.  Her  ]>atronage,  to  no  small  extent,  is  the 
cause  of  its  presence  and  its  power  in  the  land.  The  Church,  through  its 
members,  by  thousands  multiplied,  recognizes  it,  authorizes  it,  and  ad- 
vertises it,  subscribes  for  it  and  reads  it— reading  it  even  at  the  expense 
of  the  Bible.  The  Sunday  paper  is  thus  the  foe  not  only  of  the  Sabbath, 
but  of  the  Bible — God's  day  and  God's  word. 

This  wooden  horse  came  in  during  the  war  under  the'  plea  of  military 
necessity,  but  it  was  found  to  be  a  profitable  investment,  and  it  continues 
to  this  day,  because  there  is  money  in  it.  The  almighty  dollar  was  its  in- 
spiration— the  almighty  dollar  dominating  it  as  it  dominates  nearly  all  the 
frequent  violations  of  'the  Lord's  day.     The  Sabbath  and  the  Bible  stand 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  689 

for  all  that  is  good  and  great,  for  all  religion  and  all  morality,  for  the  Church 
and  for  the  State.  The  Sunday  paper  stands  as  the  foe  both  of  Church 
and  of  God — let  not  the  Church,  then,  become  the  ally  of  the  Sunday  pa- 
per, aiding  and  abetting  an  unholy  alliance.  What  communion  has  light 
with  darkness — what  fellowship  between  Christ  and  Belial?  "  Hands  off" 
sliould  l)e  the  law  of  the  Church  of  God  on  this  cjuestion.  The  Sunday 
paper,  indictable  at  the  bar  of  God  and  man  with  high  crime  against  the 
Sabbath,  threatens  the  future  of  our  land  and  of  all  Christendom;  and 
the  Church  of  God  is  too  often  particeps  criminu.  I  stand  before  you  with 
these  simple  words:  "  Hands  off."  Now,  what  is  due  from  the  Church? 
Recognition?  No.  Toleration  even?  No.  Nothing  but  uncompromising 
hostility  and  war  to  the  teeth,  and  no  quarter. 

The  Rev,  Frank  Ballard,  M.A.,  B.Sc.,  of  tlie  "Wesleyan 
Methodist  Church,  continued  the  discussion,  as  follows ; 

Mr.  President  and  Brethren:  One  certainly  might  be  pardoned  for  wish- 
ing to  have  even  ten  minutes  upon  two  such  great  themes  as  are  before  us 
to-day.  All  of  us  here,  I  think,  will  be  thankful  as  well  as  pleased  with 
the  great  Christian  heart  and  wdde-reaching  wisdom  that  has  characterized 
the  address  of  Bishop  Foss  and  the  paper  of  Mr.  Ruddle.  But,  while  be- 
forehand I  confess  that  I  thought  it  might  be  necessary  for  an  humble  in- 
dividual like  myself  to  say  something  on  this  occasion,  yet  now  really 
there  is  very  little  indeed  that  any  of  us  would  wish  to  add.  I  have  only 
one  thing  to  suggest,  and  perhaps  that  may  better  be  woven  into  our 
thoughts  if  I  leave  the  matter  of  amusements  to  speak  for  a  few  moments 
on  the  question  of  the  Sabl)ath. 

I  regretted  very  much  that  our  good  friends  did  not  address  themselves 
more  earnestly  to  some  of  the  things  upon  which  we  are  not  agreed  than 
to  those  things  concerning  which  we  are  all  decided  beforehand.  We  are 
all  agreed,  for  instance,  as  to  the  necessity  and  value  of  Sunday  rest,  but 
we  are  by  no  means  one  as  to  the  way  in  which  we  may  bring  that  to  pass 
most  happily  and  fully,  at  all  events  in  the  old  country.  It  seems  to  me 
that  one  remark,  made,  I  believe,  by  Bishop  Foss,  in  regard  to  amuse- 
ments, has  much  more  emphasis  in  regard  to  what  we,  in  England,  know 
as  "  the  Sunday  question."  I  mean  the  earnest  and  unmistakable  trans- 
ference of  the  heart  and  thought  of  religious  people  from  Moses  to  Christ. 
I  cannot  understand  how  any  bishop  can  ride  dowm  to  a  Christian  church 
behind  two  horses  with  a  footman  and  a  coachman,  and  then  upbraid  peo- 
ple for  not  keeping  the  fourth  commandment.  As  for  me,  I  do  not  pro- 
fess to  keep  the  fourth  commandment,  as  it  stands,  but  Christ's  interpre- 
tation of  the  command.  And  I  think  the  time  has  come  when  it  should 
be  made  known  that  we  are  not  setting  to  work  to  hound  people  down 
for  breaking  the  fourth  commandment,  but  that  we  are  exceedingly  anx- 
ious to  lead  tluMu  to  keep  the  commandment  as  translated  by  the  Master 
who  said,  ''  Wherefore  it  is  lawful  to  do  well  on  the  Sabbath  day." 

We  are  very  nuich  troubled  in  England  to  know  more  clearly  about 
things  in  regard  to  which  we  can  say  to  the  people,  "Thou  shalt."  It  is 
very  ea.sy  to  say  to  a  man,  "Thou  shalt  not  go  to  a  public-house;  thou 
shalt  not  go  here,  thou  shalt  not  go  there."  They  naturally  turn  to  us 
and  say,  "  What  then  may  we  do?"  Some  good  Christian  worthies  have 
said,  "Besides  our  services,  come  into  the  free  library."  Immediately 
there  is  a  cry  goes  up,  "No;  that  will  be  Sabbath-breaking."  Some  of 
the  most  honored  names  in  our  Church  think  that  men  have  a  right  to  be 
in  the  free  libraries  if  they  wish  on  Sunday,  and  would  far  rather  see  them 
there  than  loafing  in  the  streets.    But  we  are  then  told  that  that  question  is  a 


590  THE  CHURCH  AND  PUBLIC  MORALITY. 

very  delicate  and  doubtful  one,  and  that  we  had  better  leave  it  alone.  I 
submit  that  we  ought  to  address  ourselves  to  these  difficult  things,  and  to 
state  to  the  world  frankly  that  which  is  Christian  and  that  which  is  not 
Christian. 

We  are  asked  whether  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  provide  amuse- 
ments. Certainly  I  do  not  want  the  Church  to  provide  amusements  for  my 
children.  But  what  is  my  position?  I  have  a  happy  home ;  I  have  music ; 
I  have  books ;  I  have  carpeted  rooms ;  I  have  a  place  where  the  children 
can  breathe  in  the  free  air  and  be  happy.  If  all  the  children  of  our  slums 
were  like  that  truly  the  case  would  be  different.  But  the  children  are  not 
like  that.  I  rejoice  to  hear  about  tliis  Epworth  League,  and  wish  we  un- 
derstood it  more.  Something  of  that  kind  we  certainly  need  in  the  old 
country,  in  regard  to  which  we  shall  not  merely  say  to  the  young  people, 
"You  shall  not  go  to  the  theater,  or  to  the  music  hall,"  but  shall  be  able 
to  say,  echoing  the  clear  positiveness  of  our  Master,  "Thou  shalt." 

The  Kev,  J.  W.  Haney,  D.D.,  of  the  Metliodist  Episcopal 
Church,  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President:  I  protest  against  the  statement  which  I  understood  as 
having  been  made  here  a  few  moments  ago,  that  the  Church  is  responsi- 
ble for,  or  in  any  way  in  partnership  with,  the  Sunday  newspaper.  I  do  not 
believe  the  declaration — if  I  understood  the  statement  aright — that  the 
Church  is  in  any  wise  responsible.  It  may  be,  and  I  am  afraid  it  is,  a  fact, 
that  many  members  of  the  Church  are  patrons  of  the  Sunday  newspapers. 

Dr.  Messick  :  That  is  just  what  I  said,  that  the  Church,  through  its 
members,  did  this  thing — quodfacit  per  alium,  facit  per  se. 

Dr.  Haney:  If  I  misunderstood  the  brother,  I  retract  the  statement;  but 
I  was  very  anxious  that  the  impression  which  I  received  should  not  be 
generally  received.  The  explanation  is  sufficient,  and  I  ask  the  pardon 
of  my  brother  for  misunderstanding  him. 

Now.  as  to  the  question  of  amusement,  I  believe  that,  as  Bishop  Foss 
said,  there  can  be  no  clearer  or  better  statement  made,  and  no  clearer  line 
of  demarkation  laid  down  for  us,  than  that  which  is  in  the  organic  law  of 
many  of  our  bodies — the  singing  of  those  songs  and  the  reading  of  those 
books  and  the  taking  of  those  diversions  which  can  be  used  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  I  believe,  further,  that  it  has  been  a  mistake 
whenever  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  define  or  to  enumerate  and  give  a 
list  of  the  amusements  that  were  forbidden,  because,  as  has  been  stated, 
it  is  impossible  for  us  to  embrace  the  entire  number  in  any  list.  I  believe, 
further,  that  it  is  not  the  province  of  the  Church  of  God  to  furnish  amuse- 
ments to  the  people,  but  to  present  the  Gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  that  they  should  be  satisfied  with  that  presentation.  And,  having 
the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  we  shall  not  hunger  for  nor  desire  those  things 
which  are  contrary  to  the  word  of  God.  I  believe  that  we  should  not 
ignore  the  demand  for  amusement;  but  it  will  be  a  sorry  day  for  the 
Church,  in  my  judgment,  when  it  shall  so  feel  the  demand,  or  that  de- 
mand shall  be  so  acceded  to,  that  not  only  shall  there  be  libraries  fur- 
nished for  young  people,  which  is  right,  but  other  classes  of  amusement, 
and  the  Church  shall  be  held  responsible  for  the  furnishing  of  amusements 
to  its  adherents,  as  the  world  furnishes  amusements. 

I  believe,  further  than  that,  that  the  Church  should  antagonize  any  form 
of  amusements — the  theater  and  every  other  form — which  continually  and 
habitually  caricatures  the  Church,  the  ministry,  and  the  religion  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  I  believe  that  the  line  of  demarkation  should  be 
plain,  broad,  and  unmistakable,  that  that  which  is  against  God  and  against 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  501 

tlic  Church  should  be  forbidden,  and  that  we  should  not  compromise 
with  it.  We  should  in  every  way  and  at  all  times  draw  the  line  against 
it,  and  denounce  it.  We  should  denounce  the  Sunday  newspaper,  de- 
nounce every  thing  that  is  antagonistic  to  the  Church,  to  the  word,  and 
to  the  law  of  God.  I  want  to  say,  as  I  close,  that  I  believe  that  we 
ought  to  teach  the  Gospel  in  such  a  bright  and  fresh  way  that  the  heart 
of  the  children  shall  be  drawn  to  the  Church  as  the  center  of  their  social 
life,  and  that  the  children  should  be  as  glad  to  go  to  church  and  to  Sun- 
day-school as  they  would  be  to  go  to  the  park. 

Mr.  J.  E.  Balmer,  of  the  United  Methodist  Free  Church, 
offered  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President:  All  young  people  will  and  must  have  amusements;  and 
only  bilious  people,  or  persons  of  that  kind,  estrange  themselves  from  rec- 
reation. I  am  delighted  tliat  the  bishop,  the  last  appointed  speaker,  is 
so  young.  He  looks  a  great  deal  younger  than  he  must  be,  and  is  a  great 
deal  younger  in  spirit  than  I  judge  he  is  in  years.  The  only  thing  that 
estranges  young  people  from  the  Church  is  that  you,  as  Churches,  decline 
to  recognize  their  amusements.  You  say,  "Do  not  go  to  the  theaters." 
How  does  it  happen  that  the  theaters  are  crowded  and  the  churches  are 
half  empty?  I  once  strolled  into  the  Lyceum  Theater,  in  London,  to  see 
Henry  Irving,  and  I  thought  it  was  a  sort  of  Ecumenical  Council,  there 
were  so  many  preachers  there.     Of  course  I  felt  at  ease  at  once. 

This  is  a  subject  in  which  I  feel  deeply  interested.  I  knowthat  the  young 
men  will  have  pleasures,  and  that  the  old  men  will  not  too  readily  recog- 
nize this  fact.  It  is  not  for  the  Church  to  withdraw  itself  from  the  pleas- 
ures of  the  young,  but  to  direct  them  for  good.  You  say,  "Do  not  let 
the  Church  have  any  thing  to  do  with  the  pleasures  of  the  young." 
Where  are  the  young  to  be  directed?  The  young  men  have  their  club- 
houses in  England,  and  they  go  to  the  public-houses.  Why  should  not 
the  schools  and  the  class-rooms  be  thrown  open,  so  that  these  peojile  can 
be  separated  from  these  deadly  influences?  I  say,  make  the  young  men 
and  women  feel  that  there  is  so  much  joy  in  the  service  of  the  Christ  we 
love  that  they  may  be  happy  in  his  service,  and  that  thej'  can  be  happy, 
even  if  they  deny  themselves  of  what  may  be  termed  ordinary  amuse- 
ments. I  want  the  Church  to  feel  that  young  men  will  have  amusements. 
Then  I  entreat  you  not  to  cut  yourself  adrift  from  them  and  their  pleas- 
ures. I  would  say  that  the  Church  ought  to  attempt  to  purify  the  thea- 
ters by  attending  them.  The  theaters  are  crowded,  and  people  will  go  to 
them.  (Cries  of  "No,  no.")  People  do  go  to  the  theater.  If  your 
churches  were  one  half  as  full  as  the  theaters  you  might  be  considered  to 
be  i)rosperous.  Then,  if  they  will  go,  how  are  you  to  make  it  so  that  ob- 
scenity and  impurity  shall  not  exist?  I  will  tell  you  why  the  theaters  of 
to-day  are  l)ecoming  more  sensible  and  more  rational  in  their  stage  pro- 
cedure. It  is  because  Christian  ])eople  are  going.  I  tell  you  that  I  have 
occasionally  gone — very  occasionally,  I  admit — and  I  have  felt  delighted 
at  what  I  have  seen  and  heard. 

Let  the  young  people  know  that  in  the  service  of  Christ  there  is  the 
greatest  happiness.  Some  people  are  never  haj)py  unless  they  are  misera- 
ble. They  are  frightening  the  life  out  of  us.  We  want  to  make  Sunday 
a  happy  day.  >Iy  father  always  taught  us  to  be  hM])])y  on  Sunday.  We 
sang  the  hymns  that  gave  us  joy.  I  tell  you  that  the  pleasures  of  my  life 
center  in  the  things  I  learned  when  I  was  a  child,  so  that  to  me  the  world 
has  not  the  same  attractions  that  it  may  have  to  those  not  so  favored. 
Unless  we  make  young  jieople  understand  that  all  amusements  are  not 


592  THE    CHITECH    AND    PUBLIC    MORALITY. 

bad,  but  that  there  are,  rather,  a  great  many  which  are  rational  and  legit- 
imate, they  will  indulge  in  pleasures  and  amusements  without  that  direc- 
tion which  should  be  given  to  them.  It  is  not  for  us  to  say,  ' '  Thou  shalt 
not."     But  we  ought  to  say,  "Be  careful  how  thou  actest." 

The  Rev.  P.  A.  IIubbaed,  of  the  African  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President:  "We  have  been  very  much  delighted  with  our  distin- 
guished friends  from  England,  with  their  kind  treatment  which  we  have 
enjoyed  so  much;  but  I  fear,  from  the  expressions  of  the  last  speaker, 
that  they  are  carrying  us  a  little  too  far.  There  is  a  good  old  hymn  that 
they  sing  somewhere,  that  says,  "Religion  never  was  designed  to  make 
our  pleasures  less;  "  but  some  people  stretch  that  to  go  altogether  too  far. 
There  must  be  a  line  drawn  somewhere.  If  we  could  arrange  these  amuse- 
ments so  that  they  would  not  lead  us  astray,  it  would  be  all  right.  If  we 
could  enjoy  them  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  it  would  be  all 
right.  But  there  has  got  to  be  a  line  drawn  somewhere,  and  if  w^e  throw 
down  the  gate,  as  we  are  doing  here  this  afternoon,  where  will  we  stop? 
We  have  got  the  gate  down  for  the  dance,  for  the  theater,  and  by  and  by 
we  will  get  in  the  circus,  and  so  we  go.  We  must  call  a  halt  somewhere. 
I  think  the  religion  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ought  to  be  sufficient  for 
every  body.  In  this  I  see  enough,  and  I  think  this  Conference  ought  to 
see  enough.  Let  us  take  care  of  this.  Let  us  keep  our  feet  in  the  path 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  let  the  world  take  care  of  the  amusements. 

The  Eev.  D.  J.  Waller,  D.D.,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  continued  the  discussion  in  the  following  words : 

Mr.  President :  I  rise  to  say  one  word,  lest  the  impression  should  go  out 
that  the  view  of  English  Methodists  generally  has  been  represented  here 
this  afternoon.  Certainly  the  speech  of  Mr.  Balmer  does  not  reiiect  either 
the  views  or  feelings  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church.  For  one,  I  think 
we  would  make  a  very  serious  mistake  if  we  began  to  draw"  up  rules  and 
regulations  with  reference  to  amusements.  It  is  better  to  have  general 
principles,  and  then  rely  upon  the  religious  life  of  our  people.  That  life 
does  not  lead  them  in  the  direction  of  theatrical  amusements  which  have 
been  recommended  by  the  former  speaker.  The  late  Bishop  of  Man- 
chester did  at  one  time  give  an  expression  in  favor  of  the  theater,  but  he 
changed  his  view  before  he  died.  It  is  well  known  that  in  many  of  our 
cities  you  cannot  have  a  play  run  successfully  if  it  is  the  sort  that  relig- 
ious people  ought  to  be  recommended  to  countenance.  I  think,  sir,  that 
we  had  better  remember  that  as  a  Church  our  work  is  to  advance  the  king- 
dom of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  spread  scriptural  holiness  over  the 
land.  While  we  do  not  of  necessity  scowl  upon  amusements,  I  hold  that 
it  is  not  the  province  of  the  Church  to  provide  them.  Surely  we  are  not 
so  far  advanced  as  to  recommend  to  our  people  to  go  to  the  theater  and 
similar  places  of  amusement,  which,  although  very  popular  with  some, 
would  be  the  ruin  of  our  Church. 

Tlie  Rev.  J.  M.  Buckley,  D.D.,  of  the  Metliodist  Episcopal 
Church,  concluded  the  discussion  of  the  afternoon,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  The  subject  of  amusements  derives  its  importance,  not 
from  the  importance  of  any  one  point  connected  with  it,  but  from  the  ag- 
gregation of  the  many  points  which  touch,  very  closely,  the  efficiency  of 


PASTORAL    ADDRESS.  593 

our  cliurches.  You  may  speak  of  it  in  a  way  to  produce  levity,  but  when 
that  is  done,  it  is  to  be  inferred  that  the  persons  who  do  so  have  not  stud- 
ied the  subject,  or  that  they  are  themselves  to  some  extent  the  examples 
of  the  pernicious  influence  and  laxity.  The  fact  is,  Mr.  President,  that 
the  Church  of  England  and  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  give  us  a  most 
remarkable  confirmation  of  the  strong  view  of  the  Methodist  Church  upon 
this  subject.  Do  they  not  absolutely  prohibit  the  forms  of  amusements 
which  Methodists  have  been  accustomed  to  dis2:)arage  and  i)rohibit,  and 
suppress  them,  so  far  as  they  can,  for  forty  days  every  year?  When  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Chvu-ch  proposes  to  fit  its  young  men  and  women 
for  confirmation,  (luring  Lent  attendance  U])on  the  theater,  dancing,  card- 
playing,  and  all  kinds  of  amusement  of  that  sort  are  most  sternly  pro- 
hibited.^ 

The  Methodist  Church  proposes  to  maintain  a  high  standard  of  religious 
life  and  zeal.  When  John  Wesley  formed  his  society  he  did  not  fancy 
that  he  was  forming  a  Church;  but  he  did  expect  to  form  an  organization 
that  would  be  mighty,  through  God,  in  pulling  down  the  strongholds  of 
evil.  He  made  the  rules.  We  took  his  rules  and  took  them  into  the 
churches.  Some  of  us  have  been  unwise  enough  to  imdertake  to  amend 
them.  I  was  mucli  pleased  to  hear  Bishop  Foss  disparage  the  making  of 
lists.  He  and  I  were  members  of  the  same  General  Conference  in  1873 
w^hich  added  to  the  simple  rule  of  John  Wesley  a  partial,  unsatisfactory, 
and  ignored  list.  I  have  the  hapi)iness  to  know  that  I  voted  against  it. 
It  is  impossible  for  the  Methodist  Church  to  raise  up  men  who  can  preach 
the  Gospel,  so  as  to  command  public  respect  and  turn  men  from  the  error 
of  their  Avays,  where  theater-going,  card-playing,  and  dancing  are  coun- 
tenanced in  any  way. 

The  very  greatest  foes  of  Methodism  and  its  ])rosperity  are  the  minis- 
ters who  say  to  their  members  that  they  ought  to  live  up  to  the  rules, 
"but  you  and  I  know  that  they  come  from  the  days  of  bigotry."  My 
English  brother  seems  to  speak  without  having  exercised  self-introspec- 
tion. He  did  say  that  he  saw  a  number  of  preachers  in  the  Lyceum 
Theater.  I  have  this  to  say :  If  they  were  ministers  of  the  Wesleyan 
Church,  or  of  any  other  Church  represented  here,  it  bodes  no  good  to 
those  preachers  of  Methodism.  On  the  other  hand,  if,  as  is  probably  the 
case,  they  were  not  ministers  of  the  Methodist  Church,  but  of  some  other 
Church,  acting  upon  different  principles,  then  it  is  no  lesson  of  instruc- 
tion for  us.  Consequently,  Mr.  President,  I  trust  that  we  shall  return  to 
the  consideration  of  the  calm  and  clear  statement  submitted  by  Bishop 
Foss  and  to  the  highly  intelligent  statements  of  the  essayist  that  preceded 
him.  Let  us  make  our  churches  so  full  of  life  and  so  full  of  love  and 
so  pure  that  our  people  will  not  feel  the  need  of  other  amusements;  and 
let  us,  in  all  our  religious  meetings,  warn  them  against  that  class  of 
amusements  the  tendency  of  which  is  pernicious,  especially  in  their  influ- 
ence upon  the  young. 

Tlie  Pastoral  Address  of  the  Second  Ecumenical  Conference 

to  the  Methodists  of  the  world  was  at  this  point  presented  by 

the  Business  Committee,  and  was  read  by  its  author,  the  Rev. 

James  Chapman,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Chnrcli,     The 

Address  was,  on  motion,  unanimously  adopted  ;  the  Conference 

also  directed  that  the  names  of  the  Presiding  Officers  and  the 

Secretaries  of  the  Conference  be  appended.     The  following  is 

the  Pastoral  Address,  as  adopted  : 


* 


59^  PASTORAL    ADDRESS. 

t 


The  Second  Ecumenical  Methodist  Conference  to  the  Ministers  and  Members 
of  all  the  Methodist  Churches  throughout  the  World,  Greeting : 

We,  the  members  of  the  Second  Ecumenical  Methodist  Conference  as- 
sembled in  "Washington,  greet  our  brethren  in  every  land  to  which  our 
common  faith  has  spread.  "  Grace  unto  you  and  peace  from  God  our 
Father,  and  from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

We  glorify  God  for  the  prosperity  which  he  has  given  to  our  Churches. 
By  his  blessing  they  have  grown  until  they  number  some  twenty-five 
millions  of  adherents.  This  is  full  of  encouragement.  An  organization 
which  has  grown  so  rapidly  in  the  free  competition  of  systems,  and  even 
crippled  in  some  of  its  branches  by  many  artificial  disabilities,  must  be  in 
vital  harmony  with  its  environment.  By  the  most  inexorable  test  Meth- 
odism is  proved  to  be  singularly  adapted  to  the  needs  of  men.  Although 
many  adjustments  and  developments  must  uudoubtedly  be  made  to  ac- 
complish fully  our  mission,  let  us  beware  of  thinking  that  any  vital 
changes  are  necessaiy.  Faithfully  using  our  present  means,  under  the 
blessing  of  God  our  prosperity  will  grow. 

We  rejoice  to  recognize  the  substantial  unity  which  exists  among  the 
various  Methodist  Churches.  Its  firm  basis  is  a  common  creed.  We  are 
all  faithful  to  the  simple,  scriptural,  and  generous  theology  which  God, 
through  the  clear  intellect  and  loving  heart  of  John  Wesley,  restored  to 
his  Church.  The  intellectual  movement  and  the  social  changes  of  our 
time  may  have  led  to  some  change  in  the  form  of  expression,  or  some  shift- 
ing of  the  emphasis  of  our  teaching,  but  they  have  not  led  us  even  to  re- 
consider that  living  theology  which  has  abundantly  proved  itself  upon 
our  pulses.  Indeed,  it  would  be  strange  if,  while  other  Churches  are  draw- 
ing toward  it,  we  should  have  departed  from  it.  And  there  arc  other 
grounds  of  unity.  We  are  proud  of  the  same  spiritual  ancestry ;  we  sing 
the  same  holy  hymns;  our  modes  of  worship  are  similar;  and  what  is 
most  important  of  all,  the  type  of  religious  experience  is  fundamentally 
the  same  throughout  the  Methodist  world.  Our  ecclesiastical  principles 
are  not  so  various  as  the  forms  in  which  they  are  accidentally  embodied. 
Rejoicing  in  these  things,  we  think  that  the  time  has  come  for  a  closer 
co-operation  of  the  Methodist  Churches,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  which 
shall  prevent  waste  of  power  and  unhallowed  rivalry;  while  before  the 
eyes  of  many  of  us  has  passed  the  delightful  vision  of  a  time  when,  in 
each  land  where  it  is  planted,  Methodism  shall  become,  for  every  useful 
purpose,  one,  and  the  Methodism  of  the  world  shall  be  a  close  and  power- 
ful federation  of  churches  for  the  spread  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 

We  need  to  combine  our  energies,  for  the  work  that  we  have  to  do  is 
vast  and  urgent.  The  skepticism  and  indifference  which  are  so  natural 
to  the  human  heart  have  been  re-enforced  by  an  abuse  of  science  and  phi- 
losophy. The  hard  lot  of  millions  makes  it  very  difficult  for  them  to  believe 
in  God  our  Father.  There  is  so  much  that  the  Churches  have  not  done 
to  redress  the  wrongs  and  heal  the  sufferings  of  mankind,  that  it  is  hard 
for  many  to  believe  in  their  divine  mission.  The  standing  evils  of  society 
are  aggravated  by  the  close  pressure  in  our  great  cities,  and  are  discov- 


PASTORAL    ADDRESS.  ^  595 

crod  to  the  eyes  of  all  in  our  daily  newspapers.  Let  us  })reach  aud  live 
the  Gospel  of  Christ  ia  its  integrity.  Dismissing  all  narrow  conceptions 
of  our  duty,  let  us  trace  the  moral  evil  of  men  to  its  true  sources  in  their 
surroundings,  their  physical  nature,  their  ignorance,  their  passions,  and 
their  will,  and  set  ourselves  to  deal  coiiii)n'hensively  with  it.  To  the  spe- 
cific ailments  of  mankind  let  us  apply  specific  remedies.  To  do  this  it 
will  be  necessary  for  the  members  of  our  Churches  to  make  a  full  use  of 
their  political  rights.  To  allow  the  great  powers  of  law  and  government, 
and  their  still  greater  influence,  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  ungodly  men 
would  be  incredible  folly  and  sin.  God  forbid  that  any  of  our  Churches 
should  become  the  instrument  of  political  parties.  It  is  doubtless  neces- 
sary that  individuals  should  have  political  attachments,  and  Methodists 
are  found  in  all  the  great  historic  parties.  But  wlien  a  member  of  our 
Church  has  taken  his  place  in  the  political  connection  which  is  most  in 
harmonj'  with  his  ideas  and  convictions,  let  him  never  forget  that  there 
are  great  moral  interests  superior  to  all  party  exigencies  in  which  he  must 
seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness.  Every  jirojjosal 
that  imperils  the  sanctity  of  the  home,  the  purity  of  woman,  the  inno- 
cence of  children,  that  violates  the  Christian  Sabbath,  that  sanctions  and 
increases  wrong,  should  be  impartially  and  earnestly  resisted. 

On  a  few  of  the  great  evils  Avhich  admit,  in  some  degree,  of  public 
treatment,  we  cannot  be  silent.  Intemperance,  the  fruitful  mother  of  a 
brood  of  evils,  is  largely  created  by  legalized  temptations.  Snares  are 
planted  in  almost  every  street  for  tlie  unwary  and  unsteady.  Is  it  too 
much  to  ask  that  our  people  will  combine  to  use  all  legal  instruments  to 
abate  this  wanton  solicitation  of  men  to  vice  and  crime?  Let  us  discour- 
age in  every  way  betting  and  gambling,  which  spring  from  the  love  of 
excitement  and  the  lust  of  gain,  two  of  the  besetting  evils  of  the  modern 
world.  And  let  us  abstain  from  all  reckless  speculation  in  business  which 
cannot  be  distinguished  from  gambling.  Excessive  and  unfair  comjjeti- 
tion,  which  is  secreting  so  much  bitterness  in  the  breasts  of  men,  and  de- 
positing so  many  of  the  materials  of  convulsion  in  society,  should  be 
steadily  avoided  and  discountenanced.  And  shall  not  we  do  all  we  can 
in  quiet  times  to  mold  puljlic  opinion,  and  to  establish  courts  of  arbitra- 
tion, so  that  the  complicated  crime  of  aggressive  war  may  be  averted? 

It  is  necessary  to  employ  with  the  utmost  economy  all  our  resources. 
One  secret  of  the  strength  of  ]\Iethodism  has  been  the  free  play  which  it 
allows  to  the  gifts  and  energies  of  its  laity.  The  pastoral  work  of  our 
class-leaders  has  been  of  the  highest  value.  Local  preachers,  both  in  En- 
gland and  America,  were  of  great  service  in  the  early  history  of  our 
churches.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  multiplication  of  ministei-s  may  not 
tempt  us  to  think  that  lay  preaching  is  unnecessary.  We  thank  God  for 
the  young  men  and  women  in  our  mi.ssion  bands  who  are  carrying  the 
Gospel  to  remote  villages  and  into  the  alleys  and  courts  of  our  crowded 
cities. 

Among  the  wasted  treasures  of  the  Church  are  the  delicate  sensibilities, 
the  tact,  the  tenderness,  and  the  persuasive  power  of  holy  women.     We 


596  PASTORAL    ADDRESS. 

are  all  agreed  that  the  needs  of  the  world  require,  and  that  the  condi- 
tions of  the  age  allow,  that  such  women  should  take  a  more  prominent 
place  in  the  work  of  the  Church.  The  social  means  of  grace,  in  which 
Methodism  is  so  rich,  are  a  congenial  sphere  for  their  best  talents.  In  the 
benevolent  work  which  is  springing  up  on  every  hand,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  hopeful  features  of  the  time,  their  gifts  are  indispensable  and  in- 
valuable. We  distinctly  approve  of  associations  in  which,  unfettered  by 
any  vow,  devoted  women  may  be  organized  for  ministry  to  hiiman  need 
and  sorrow.  But  we  hope  that  with  their  enlarging  opportunities 
women  may  not  be  tempted  to  undervalue  the  sphere  in  which  they  are 
not  only  supreme,  but  alone,  as  the  sun  in  his  path  through  the  heavens 
— the  sjihere  of  the  mother  in  the  home. 

The  children  of  our  Church  have  occupied  the  attention  of  the  Confer- 
ence. In  the  formation  and  wonderful  progress  of  the  great  societies  on 
the  American  continent,  such  as  the  Epworth  League,  we  greatly  rejoice. 
We  should  be  glad  if  similar  societies,  adapted  to  other  conditions,  could 
be  established  in  other  parts  of  the  Methodist  world.  To  bring  young 
people  together  under  its  hallowing  infineuce,  to  watch  over  their  reading 
and  recreation — in  which  so  many  perils  lie — to  combine  and  direct  their 
ardor  and  energy  to  suitable  forms  of  benevolent  work,  is  surely  one  of 
the  highest  duties  of  the  Church.  We- feel  that  our  Sunday-schools  have 
not  as  yet  realized  their  vast  possibilities.  But  the  home  is  the  great  nursery 
of  religious  faith  and  life.  There  are  one-sided  theories  of  conversion 
which  prevent  our  looking  for  signs  of  the  religious  life  with  the  dawn  of 
intelligence  and  the  first  development  of  will.  False  tests,  in  which  the 
nature  of  a  child  is  quite  forgotten,  ]>revent  us  from  finding  them.  We 
would  that  parents  should  feel  that  they  can  hardly  look  too  early  for  the 
faint  beginnings  of  the  spiritual  life  in  the  hearts  of  their  children,  nor 
too  carefully  foster  them.  At  the  same  time  we  must  insist,  as  we  have 
always  done,  that  the  mature  religious  life  should  be  definite  and  con- 
scious. It  may  arise  as  gi-adually  and  gently  as  a  summer  morning  breaks ; 
it  ought  to  become  as  clear  and  self-attesting  as  the  summer  noon. 

The  education  of  our  young  people  is  of  great  concern  to  us.  We  shall 
never  cease  to  oppose  every  system  of  national  education  which  unduly 
favors  any  particular  Church.  In  these  days,  when  out  of  science  is  per- 
versely forged  a  weapon  to  attack  our  faith,  one  of  the  foremost  duties  of 
every  Church  is  to  guard  her  sons  against  the  danger,  and  enable  them  to 
do  something  to  vindicate  for  true  science  its  high  place  as  a  hand-maid 
of  pure  religion.  To  this  end  we  rejoice  in  the  establishment  of  higher 
schools,  and  in  every  step  which  tends  to  give  us  our  right  place  in  the 
university  systems  of  the  various  lands  in  which  our  people  dwell. 

Among  the  foremost  objects  of  our  interest  are  the  Foreign  jMissions  of 
our  Church.  The  motto  of  our  founder,  "The  world  is  my  parish,"  has 
never  ceased  to  echo  in  the  hearts  of  his  spiritual  children.  Some  of 
the  brightest  pages  in  our  annals  tell  the  story  of  the  patience,  the  sacri- 
fice, and  the  triumphs  of  our  brethren  on  the  mission  field.  In  the  pres- 
ent day,  when  our  numbers  are  increasing  and  our  resources  growing — 


PASTOKAL    ADDRESS.  597 

when,  tlirough  the  inquiry  of  scholars,  the  adventure  of  travelers,  the  en- 
terprise of  traders,  and  the  spread  of  the  Anglo-American  race,  the  world 
is  becoming  known  and  open,  and  the  call  of  God  is  loud  in  every  listen- 
ing ear — it  is  impossible  for  our  missionary  ardor  to  decline.  We  acknowl- 
edge with  joy  the  increased  activity  of  some  of  our  Churches,  and  espe- 
cially what  our  women  are  doing  for  their  heathen  sisters. 

Against  the  trade  in  spirits  and  the  trade  in  opium,  which  are  doing  so 
much  to  defeat  and  discredit  our  Missions  in  Africa  and  China,  we  shall 
never  cease  to  raise  our  voice. 

While  loving  all  them  that  love  God,  and  desiring  closer  co-operation 
■with  them  in  his  service,  we  renew  our  protest  against  every  ecclesiastical 
system  which  invades  the  rights  of  conscience,  which  claims  to  be  the 
only  channel  of  the  iufinite  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  which 
sets  up  the  human  priest  as  an  indispensable  mediator  between  the  soul 
and  God. 

Let  us  beware  of  taking  a  narrow  view  of  our  mission  and  our  resources. 
Let  us  carry  on  our  work  with  equal  earnestness  in  sequestered  villages 
and  in  crowded  cities.  Let  us  appeal  alike  to  the  rich  and  to  the  poor; 
to  the  cultured  and  to  the  illiterate.  Let  us  consecrate  our  wealth  by 
building  churches,  which  shall  be  constant  witnesses  in  our  busy  streets 
to  the  repose  and  dignity  of  our  religion,  and  let  us  preach  in  the  open 
air.  Let  us  use  every  means — the  jiulpit  and  the  press,  the  school  and 
the  university,  science  and  art,  social  influence  and  the  ballot-box.  Let  the 
clear  intellect  and  the  loving  heart  and  the  strong  will  have  their  rightful 
place.  Let  order  be  harmonized  with  the  free  play  of  individuality,  and 
let  us  impose  no  limits  on  reverent  inquiry. 

The  increase  of  our  people  in  number  and  wealth  and  power  has  laid  us 
under  a  great  responsibility.  It  seems  probable  that  before  long  Method- 
ists will  constitute  nearly  a  fourth  of  the  people  who  speak  the  English 
tongue.  We  are  a  factor  of  growing  importance  in  that  great  race  which, 
by  a  restless  impulse,  is  spreading  its  dominion,  its  trade,  and  its  civiliza- 
tion over  vast  regions  of  every  continent.  Let  us  rise  to  the  height  of  our 
calling.  We  ought  to  go  wherever  our  race  goes,  to  multijilj^  our 
churches,  to  increase  our  communications,  and  so  become  a  bond  of  union 
among  the  wide-spread  peoples  of  English  blood.  And  we  should  strive 
to  check  that  dangerous  temper  into  which  adventurous  and  governing 
races  so  easily  fall.  So  shall  we  do  our  duty  to  our  fellow-men,  and  play 
our  part  in  the  great  plan  of  God. 

Before  another  Ecumenical  Conference  we  shall  have  passed  into  an- 
other century.  Ten  critical  years  of  the  swiftly-moving  modern  world 
A\'ill  have  rolled  away.  Op])ortunities  will  have  offered  themselves  which 
will  never  come  again.  We  ])ray  that  our  Churches  may  clearly  see  and 
rightly  interpret  the  signs  of  the  times,  and,  discerning  the  will  of  God, 
may  yield  themselves  entirely  to  it. 

Brethren,  we  need  not  remind  you  of  the  deep  springs  of  the  spiritual 
life.  Thoughtful  reading  of  the  word  of  God,  regular  seasons  of  prayer 
in  secret,  in  the  family,  and  in  the  church,  tlie  class-meeting,  pul)lic  wor- 


598  PASTOKAL    ADDKESS. 

sliip  and  the  Holy  Sacrament,  where  we  remember  that  the  Lord  gave 
himself  for  us  and  gives  himself  to  us — from  these  is  drawn  the  grace  of 
life.  In  them  we  learn  to  do  justly  and  love  mercy  and  walk  humbly 
with  our  God,  and  we  gather  that  wisdom  and  strength  without  which 
our  vast  enterprises  are  but  folly  and  vanity. 

"We  especially  commend  to  your  faithful  and  earnest  observance  the 
week  of  special  prayer  which  will  shortly  be  held  throughout  the  Method- 
ist world. 

' '  Now  the  God  of  peace,  that  brought  again  from  the  dead  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  that  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  through  the  blood  of  the 
everlasting  covenant,  make  you  perfect  in  every  good  work  to  do  his  will, 
working  in  you  that  which  is  well  pleasing  in  his  sight,  through  Jesus 
Christ,  to  whom  be  glory  for  ever  and  ever.     Amen." 

(Signed) 

T.  Bowman,  E.  G.  Andrews, 

J.  C.  Keener,  J.  Donnelly, 

T.  B.  Stephenson,  A.  W.  Wayman, 

A.  Carman,  F.  W.  Bourne, 

H.  T.  Marshall,  W.  W.  Duncan, 

H.  W.  Warren,  W.  Morley, 

W.  Arthur,  T.  G.  Williams, 

J.  W.  Hood,  W.  Marsden, 

M.  T.  Myers,  E.  R.  Hendrix, 

R.  K.  Hargrove,  G.  S arc  e ant, 

D.  J.  Waller,  T.  Allen, 

J.  T.  Murray,  J.  F.  Hurst, 

J.  Ferguson, 

Presidents  of  the  Conference. 

J.  M.  King,  J.  Bond, 

E.  B.  Ryckman,  T.  Snape, 

Secretaries  of  the  Conference. 

The  hour  for  adjournment  havinor  arrived,  the  Conference 
closed  with  the  benediction  by  the  Rev.  William  Nast,  D.D., 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


ADDRESS    Of^    KEV.    .1.    SMITH    SPENCEK.  599 

THIRD  (SPECIAL)  SESSION. 

The  Conference  opened  at  7:40  V.  M.,  the  Rev.  George 
Sargeant,  President  of  tlie  West  Indian  Methodist  Conferences, 
in  the  chair.  Ilymn  181  of  the  Methodist  Hymnal  was  sung: 
"Hail  to  tlie  Lord's  Anointed;"  prayer  was  offered  by  the 
Rev.  JosiAH  Hudson,  B.A.,  of  theWesleyan  Methodist  Church ; 
and  the  Scriptures  were  read  by  the  Rev.  T.  E.  Westerdale, 
of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 

The  topic  of  the  evening  was  taken  up,  being  the  further 
consideration  of  the  subject  of  "  Missions  in  Heathen  Lands." 
The  first  invited  address  was  given  by  the  Rev.  J.  Smith 
Spencer,  of  the  South  African  Methodist  Church  : 

Mr.  President;  Methodism  was  introduced  into  South  Africa  at  so 
early  a  part  of  the  present  century  that  there  are  very  few  now  living  who 
remember  the  appointment  of  Barnabas  Shaw  to  the  Cape,  and  William 
Shaw  to  accompany  the  settlers  to  Algoa  Bay.  It  was  my  good  fortune 
to  meet  one  of  tliese  at  a  missionary  meeting  at  Clonakilty,  in  the  south  of 
Ireland,  in  the  early  part  of  this  year.  The  chairman  of  that  meeting 
was  a  Mr.  Bennett,  who  was  a  missionary  collector  when  Barnabas  Shaw 
and  William  Shaw — not  related  to  each  other  except  in  the  bond  of 
Christian  brotherhood — entered  upon  their  work  in  the  south  of  the  great 
Dark  Continent.  Therefore  the  results  which  have  been  achieved  from 
that  day  to  this  are  within  the  life-time  of  some  living  men.  The  history 
of  the  Methodist  Church  in  South  Africa  has  been  characterized  from 
the  beginning  l)y  a  great  and  satisfactory  progress,  marked  by  toil  and 
peril  and  self-denial  and  heroism  and  achievement,  claiming  an  equality 
with  the  records  of  any  other  missionary  enterprise  upon  the  face  of  the 
earth. 

In  1878,  in  response  to  a  request  from  the  Missionary  Committee,  I  went 
from  London  to  Cape  Town  to  open  the  Metropolitan  Church  that  our 
people  built  there — a  church  which,  I  venture  to  say,  is  as  creditable  to  the 
Wesleyan  Methodists  of  Cape  Town  as  this  Metropolitan  Church  is 
creditable  to  the  Methodists  of  Washington.  In  1882  the  British  Conference 
resolved  ujjon  forming  certain  portions  of  the  south  of  Africa  into  a  sepa- 
rate Conference.  The  first  South  African  Conference  was  held  in  that  self- 
same Metropolitan  Church  in  the  year  1883.  From  that  time  to  the  time 
I  left  the  country  it  was  my  privilege  to  have  multitudinous  official  con- 
nections with  the  Conference,  and  to  become  acquainted  with  every  part 
of  the  work  and  almost  every  part  of  the  connection  over  which  it  has 
control.  That  connection  includes  the  Cape  Colony,  the  colony  of  Natal, 
the  Orange  Free  State,  and  certain  inde]K'ndeiit  native  territories.  In  it 
the  Gospel  is  preached  in  English,  in  Dutch,  in  Kafir,  in  Scsuto,  and  iu 
Zulu.     I  am  not  going  to  trouble  you  with  a  multitude  of  statistics,  but  I 


6U0  MISSIONS    IN    HEATHEN    LANDS. 

desire  to  refer  to  a  few  figures.  In  that  Conference  to-day  there  are  one 
hundred  and  seventy-one  ministers,  of  whom  seventy-one  are  native  Kafirs. 
The  native  ministers  sit  beside  their  English  brethren  in  the  South  African 
Conference,  and  the  native  laymen  sit  beside  the  English  and  colonial 
laymen.  They  are  in  all  respects  on  a  level  with  us,  taking  their  full 
share  of  responsibility  in  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  Church. 
I  may  venture  to  say  that  some  of  those  men,  who  a  few  years  ago  were 
in  heathenism,  would  do  no  discredit  to  the  floor  of  any  Conference  in 
their  clearness  of  perception  and  in  their  power  of  debate. 

Leaving  English  and  colonial  statistics  altogether  out  of  the  statement, 
I  would  just  like  to  mention  to  you  one  or  two  facts  with  resjiect  to  the 
native  people.  We  have  in  that  Conference,  as  I  have  already  stated, 
71  native  ministers.  In  addition  to  these  there  are  76  evangelists,  1,739 
local  preachers,  and  2,439  class-leaders.  The  native  people  believe  in 
class-meetings.  They  have  a  wonderful  power  of  talk,  as  most  of  you 
know,  and  it  is  possible  that  class-meetings  are  in  symjjathy  with  their 
oratorical  genius  and  capabilities.  But  however  that  may  be,  the  class- 
meeting  is  exceedingly  popular  among  them,  and  I  venture  to  think  it  has 
been  a  very  large  element  in  our  success,  and  accounts  very  considerably 
for  the  mighty  hold  we  have  upon  the  sympathies  and  affections  of  this 
people.  There  are  also  408  day-school  teachers  and  909  Sunday-school 
teachers,  making  a  total  of  5,642.  If  you  take  away  from  that  total 
1,142,  as  accounting  for  those  who  may  hold  double  offices,  you  have  left 
in  that  southern  part  of  South  Africa  4,500  men  and  women  who  are 
officially  recognized  as  workers  in  connection  with  the  Wesleyan 
Methodist  Church — a  mighty  army  raised  within  the  memory  of  man,  and 
of  course  representing  a  large  number  of  those  who  have  already  ' '  passed 
through  the  gates  into  the  city,"  leaving  all  distinction  of  color  and  of 
language  behind  them. 

When  William  Taylor  (then  known  as  California  Taylor,  and  since 
known  as  Bishop  Taylor)  visited  the  south  of  Africa  he  was  made  in- 
strumental in  a  great  religious  revival,  the  fruits  of  which,  I  am  glad  to 
say,  are  very  visible  to-day.  There  are  men  and  women  living  in  every 
part  of  South  Africa  who  were  brought  to  God  during  the  ministrations 
of  that  man.  I  want  to  tell  you  that  when  he  visted  the  native  people  of 
South  Africa  he  had,  of  course,  to  speak  through  an  interpreter,  and  his 
interpreter  was  one  of  our  native  ministers.  Those  of  you  who  have  heard 
Bishop  Taylor's  sermons  well  know  that  they  are  not  the  easiest  of  in- 
terpretation into  a  foreign  tongue,  and  those  sermons  were  interpreted 
throughout  the  whole  of  his  campaign  among  the  natives  by  Charles 
Pamla,  whose  mother  was  a  witch  doctor.  I  therefore  dare  to  claim  for 
Charles  Pamla  a  very  honorable  share  in  the  great  revival  movement 
which  was  carried  on  among  the  natives  by  your  William  Taylor. 

During  my  last  year  in  Africa  I  went  from  Graham's  Town,  a  distance 
of  eight  hundred  miles,  to  Cape  Town  and  the  surrounding  towns  on  a 
missionary  deputation,  and  the  Conference,  at  my  request,  appointed  to 
accompany  me  a  native  minister,  the  Rev.  James  M.  Dwane.     There  are 


ai)d;:ess  of  kkv.  j.  sMirii  stknceu.  601 

certain  prcjudicos  in  that  country,  as  tlicro  are  in  other  countries,  but 
James  ]M.  Dwune  was  requested  to  preach  in  the  morning  in  the  Metro- 
jiolitan  Churcli,  and  we  sat  side  by  side  upon  the  platform  in  a  grer.t 
meeting  on  Wednesday  night,  wlicn  he  told  the  story  of  his  conversion  lu 
God.  He  had  never  seen  a  wliite  face  until  he  was  eight  years  of  age. 
When  he  first  licard  about  conversion  the  word  which  was  employed  was 
a  w^ord  wliich  signified  striking  tlirough  the  heart  with  an  assegai.  If 
any  of  you  know  what  an  assegai  is  you  can  understand  what  a  lively 
proceeding  that  would  l)e.  The  boy  went  to  a  mission  station  in  order  to 
see  these  people  wdio  had  been  converted,  and  to  learn  how  it  was  ]iossi- 
ble  for  them  to  be  clieerful  with  an  assegai  through  their  hearts!  That 
boy  soon  entered  a  school,  became  a  camlidate  for  our  ministry,  and  to- 
day there  is  no  native  man  in  South  Africa  more  competent  to  administer 
a  ^Lethodist  circuit  and  to  tell  the  story  of  the  work  of  God  among  the 
Katirs  than  James  ^l.  Dwanc. 

During  the  last  few  years  a  great  mission  has  been  originated  in  the 
diamond  fields.  It  was  my  privilege  to  have  had  a  share  in  the  establish- 
ment of  that  mission.  I  have  not  the  time  to  say  any  thing  to  you  in  re- 
gard to  it,  excei)t  to  tell  you  that  at  that  timt;  there  were  not  less  than 
ten  thousand  native  men  massed  together  in  various  compounds  on  the 
diamond  fields.  We  appointed  a  minister,  with  certain  assistants,  to  take 
special  charge  of  that  mission.  I  venture  to  say  that  there  has  been  no 
more  remarkable  center  for  a  mission  enterprise  for  many  years  than  is 
to  be  found  there.  Under  the  influence  of  our  missionary  not  less  than 
four  thousand  men  came,  from  week  to  week,  representing  every  tribe  up 
to  and  beyond  the  Zambezi,  and  carrying  back  with  them  Bibles  and 
liymn-books  and  dictionaries — for  a  most  popular  book  was  an  expensive 
dictionary — carrying  back  with  them  various  literature.  In  this  way  it 
has  become  a  center  for  the  freeing  and  enlightening  of  a  very  large  por- 
tion of  the  coiintry  which  is  behind  it. 

Our  work  yonder — the  work  of  my  brethren  yonder — of  course,  is  dis- 
tinctly and  decidedly  evangelistic.  I  should  like  to  tell  you,  as  I  could, 
of  certain  circumstances  and  stories  which  liavecorae  tome  only  recently. 
Let  me  give  you  a  fragment  of  a  story  which  came  to  me  the  other  day 
from  a  very  heathenish  country,  which  I  know  well,  by  the  name  of  Pon- 
doland.  There  our  English  missionaries  and  associates  have  been  devot- 
ing themselves  very  particularly  to  the  work  of  evangelizing  the  wild 
supersitious  red  heathen.  Several  events  recently  transpired  indicating 
that  the  work  of  the  Lord  was  taking  hold  upon  them.  At  last  there 
came  a  mighty  and  a  marvelous  blessing.  The  people  had  gone  out  one 
Friday  night  to  hqld  their  meeting.  On  Saturday  the  blessing  of  God 
came  down  upon  them.  Cries  were  heard  in  everj'  direction  for  mercy 
and  .salvation.  Tliey  began  again  at  daylight  on  Sunday  morning,  and 
went  on  from  daylight  until  far  into  the  night.  A  great  many  men  and 
women  were  converted  to  God.  Tliey  took  off  their  heathen  ornaments, 
which  they  had  around  their  wrists  and  necks  and  ankles,  and  threw  them 
upon  the  floor.  The  next  morning  thev  felt  that  there  were  certain 
41 


602  MISSIONS    IN    HEATHEN    LANDS. 

relics  of  lieatlienism  still  left.  They  were  accustomed  to  cover  their 
bodies  and  blankets  with  fat  and  red  ocher,  put  on  in  layers,  so  you  can 
imagine  what  they  would  get  to  in  the  course  of  a  brief  life-time.  They 
looked  at  themselves  on  Monday  morning,  and  felt  that  it  was  time  for 
this  last  badge  of  heathenism  to  go.  Some  Christians  had  anticipated 
this  difficulity  and  secured  a  supply  of  soap,  and  away  they  went  to  a 
neighboring  river,  and  Christians  and  heathens  went  down  into  the  river 
together.  The  Christians  began  to  wash  the  heathen,  and  to  use  all  possi- 
ble effort  to  get  rid  of  the  red  clay,  until  by  and  by  the  very  river  seemed 
to  be  turned  into  a  river  of  blood,  and  from  the  midst  of  the  river  shout- 
ings and  psalmodies  echoed  around  the  surrounding  hills. 

I  could  give  you  much  more  in  that  direction ;  but  I  must  leave  it.  I 
want  to  tell  you  one  other  thing.  The  work  of  education  is  carried  on 
alongside  of  the  work  of  evangelization.  We  have  eight  or  nine  training 
institutions  of  various  sorts,  where  young  men  and  young  women  are  be- 
ing trained  principally  as  teachers — trained  to  get  away  from  their  hea- 
thenism and  into  civilization  and  religion.  It  has  been  my  great  privilege 
to  visit  most  of  these  institutions.  Not  very  long  since  I  visited  an  in- 
stitution in  Natal,  called  Edcndale.  I  want  to  refer  to  it,  because  I  want 
to  refer  to  an  address  which  I  received  from  the  native  students  of  that 
institution.  I  have  been  honored,  at  one  time  and  another,  with  various 
addresses,  1)ut  this  stands  pre-eminent  in  my  regard.  Therefore  I  may 
venture  to  speak  of  it  here.  It  was  thought  of  by  the  natives.  It  was 
prepared  by  natives.  It  was  written  by  natives  in  English.  It  was  signed 
by  natives,  and  it  is  in  my  study  in  England  over  my  mantle-piece.  This 
is  how  it  runs: 

7V>  tlte  I!ev.  J.  Smith  Spencer^  President  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Con- 
ference of  South  Africa: 
Reverend  and  D^iar  Sir:  "We  are  moved  to  express  our  gratitude 
for  the  visitation  to-day  to  us  by  the  j^resident  of  our  South  African 
Methodist  Conference.  We  feel  this  to  be  a  gieat  honor  done  to  us; 
so  much  so  that  the  writer's  pen  is  not  able  to  show  forth  the  feelings 
of  his  heart.  Since  the  institution  Avas  opened  we  have  never  had 
any  chance  to  express  our  feelings  on  the  mission  work,  particularly  on 
that  great  gift  to  us,  the  institution  which  is  an  inlet  for  civil  and  relig- 
ious life.  For  many  years  we  have  been  toiling  hard  to  find  education. 
Some  of  our  fellow-scholars  left  their  heathen  state  in  other  lands  to  get 
education  here.  Now  the  S]iirit  of  God  as  in  the  time  of  old  seems  mov- 
ing in  this  dark,  gloomy  land.  The  darkness  is  still  struggling  to  escape. 
Now  the  glowing  morn  is  visible  and  is  contributing  blessings  both  to  the 
Just  and  the  unjust.  Now  the  English  missionaries  associate  with  us  in 
order  to  lift  us  to  the  higher  climes  of  peace  and  joy,  and  to-day — this 
very  day — our  paternal  father,  the  president,  is  pleased  to  visit  us,  and 
to  show  us  his  paternal  affection. 

I  will  read  no  more.  It  is  signed  by  Sebastian  Msimang  and  forty  oth- 
ers. The  natives  themselves  say  that  the  Spirit  of  God  is  "  moving  upon 
this  dark  and  gloomy  land."  This  is  agenuinely  native  expression.  "The 
darkness  is  struggling  to  escape."  Those  men  who  have  come  from  far 
noi-th  of  Natal  and  from  other  places  v.here  they  had  never  seen  a  mis- 


ADDRESS    OF    KEV.    \V.    U.    LAMliLTII.  003 

sionary  have  arrived  at  the  conviction  already  that  the  darkness  which 
had  settled  uiK)n  the  land  is  wanting  to  get  away.  We  English  people 
uould  have  i)ut  it  rather  differently.  We  should  have  said:  "  The  light 
is  trying  to  get  in. "  But  these  men  say  that  the  darkness  is  trying  to  get 
out;  and  all  we  have  to  do  is  to  throw  back  the  bars  and  fling  open  the 
doors,  and  the  darkness  will  come  out  and  go  to  its  own  place,  and  the 
light  of  the  Gospel  will  turn  the  Dark  Continent  into  a  veritable  garden 
of  the  Lord. 

I  should  like  to  have  reminded  you  of  the  fact  that  there  is  in  South 
Africa  to-day  a  man  whom  the  Reciew  of  Reviews  spoke  of  recently  as  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  men  in  the  world.  It  has  rarely  happened  that 
such  power  ha^,  fallen  to  any  man  so  rapidly  as  it  has  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  Mr.  Cecil  J.  Rhodes,  first,  leading  capitalist  of  the  diamond  fields;  sec- 
ondly, the  fovinderof  the  chartered  British  company  which  is  conducting 
the  expedition  to  Mashonaland ;  and,  thirdly,  Premier  of  Cape  Colony; 
thus  holding  a  power  almost  unequaled.  The  other  day,  at  a  banquet, 
that  man  said  he  expected  to  see  the  Cape  Colony  extend  as  far  as  the 
Zambezi  in  his  life-time;  and  there  are  some  in  that  country  who  are 
dreaming  about  a  confederation  of  States  and  colonies.  If  all  these  things 
are  fulfilled  South  Africa  will  soon  have  to  be  reckoned  among  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth. 

We  have  not  divided  Methodism  there.  Others  are  there  besides  our- 
selves, to  whom  I  might  refer  if  I  had  the  time,  but  I  will  just  say  this: 
We  have,  as  ^lethodists,  to  throw  our  capital  into  that  country.  We  liave 
got  men.  There  is  no  difficulty  about  that.  Men  are  being  raised  on  the 
spot,  or  men  will  go  from  this  country  or  from  England.  The  native  men 
will  come  into  the  field.  We  have  got  the  men,  and  if  the  Christian  na- 
tions would  supply  the  capital  we  should  hold  our  own  as  the  leading 
missionary  Church,  and  we  should  be  made  instrumental  in  bringing  the 
many  tribes  south  of  the  equator  out  of  the  darkness  of  superstition  into 
knowledge  and  morality  and  godliness. 

TlieHev.  W.  R.  Lambuth,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Clmi-cli, 
Sontli,  gave  tlie  second  appointed  address  of  the  evening,  on 
"  Mission  AVork  in  Japan,"  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  The  whole  counsel  of  God  in  the  evangelization  of  a 
lost  world  is  embodied  in  that  marvelous  epitome  of  the  Gos])el,  "For 
God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whoso- 
ever believeth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  Ly- 
ing here  in  the  matrix  of  the  great  thought  of  God  is  the  colossal  frame- 
work of  the  plan  of  man's  redemption — a  plan  imique  in  conception,  in 
that  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God,  the  Creator,  being  obedient  unto 
death,  himself  becomes  the  Saviour  of  the  creature;  comprehensive  in 
scope,  as  nothing  less  than  a  lost  world  would  satisfy  the  embrace  of  his 
boundless  love;  infinite  in  terms  of  mercy,  since  whosoever  believeth 
should  have  everlasting  life;  and  immediately  exalting  man  to  the  exer- 


GOJ:  MISSIONS    IN    HEATHEN    LANDS. 

cise  of  his  loftiest  functions,  volition  and  faith,  which  restores  him  to  the 
kingdom.  Thus  restored,  the  harmony  of  the  divine  plan  is  still  furtlier 
exemplified  iu  that  man,  being  reconciled  to  God  and  brought  into  touch 
with  him,  receives  induement  of  life  and  power;  and  then,  being  filled 
by  the  mighty  propulsive  love  of  Christ,  he  is  sent  forth  a  new  co-laborer 
with  his  Maker  in  going  about  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  is  lost. 
Thus,  in  the  redemptive  scheme,  evangelization  and  reclamation  become 
as  much  the  work  of  man  as  regeneration  and  sanctiflcation  constitute 
the  higher  work  of  God. 

Brethren,  being  embassadors  for  Christ,  let  us  go  forth  upon  our  mis- 
sion— the  work  of  evangelizing  the  world — and  thus  serve  our  generation 
by  the  will  of  God.  Before  the  foundation  of  the  world  the  Lamb  was 
slain.  From  the  battlements  of  heaven  the  campaign  was  planned,  llie 
world — our  territory — has  been  mapped  out  for  us.  Even  the  lines  of  ad- 
vance are  clearly  indicated.  In  concentric  and  ever-widening  circles  they 
are  outlined  in  the  words,  '■  Ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  me  both  in  Jerusa- 
lem, and  in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the 
earth."  Our  equipment  is  complete — the  whole  armor  of  God;  our  wea- 
pon of  warfare — the  sword  of  the  Spirit.  The  world  is  one  parish,  heath- 
en lands  are  now  open,  the  Church  is  ready.  The  servants  of  the  King 
should  trumpet  forth  from  this  Ecumenical  Conference  the  King's  com- 
mission, "Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creat- 
ure." This  last  command  of  our  Captain,  four  times  repeated  iu  forty 
d:iys,  we  dare  not  disobey.  Let  every  column  in  every  legion  of  the  army 
be  put  in  marching  order. 

At  this  juncture  in  the  evargelization  of  the  world,  when  we  are  en- 
gaged iu  reviewing  the  ground  we  have  gone  over  and  are  taking  the 
measure  of  what  is  before  us,  it  is  not  necessary  to  discuss  the  princi})les 
underlying  the  very  conditions  upon  which  we  received  citizenshij)  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaveu  ana  sonship  in  the  family  of  God.  "  Thou  shalt  love 
the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,"  con- 
tains the  very  germ  of  evangelistic  impulse,  is  the  greatest  command- 
ment, and  leads  naturally  and  logically  to  the  greatest  of  all  commissions. 
A  clear  comprehension  of  the  trend  of  events,  a  quick  recognition  and 
grasp  of  opportunity,  and  such  disposition  of  our  forces  as  to  enable  us 
to  put  the  Church  in  motion  at  any  given  time  in  any  given  field  is  the 
great  need  of  the  hour,  and  stands  second  only  to  the  outpouring  of  the 
Holy  Sjiirit  upon  us  all.  In  three  brief  propositions  I  will  attempt  to 
outline  the  trend  of  events,  the  opportunity  of  the  Church,  and  the  su- 
preme duty  of  the  hour : 

I.— The  Nineteenth  Century  has  been  One  op  Large  and  Proa'i- 
DENTiAL  Movement. 

Two  hundred  years  ago  Francis  Xavier — that  marvelous  incarnation 
of  evangelistic  zeal  and  propagandism — stood  upon  the  deck  of  his  ship 
before  the  adamantine  w^alls  of  Chinese  conservatism,  and  cried  out,  "  O 
rock,  rock !  when  wilt  thou  open  unto  my  Master? "     But  the  rock  an- 


ADDRESS    OF    KEY.    W.    U.    LAMBl'Tir.  605 

swercd  uot  again,  and  in  despair  he  sadly  turned  to  more  invitini^  fields. 
During  the  entire  eighteenth  century  the  jjrayers  of  the  Christian  Cliurcli 
ascended  for  a  breaching  of  walls,  opening  of  gates,  and  removal  of  bar- 
riers to  a  heathen  world.  lu  answ^er  to  these  petitions,  silently  and  un- 
seen, mighty  currents,  were  being  set  in  motion  which  were  to  sweep  over 
vast  areas,  build  up  powerful  Christian  governments,  and  influence  great 
populations.  The  fii'st  of  these  begins  in  England  with  the  rise,  growth, 
and  tremendous  sweep  of  the  Wesleyan  movement,  which  was  cradled  at 
Epworth,  trained  at  Oxford,  fashioned  in  the  Foundry,  and  grew  to  gigan- 
tic proportions  beyond  the  sea.  In  1735  John  and  Charles  AVesley  crossed 
the  Atlantic,  and  essayed  work  among  the  Indians.  In  1784  Dr.  Coke  is 
appointed  superintendent  of  missions,  and  in  fifteen  years  he  plants  mis- 
sions in  Canada,  the  Norman  Isles,  and  in  the  West  Indies,  until  in  1791 
(two  years  before  William  Carey  leaves  England)  there  arc  reported  23 
missions  and  5,847  members,  4,377  of  these  being  Negroes,  and  the 
majority  of  them  just  emerged  from  the  heathen  orgies  of  inter-tropical 
Africa.  In  1793  Sierra  Leone  is  added,  and,  ten  years  later,  a  mission 
opened  in  South  America. 

In  line  with  this  aggressive  advance  of  the  Methodist  Church  a  second 
and  jjreparatory  movement  w'as  going  on  three  thousand  miles  to  tlu; 
west,  which  resulted  in  the  independence  of  the  United  States  of  America 
upon  the  one  hand,  and  the  conservation  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada 
upon  the  other,  which  meant  a  hemisphere  for  Christ  and  the  opening  of  a 
continent  for  colonization,  evangelistic  effort,  and  accumulation  of  re- 
sources, which  in  turn  were  to  be  expended  for  the  evangelization  of 
mankind.  The  immortal  names  of  Richard  Boardman,  Joseph  Pilmoor, 
and  Francis  Asbury,  missionaries  to  the  whites,  and  William  Capers,  who 
has  engraved  upon  the  shaft  which  marks  his  resting-place,  "The  founder 
of  missions  to  the  slaves,"  will  be  forever  linked  with  missionary  effort 
upon  this  continent.  And  no'>v  more  than  five  millions  of  Methodists  gather 
under  the  branches  of  the  spreading  tree  whose  growth  was  so  diligently 
fostered  by  Asbury,  while  Capers,  together  with  leaders  in  both  the  Bap- 
tist and  Presbyterian  Churches,  initiated  an  evangelical  effort  which  has 
led  to  the  inost  stupendous  missionary  achievement,  perhaps,  of  any  age 
— the  etangdizatioii  of  over  four  million  Negroes.  It  is  a  significant  fact 
that"inl8G0,  when  the  war  disturbed  our  labors  among  these  people, 
the  ^Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  reported  a  colored  membership 
of  two  hundred  and  seven  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sevent\'-six,  or 
nearly  as  many  as  the  entire  number  of  communicants  which,  in  that  day, 
had  been  gathered  into  church  relations  by  all  the  Protestant  missionaries 
at  work  in  the  heathen  world."  And  even  now  there  are  more  colored 
people  members  of  evangelical  Churches  in  the  United  States  than  the 
aggregate  of  converts  from  heathenism  in  all  mission  fields. 

A  third  great  movement,  but  this  time  trending  eastward,  began  in 
1793,  when  William  Carey,  the  learned  cobbler,  swung  down  into  the 
juncrles  of  India.  A  stream  of  life  is  turned  upon  the  stagnant  pools  of 
heathenism.     Preaching  is  accomj)anied  by  translation,  until  a  Christian 


606      '  MISSIONS    IN    HEATHEN    LANDS. 

literature  is  given  to  the  peojale.  Alexander  DufE  and  others  broaden 
the  lines,  until  we  find  a  uniform  system  of  education  is  adopted  for  all 
India.  Caste  begins  to  break,  the  Sepoy  rebellion  arises,  the  downfall  of 
the  East  India  Company  follows,  and  the  empire  of  the  Moguls  is  brought 
under  the  dominion  of  the  British  crown,  and  a  Christian,  woman  holds 
the  key  to  India  and  the  East.  The  great  bulk  of  Asia's  population  is 
massed  upon  her  eastern  slopes.  Thither,  near  the  close  of  the  last  cent- 
ury, one  arm  of  that  mighty  commercial  octopus,  the  East  India  Com- 
pany, silently  crept  and  felt  its  way  around  the  vitals  of  the  Chinese  Em- 
pire, injecting  the  while  the  direful  ojjium  to  poison  and  ensnare.  Mor- 
rison and  Medhurst  go  out  and  work  and  wait  for  years  without  the  walls 
of  Canton.  An  unrighteous  opium  war  arises,  but  China  is  made  to  yield 
in  1843  five  treaty  ports.  Missionaries,  hitherto  restrained  by  the  jealousy 
of  the  Company's  agents,  now  have  an  abundant  entrance.  Five  points 
of  light  thus  appear  upon  the  Chinese  coast.  They  coalesce  and  form  a 
glittering  thread,  the  thread  expands  into  a  band  of  light,  until  now, 
reaching  far  upon  the  bosom  of  the  Yang-tse  Kiang,  surge  evangelistic 
tides  which  soon  bid  fair  to  sweep  even  the  western  boiders  of  the  em- 
pire. Five  hundred  miles  due  east  of  this  broad  water-gate,  Japan,  sealed 
for  two  hundred  years,  yields  in  1854  to  synchronous  pressure  from  with- 
out and  within,  and  we  have,  prepared  to  our  hand,  a  nation  ready  to  be 
born  to  God  in  a  day.  Korea,  the  Hermit  Kingdom,  falls  into  line,  and 
eastern  Asia  is  ours  for  the  Gospel. 

Once  more  we  might  trace  the  pressure  of  God's  hand.  Africa,  the 
Dark  Continent,  lay  for  centuries  enshrined  in  gloom.  Prosperous  colo- 
nies were  planted  in  the  south,  giving  a  base  of  supply,  l:)ut  no  intrepid 
spirit  was  found  to  thi-ead  the  mazes  of  those  pestilential  jungles  until 
God  called  David  Livingstone  to  that  work.  Year  by  year  he  penetrated 
deeper  into  the  unknown.  Blistered  with  heat  and  racked  with  pain,  he 
often  fell,  but  as  often  rose  again  only  to  push  still  further  into  the  unex- 
plored mysteries  wrapped  in  the  heart  of  Ethiopia,  his  daily  prayer  being 
that  Africa  might  be  opened  to  the  Gosjoel.  The  last  day  of  travel  comes. 
Feebly  he  drags  his  feet  along  the  ground.  The  faithful  blacks  construct 
the  wattled  shed  and,  making  the  pallet  of  grass,  leave  him  for  the  night. 
Once  more  upon  his  knees  he  bears  up  Africa  before  the  throne,  and  with 
this  last  jirayer  upon  his  lips  his  dauntless  spirit  wings  its  way  to  God. 

Behold  how  the  Lord  answers  prayer!  David  Livingstone  falls,  but 
Henry  Stanley  is  guided  to  the  completion  of  the  work.  Victoria  Nyanza 
is  being  circumnavigated  in  the  Lady  Alice — a  steel  boat  brought  out  from 
England  in  sections.  The  Queen  of  Uganda  dreams  of  the  approach  of  a 
white  man  in  a  jointed  canoe,  and  prevails  upon  King  M'tesa  to  send  a 
royal  escort  to  meet  the  stranger.  Stanley,  astounded,  humbly  acknowl- 
edges the  hand  of  Providence,  and,  sitting  down  for  more  than  a  month, 
teaches  the  king  the  j^rinciples  of  Christianity,  translates  the  Gospel  ac- 
cording to  St.  Luke,  and  then  blows  a  trumpet  blast  which  resounded 
through  the  Churches  of  England  and  Scotland.  The  Church  Missionary 
Society  sends  nine  men.     Mackey,  the  last  of  the  nine,  has  just  fallen; 


ADDKKSo    OF    RKV.    W.    11.    I.AMBUTII.  CUT 

but  four  thousand  converts,  tluink  God,  remain  to  testify  to  the  devotion 
of  these  heroic  men.  Stanley  tracks  tlie  Conyo  and,  emerging  upon  tlio 
Atlantic  coast,  so  electrifies  the  world  wiili  the  marvelous  possibili- 
ties wrapped  la  Central  Africa  that  thirty  steamers  now  float  upon  the 
river;  three  great  railway  lines  grow  toward  the  heart  of  the  continent; 
and  occupation  by  the  great  Powers  has  so  (piickly  followed  annexation 
that  Africa,  the  unknown,  since  that  last  prayer  upon  the  night  of  the 
30th  of  Ajiril,  1873,  has  not  only  become  a  kuowable  quantity,  but  the 
larger  part  has  aetually  been  brouglit  within  the  boundary-lines  of  Eu- 
ropean governments,  and  is  already  beginning  to  pulsate  with  the  world- 
centers  of  trade  and  political  influence. 

With  120,000,000  English-speaking  Protestants  located  in  the  temperate 
climes  and  occupying  the  zone  of  power,  endowed  with  wealth,  mighty 
energy,  and  all  the  equipment  of  an  age  of  invention,  surely  God  is  in 
these  movements  which  bring  India's  200,000.000  souls,  China's  350,000,- 
000  souls,  Japan's  40,000,000  souls,  and  200,000,000  souls  in  Africa  in  di- 
rect contact  with  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  which  is  the  great  evangelizer  of 
this  missionary  age. 

II. — The  Tenth  axd  Last  Decade  of  this  Century  is  One  op  Un- 

I'AKALLELED  OPPOUTUNITY. 

These  marvelous  movements  have  lead  up  to  the  extraordinary  age  in 
which  we  live.  The  two  great  ideas  of  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the 
brotherhood  of  man — incarnated,  vitalized,  then  vitalizing  as  they  come 
from  a  living  Christ — are  moving  the  world.  The  pure,  truth-loving, 
truth-living,  gentle  but  courageous  Man  of  Galilee  never  was  so  influen- 
tial as  now.  lie  stands  the  colossal  figure  among  all  nations  who  have 
heard  his  name,  and  his  principles  are  lifting  up  the  race.  This  is  the 
decade  of  opportunity,  for  with  the  God-given  media  of  communication, 
steam  and  electricity,  upon  the  one  hand,  we  note  the  growth  of  courtesy 
among  nations  upon  the  other,  opening  avenues  of  travel,  cementing  friend- 
ship, and  leading  to  arbitration  and  the  recognition  of  international  law. 

A  united  Italy  and  the  decline  of  the  temporal  power  of  the  pope;  the 
disestablishment  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  Brazil  and  in  ^Mexico, 
and  of  Buddhism  in  Japan;  a  Christian  protectorate  over  Egypt;  the  con- 
struction of  the  Suez  Canal;  the  opening  of  northern  Burmah,  the  key  to 
Thibet  and  western  China;  the  King  of  Siam  a  friend  of  missionaries;  Ja- 
pan, with  a  constitutional  government  the  free  gift  of  an  absolute  ruler, 
adopting  the  Christian  calendar  and  giving  official  recognition  to  the  Sab- 
bath, having  a  compulsory  system  of  education,  adopting  the  institutions 
of  the  West,  and  earnestly  desiring  most  the  abolLshment  of  extra  terri- 
toriality, to  enter  the  circle  of  nations  and  work  out  her  destiny;  the 
publication  of  the  Scriptures  by  the  Bible  societies  of  Christendom  in  over 
three  hundred  languages;  and  the  establishment  of  nearly  two  hundred 
different  missionary  societies,  with  an  army  of  Christian  workers  at  home 
and  abroad  equipped  and  disciplined  for  active  service,  constitute  some 
phases  of  our  opportunity. 


008  MISSIONS    IN    HEATHEN    LANDS. 

III. — The  Supreme  Duty  of  the  Houu  is  an  Advance  all  Along 
THE  Line. 

In  order  to  make  this  advance  there  should  be: 

1.  Divinioii  of'  'Territory  and  its  Complete  Occvpation. — Overlapping  and 
joint  occupation  within  limited  areas  has  led  to  friction  and  waste  of  men 
and  means.  There  being  vast  regions  in  China,  Tonquiu,  Auam  and 
Siam,  in  Australia,  Central  Africa,  South  America,  and  even  in  India,  not 
yet  evangelized,  we  should  look  to  wise  distribution  of  our  forces. 

2.  Organic  C/Jiw«.— While  a  national  or  State  Church  is  a  most  unde- 
sirable phase  of  church  polity,  there  are  urgent  reasons  among  a  people 
where  a  strong  patriotic  and  national  spirit  prevails,  as  in  Japan,  that  the 
various  branches  of  IMethodism  should  be  fused  into  one,  provided  the 
cliange  is  the  result  of  natural  causes  and  produces  a  Church  homogene- 
ous in  its  structure  and  adapted  to  its  environments.  I  take  the  Canadian 
and  each  of  the  American  Methodisms,  North  and  South,  to  be  fair  exam- 
l)les  of  such  adaptation.  If  it  be  consistent  with  God's  will  I  earnestly 
hope  that  the  prayer  for  organic  union  in  Japan  may  be  heard,  since  it  is 
the  unanimous  desire  of  the  representatives,  native  and  foreign,  of  these 
branches  of  Methodism  in  that  empire. 

3.  Co-operation. — Where  organic  union  is  impossible — and  it  would  be 
most  unwise  to  urge  it  where  the  conditions  are  unfavorable — co-operation 
along,  at  least,  three  lines  of  work  should  be  feasible :  («)  Translation. 
We  have  not  kept  pace  here  with  other  Chvirches,  nor  with  our  own  evan- 
gelistic effort.  Joint  committees  for  translation  of  Wesley's  sermons, 
preparation  of  commentaries,  etc.,  would  save  much  time  and  labor. 
(b)  Publication.  One  good  Methodist  periodical,  ably  sustained  by  a 
united  constituency  in  a  foreign  land,  is  worth  a  dozen  sent  forth  by  as 
many  different  missions,  (c)  Education.  Greater  economy  and  efficiency 
of  educational  staff  and  equipment,  with  that  increased  respect  for  an  in- 
stitution which  does  thorough  work,  is  sufficient  argument  here.  Metli- 
odism  has  been  co-operating  upon  these  lines,  I  am  glad  to  say,  in  Japan. 
She  is  separated  for  a  time  in  educational  work,  but  has  agreed  to  re- 
unite w^henever  circumstances  will  permit. 

4.  Schools  for  Missionaries. — As  in  the  China  Inland  Mission,  the  time 
seems  to  have  come  in  many  districts,  where  new  missionaries  might  be 
initiated  by  older  ones  into  the  mysteries  of  foreign  tongues  by  systematic 
class  instruction  and  drill,  rather  than  trust,  as  heretofore,  to  the  vagaries 
of  an  untrained,  unqualified  native  teacher. 

5.  The  Estahlishment  of  Sanitariums  and  Hosjntals  for  Temjjorarihj 
Disalled  Missionaries. — Many  able  workers  have  broken  down  completely 
and  been  lost  to  the  work  for  the  want  of  timely  rest  and  treatment. 
Tliis  has  been  especially  the  case  where  they  were  in  the  remote  interior 
and  far  from  their  native  land.  Every  continental  country — as  China, 
India,  and  Africa — will  have  elevated  locations  which  might  be  utilized 
as  recruiting  centers  for  some,  or  sea-side  resorts  where  recuperation  is 
possible  for  others.     Long,  dangerous,  and  expensive  trijis  home  might 


ADDRESS    OF   EEV.    J08IAH    HUDSON.  609 

in  many  cases  be  avoided,  and  tlie  continuity  of  the  work  kept  up.  Mis- 
sionary societies  represented  in  India  and  the  Chinese  Inland  Mission  have 
shown  good  judgment  in  making  such  provision. 

6.  Occupation  of  Strategic  Points. — Great  Britain  has  her  Gibraltar  and 
^Malta,  her  Aden,  Singapore,  and  Hong  Kong.  Why  should  not  the  great 
Methodist  Church  have  her  centers  of  re-enforcement  and  basis  of  supply, 
in  this  attemi)t  to  extend  her  picket- line  around  the  world?  As  there  are 
strategic  points  in  the  progress  of  empire,  or  in  political  conquest,  so 
there  are  in  evangelistic  movements,  and  we  should  occupy  them  for 
Christ. 

7.  Ecangelistic  Worh  Should  he  Emphasized. — Far  above  medical  or  edu- 
cational work  are  the  claims  of  direct  aggressive  evangelistic  effort — hand 
to  hand  work  for  souls.  The  Methodist  societies  should  ever  remember 
that  their  glory  and  their  power  consist  in  being  soid-saving  societies. 

At  home  there  should  be : 

(1)  Missionary  councils,  in  which  secretaries  of  boards  might  meet 
periodically  for  exchange  of  views  and  co-ordination  of  effort. 

(2)  Chairs  of  missions  and  endowed  missionary  lectureships  in  our  uni- 
versities. 

(3)  Training-schools  for  special  equipment  for  city  missionary  work. 

(4)  Preparation  and  circulation  of  missionary  literature  and  maps. 

(5)  Care  taken  that  the  students'  volunteer  movement  and  all  such  ex- 
pressions of  interest  be  utilized. 

(6)  More  work  thrown  upon  individuals,  churches,  and  Sunday-schools. 

(7)  The  Epworth  League  given  an  impetus  in  this  direction. 

(8)  The  interest  of  our  wealthy  laymen  secured. 

(9)  The  smaller,  but  by  no  means  more  insignificant,  giving  of  the 
poor  systematized. 

(10)  With  humility  and  self-renunciation,  the  giving  of  ourselves  con- 
tinuously to  importunate  prayer  and  supplication  for  a  mighty  outpouring 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  all  flesh,  and  especially  upon  the  Church,  for  we 
are  in  the  mid.st  of  the  last  days. 

This  being  the  last  dispensation — the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit — let  us 
remember  it  is  written,  "Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit, 
saith  the  Lord." 

Two  stanzas  were  sung  of  Hymn  1  of  tlio  Methodist  Hymnal, 
"  O  for  a  thousand  toiiffucs  to  sinij." 

The  Ilcv.  JosiAH  Hudson,  B.A.,  of  tlio  "Wesleyan  Methodist 
Church,  gave  the  following  address  on  "Mission  Work  in  India:  " 

Mr.  President:  If  I  had  known  that  Professor  Patterson  would  not  have 
been  present  this  evening  I  would  have  made  preparations  to  sup])ly  his 
place  ;  but  in  any  case  I  will  not  keep  you  long.  Although  the  ten 
thousand  members  who  constitute  the  Methodist  Churches  of  India  may 
be  only  a  very  small  fraction  of  the  whole  population,  yet,  considering  the 
feebleness  of  our  agency  and  the  unparalleled  diiliculties  of  our  work,  our 


CIO  MISSIONS    IN    HEATHEN    LANDS. 

success  in  the  past  is  full  of  promise  for  the  future.  It  is  true  tliat  other 
Churches  have  had  larger  acquisitions;  but  it  must  be  rememljered  that 
when  people  have  come  over  to  Christianity  in  great  masses  they  have  gener- 
ally done  so  from  mixed  motives.  A  few  of  the  leaders  have  been  con- 
vinced of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  but  the  majority  have  chieiiy  desired  to 
secm-e  the  protection  of  the  missionaries  or  to  better  their  temporal  circum- 
stances. Now  we  by  no  means  undervalue  these  large  accessions.  It  is  a 
great  advantage  to  separate  these  masses  of  people  from  their  fellow- 
countrymen  and  to  bring  them  under  the  teaching  of  Christianity.  But 
you  will  see  that  churches  formed  of  converts  gained  as  the  result  of 
individual  conviction  must  be  judged  by  a  different  standard. 

Again,  the  rate  of  our  progress  in  recent  years  is  still  more  encouraging 
than  the  numerical  results.  While  I  have  been  in  the  country  the  native 
churches,  the  schools,  and  the  native  agents  in  connection  with  the  En- 
glish Wesleyan  Methodist  Church  have  increased  six  cr  seven  fold,  wliile 
the  churches  connected  with  the  Methodist  Episcoj^al  Chiu-cli  of  Amer- 
ica have  still  more  rapidly  developed.  But  all  who  know  India  well 
are  strongly  convinced  that  these  statistics  indicate  a  very  small  portion 
of  the  success  we  have  realized.  There  is  a  continually  increasing  number 
of  secret  disciples  of  Christ  throughout  India.  There  are  very  many  who 
thoroughly  believe  in  Christianity,  who  have  renounced  idolatry;  who 
have  no  more  connection  with  heathenism  than  is  necessary  to  continue 
in  Hindu  society,  but  who  fear  the  social  ostracism  and  the  persecution 
which  must  result  when  excluded  from  caste.  No  one  here  can  realize 
what  exclusion  from  caste  means,  and  I  cannot  stay  to  dwell  upon  it  this 
evening.  But  there  is  nothing  in  the  whole  world  that  offers  such  bar- 
riers to  Christianity  as  the  unique  caste  system  of  Hinduism. 

We  claim  that  Protestant  missions  have  achieved  two  great  results  out- 
side the  Christian  Church.  In  the  first  place,  w^e  claim  that  we  have  been 
able  to  raise  immeasurably  the  Hindu  notion  of  God.  AVe  have  impressed 
upon  the  people  the  fact  that  God  is  a  personal  being,  in  oj^iDosition  to 
the  pantheism  of  the  Hindu  shastras.  We  have  taught  them  that  God  is 
light  and  that  God  is  love,  in  contrast  to  the  licentious  and  cruel  divini- 
ties of  the  Hindu  Puranas.  There  are  thousands  of  Hindus  at  the  present 
time  who  are  indeed  unable  to  accept  the  doctrine  of  the  Tiinity ;  but 
otherwise  they  receive  the  Christian  detinition  of  God,  although  they  may 
be  unwilling  to  acknowledge  their  obligations  to  the  Bible.  In  the  second 
place,  as  a  result  of  Christian  teaching  the  Hindus  are  fast  accepting  the 
character  of  Christ  as  their  one  perfect  ideal,  and  when  we  remember  that 
personal  devotion  to  Christ  is  one  of  the  chief  elements  of  our  religion,  I 
think  we  shall  acknowledge  that  this  is  a  result  of  the  greatest  imjoor- 
tance. 

A  recent  writer  in  one  of  our  reviews  stated  that  Christ  was  not  suited 
to  the  Hindus,  that  they  did  not  want  one  so  meek  and  lowly,  but  rather 
desired  a  Saviour  of  a  different  character  from  themselves.  Now  it  is 
always  unsafe  to  generalize  concerning  a  country  containing  so  many 
nationalities  as  India;   but   my  own  experience  would  lead  to  just  the 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    JOSIAH    HUDSON.  Gil 

opposite  conolusion.  It  is  true  in  India,  as  in  all  the  -n-orld,  that  Christ 
both  attracts  and  repels.  lie  attracts  the  humble  and  poor,  and  r('))els 
the  self-sufHcieut.  There  are  some,  especially  among  the  Mussulman 
population,  who  have  been  taught  to  regard  Mohammed  as  their  ideal,  and 
who  do  not  appreciate  the  meekness,  the  tenderness,  and  the  gentleness 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  But  I  believe  that  Hindus  generally  tind  in 
Christ  all  they  want.      Their  trustful  nature  is  at  once  attractcnl  to  him. 

Outside  of  the  Christian  Church  so:no  of  the  best  men  are  members  of 
the  Brahmo  Somaj,  the  thcistic  society  of  India,  and  they  make  no  secret 
of  their  devotion  to  Christ  and  their  profound  admiration  of  his  wonder- 
ful character.  One  of  their  leaders  tells  us  that  you  will  tind  the  picture 
of  Christ  in  almost  every  Brahmo  home,  and  the  Brahmos  were  the  first 
to  publish  a  life  of  Christ  in  the  Bengali  language.  Their  greatest  leader, 
now  deceased,  gave  it  as  his  belief  that  Christ  liad  entered  India  and  had 
taken  possession  of  India's  heart.  The  Brahmos  are  not  alone  in  their  love 
of  Christ.  There  has  been  formed  lately  in  the  city  of  Calcutta,  among  the 
Hindus,  an  association  for  the  study  of  Christ.  A  Hindu  ascetic,  by  no 
means  a  Christian,  has  lately  translated  and  gratuitously  circulated  the  first 
chapter  of  the  Imitation  of  Chrid,  by  Thomas  a  Kempis.  Wherever  you 
go  throughout  India  you  find  people  giving  Christ  unstinted  praise.  They 
may  not  be  able  to  receive  him  as  the  Son  of  God,  but  they  regard  him 
as  a  perfect  man,  and  look  up  to  him  as  the  ideal  character  which  they 
are  to  imitate.  And  surely  we  may  indulge  the  hope  that  men  who  have 
thus  received  Ciirist  and  are  willing  to  sit  at  his  footstool  and  become  his 
disciples  will  eventually  be  led  into  the  way  of  truth. 

I  have  no  doul^t  that  if  Brother  Patterson,  who  has  loner  been  eno-ao-cd 
in  the  Christian  College  at  ]\Iadras,  had  been  here  this  evening  he  would 
have  told  you  much  about  e-ducation.  We  have  sometimes  been  accused 
of  paying  too  much  attention  in  India  to  the  education  of  the  higher 
classes  and  to  higher  education;  but  this  charge  has  been  founded  upon  a 
inist  ike.  In  our  own  schools  w^e  have  nineteen  thousand  children ;  of 
these  only  sixty-three  are  in  our  colleges;  only  two  per  cent  are  in  high- 
.schools;  only  ten  per  cent,  are  in  secondary  schools ;  while  eighty-eight 
per  cent,  are  in  elementary  schools.  Thus  you  will  see  that  by  far  the 
larger  proportion  of  our  education  is  of  the  elementary  kind.  Again, 
Brahmans  only  form,  I  think,  about  eight  jicr  cent,  of  our  scholars.  It  is 
true  that  we  greatly  value  our  schools,  and  we  think  we  are  justified  in 
doing  so.  Although  the  converts  from  them  may  not  have  been  very 
many,  yet  they  are  among  the  most  influential,  and  they  are  some  of  the 
leading  men  in  India  at  the  present  time.  Again,  there  is  a  large  class  of 
people  to  which  we  can  hardly  preach  the  Gospel,  except  in  this  particu- 
lar way.  Further,  we  find  our  schools  help  us  in  every  other  branch  of 
our  work.  And,  lastly,  they  are  needed  for  our  rapidly  increasing  native 
Church.  Still,  we  are  not  anxious  to  increase  them.  We  have  determined 
to  give  special  attention  to  work  among  the  lower  clas.ses. 

I  may  say  that  at  the  present  time  we  seem  to  especially  need  more  sys- 
tematic and  concerted  action  in  carrying  on  our  work  in  India.     Almost 


C12  MISSIONS    IN    HEATHEN    LANDS. 

all  of  our  societies,  especially  the  older  ones,  have  fallen  into  the  great 
mistake  of  trying  to  cover  too  much  ground,  and  consequently  they  have 
not  been  able  to  sustain  the  vfork  which  has  been  undertaken  or  to  follow 
up  the  advantages  gained.  Our  own  society  and  that  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  have  missions  in  some  six  or  seven  of  the  largest  cities 
of  India,  as  well  as  in  many  other  important  towns.  In  all  these  large 
cities  there  are  several  churches  at  work,  while  the  surrounding  country 
often  lies  waste.  Now,  India  is  a  country  of  villages,  and  it  is  not,  as  a 
rule,  desirable  that  we  should  occupy  large  towns  unless  we  are  able 
to  evangelize  the  whole  districts  of  which  these  towns  are  the  centers.  It 
is  necessary  that  we  should  not  confine  ourselves  to  the  cities,  but  that  we 
should  map  out  the  whole  country  into  districts,  and  that  we  should  go 
to  every  village;  and  for  this  concerted  action  is  necessary.  There  are 
some  thirty  societies  in  India,  and  therefore  it  is  not  needful  that  we 
should  all  try  to  cover  the  whole  ground.  It  is  especially  desirable  that 
we  and  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  America,  the  only  two  Meth- 
odist bodies  in  India,  should  work  in  concert.  Although  we  are  only  two, 
and  India  is  so  large,  yet  our  work  in  a  few  places  overlaps.  If  we  had 
had  such  an  Ecumenical  Council  twenty  years  ago  as  is  now  suggested  I 
have  no  doubt  that  much  waste  would  have  been  prevented.  Even  now 
loss  nuiy  be  averted  in  the  future  if  we  agree  to  work  in  concert. 

I  feel  that  the  great  work  now  before  the  Church  of  Christ  is  as  speedily 
as  possible  to  carry  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  It  is  very  sad  to  know 
that,  although  we  are  in  the  nineteenth  century  of  the  Christian  era,  yet 
half  of  the  people  in  the  world  have  never  heard  of  Christ.  It  is  so  in 
India,  China,  and  Africa;  and  it  should  be  our  earnest  effort  as  speedily 
as  possible  to  reach  every  creature.  I  am  sure  there  are  none  of  us  who 
have  received  the  great  blessing  ourselves  who  will  rest  contented  until 
every  human  being  in  the  world  has  heard  of  the  salvation  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. 

The  Kev.  S.  L.  Baldwin,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  gave  the  following  invited  address,  on  "  The  Work  of 
the  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church : " 

Mr.  President :  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  which  was  organized 
in  Baltimore  in  1784,  was  in  itself  an  active  and  aggressive  IMissionary 
Society.  It  was  so  occupied  with  the  vast  work  opening  before  it  in  this 
country  that  thirty-five  years  passed  before  the  Missionary  Society  was, 
organized,  namely,  1819.  Thirteen  years  more  passed  before  its  first  for- 
eign missionary  was  sent  out  in  the  person  of  Melville  B.  Cox,  who  was 
our  first  missionary  to  Africa.  He  fell  a  victim  to  African  fever  a  few 
months  after  his  arrival  on  the  field,  but  his  dying  words,  "Though  a 
thousand  fall,  let  not  Africa  be  given  up,"  became  the  watchword  of  ad- 
vancing Methodism.  Western  Methodism  was  no  more  dismayed  when 
Cox  was  buried  in  African  soil  than  Eastern  Metliodism  was  when  Coke 
was  buried  in  the  Indian  Ocean.     The  Methodism  of  both  hemispheres 


ADDKESS    OF    KEY.    S.    L.    BALDWIN.  G13 

only  gatliercd  lU'w  inspiration  from  these  heroic  examples  of  missionary 
consecration. 

In  1820  our  treasurer  reported  $S33  received  for  the  Missionary  Society, 
and  one  of  the  godly  fathers  of  tliosc  days  gave  public  thanks  to  God  that 
he  liad  lived  to  see  the  day  Avhen  the  Methodist  Ejjiscopal  Church  has 
raised  over  !^800  for  missions.  In  1830  the  annual  contribution  had 
reached  $13,000.  By  1840  it  had  become  $130,000.  In  1850,  the  Church 
not  having  recovered  from  the  effect  of  the  separation  of  the  ('hurch,  South, 
in  1844,  the  amount  was  $105,000.  In  1860  it  had  reached  $202,000.  In 
1870  it  had  become  $030,000.  In  1880,  $095,000.  In  18i/0  we  went  be- 
yond the  million  mark,  having  raised  $1,135,000,  and  in  1891  we  shall 
reach  the  sum  of  $1,250,000.  The  great  increase  from  1884,  when  we  re- 
ceived $735,000,  to  this  year,  when  we  reached  the  sum  of  $1,250,000,  is 
very  largely  due  to  the  consecrated  magnetism,  the  enthusiastic  faith,  and 
the  unceasing  labor  of  our  peerless  Chaplain  McCabe,  who  is  as  greedy 
for  new  fields  to  be  conquered  by  Methodism  for  Christ  as  ever  Alexander 
was  for  new  worlds  to  conquer  for  his  own  glory.  During  the  present 
quadrenuium  he  has  been  grandly  seconded  by  the  zealous  and  impetuous 
Peck,  who  came  from  a  pastorate  of  successive  revivals,  bringing  the  re- 
vival flame  into  the  cause  of  missions;  and  the  earnest  and  devoted  Leon- 
ard, who  believes  in  missions,  in  Methodism,  and  the  millennium,  and  who 
labors  with  all  energy  for  whatever  he  believes  in. 

The  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  entered  the  field  in  1869  as  a 
helper,  and  awakened  the  women  of  the  West  in  behalf  of  their  sisters  in 
the  East.  It  received  $220,000  last  year  and  appropriated  $250,000  for  this 
year.  A  society  which  has  on  its  roll  the  names  of  women  like  Isabella 
Thoburn  and  Fannie  Sparkes  and  Dr.  Clara  Swain  in  India,  Clara  Cush- 
man  and  Dr.  Leonora  Howard  in  China,  stands  well  in  the  advance  of  the 
great  luissionary  movement  for  the  salvation  of  the  women  of  heathendom. 

The  "Woman's  Home  ]Missionary  Society  received  $112,000  last  year,  and 
Bishop  Taylor's  Missions  over  $50,000,  so  that  the  whole  missionary  con- 
tribution of  the  3Iethodist  Episcopal  Church  was  considerably  over  a 
million  and  a  half  of  dollars. 

Our  Methodism  has  shown  its  adaptation  to  all  the  different  peoples  to 
whom  it  has  gone  with  its  holy  message.  It  has  been  marked  in  China, 
whose  people  have  long  been  noted  as  stoical  in  their  disposition,  by  its 
emotional  power.  Bishop  Harris,  when  about  leaving  Foochow  at  the 
close  of  his  episcopal  visit,  was  deeply  moved  by  the  intense  feeling  shown 
by  the  Chinese  brethren  of  the  Annual  fleeting.  Visiting  brethren  from 
America,  hearing  a  sound  late  at  night  in  the  tent  in  whicli  the  meetings 
had  been  held,  made  their  way  thither  to  find  the  Chinese  preachers  on 
their  knees,  pleading  with  earnestness,  with  tears,  and  with  every  sign  of 
deep  emotion  for  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit. 

After  the  Quarterly  Meeting  at  Kia-sioh,  on  one  occasion,  the  native 
preachers  remained  in  the  room  pleading  for  power  from  on  hii,di  and  for 
the  cleansing  grace  of  the  IToly  Spirit.  The  ])residing  older,  who  had  re- 
tired, was  awakened  by  their  pleading,  came  out  among  them,  joined  with 


014  MISSIONS    IN    HEATHEN    LANDS. 

them  for  a  time,  and  retii-ed  again,  only  to  be  again  awakened  about  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  he  arose  and  joined  them  again,  remaining 
with  them  in  earnest,  importunate  prayer,  so  that  when  the  day  dawned 
these  genuine  sons  of  Charles  Wesley  were  on  their  knees  and  could  sa.y 
with  him : 

"  With  Thee  all  night  I  mean  to  stay, 
And  wrestle  till  the  break  of  day." 

Ling  Ching  Ting  hears  the  message,  yields  to  its  power,  and  goes  forth 
as  a  flaming  herald  of  truth,  bearing  severest  persecution  for  Christ's  sake, 
and  witnessing  the  salvation  of  souls  under  his  labors.  IIu  Yonff  Mi 
leaves  his  artistic  work  as  a  joainter  upon  glass  and  goes  forth  as  a  faithful 
preacher,  undaunted  in  the  midst  of  persecution  and  danger,  counting  it 
his  chief  joy  to  tell  every-whei'e  the  glad  story  of  salvation.  Li  Yu  Mi 
listens  to  the  gospel  proclamation,  and,  inspiied  with  new  zeal  for  learn- 
ing so  that  he  may  be  able  to  read  the  divine  word,  lays  the  New  Testa- 
ment alongside  of  his  blacksmith's  anvil  and  studies  its  characters  be- 
tween the  strokes,  until  he  becomes  an  apostle  to  many  of  his  people, 
bringing  wonderful  power  of  metaphor  to  adorn  his  presentations  of  the 
truth.  Sia  Sek  Ong,  the  proud  Confucianist,  is  awakened  by  a  remark 
dropped  during  a  sermon  by  this  converted  blacksmith,  finds  no  peace 
until  Christ  comes  to  his  soul,  and  then,  giving  up  his  ambition  for  lit- 
erary promotion,  consecrates  his  life  to  the  work  of  preaching  the  Gospel; 
and  at  the  last  General  Conference,  as  one  of  the  honored  delegates  to  that 
body,  was  called  upon  to  assist  in  the  ordination  of  our  new  bishops  to 
their  high  office  in  the  Church. 

The  Methodist  Conference  in  China  bears  a  close  family  resemblance  to 
the  Conferences  at  home.  A  brother's  character  is  under  discussion,  ob- 
jection is  made  that  he  is  not  a  very  superior  preacher  or  as  active  as  he 
should  be  in  his  work,  when  some  member  arises  and,  admitting  this  to  be 
true,  affirms  that  he  has  a  most  excellent  wife,  whose  influence  is  of  great 
benefit  to  the  charges  he  serves,  and  so  with  the  superior  excellence  of  his 
wife,  the  brother's  character  is  passed.  Another  brother  is  criticised  be- 
cause at  a  certain  charge,  when  entertained  by  one  of  the  members,  find- 
ing ducks'  eggs  on  the  table  as  a  part  of  his  repast,  he  insisted  upon  hav- 
ing hens'  eggs.  The  impetuous  Ching  Ting  asserts  that  any  Methodist 
preacher  who  is  not  willing  to  eat  ducks'  eggs  when  set  before  him  is  un- 
worthy a  place  in  the  ministry. 

Bishop  Wiley  wrote  when  he  organized  the  Conference  in  1887:  "If  it 
had  not  been  for  the  strange  language  and  dress  I  could  hardly  have  no- 
ticed any  difference,  so  well  prepared  were  these  native  preachers  for  all 
the  business  of  the  Annual  Conference.  You  would  have  been  surprised 
to  see  with  what  courtesy  and  good  order  every  thing  went  forward." 

What  is  true  of  the  adaptation  of  our  Methodism  to  this  field  is  true  to 
a  greater  or  less  extent  of  all  the  other  fields  into  which  we  have  entered, 
and  our  Methodism  is  conquering  its  way  in  all  portions  of  the  world. 

We  now  number  in  members  and  probationers:  in  Africa,  over  3,000;  in 


ADDRESS    OF    KEV.    S.    L.    IJALDWIN.  G15 

South  America,  nearly  2,000;  in  China,  about  G,000;  in  India,  over  15,000; 
in  Japan,  nearly  4,000;  in  Germany,  over  10,000;  in  Switzerland,  over 
6,000;  in  Sweden,  over  10,000;  in  Norway,  over  5,000;  in  Denmark,  over 
2,000;  in  Mexico,  about  2,500;  and  a  few  in  Malaysia,  Korea,  and  Bul- 
irnria.  In  all  our  foreign  mission  stations  we  number  about  75,000  com- 
municants. We  have  nearly  500  ordained  and  over  COO  unordaiued 
preachers.  Over  11,000  converts  were  gathered  in  during  the  past  year. 
The  native  Christians  in  these  fields  contributed  over  |300,000  last  year 
to  {-hurch  purposes.  The  old  field  of  the  Sepoy  rebellion  in  India  has 
been  yielding  nn  exceedingly  rich  harvest.  Where  the  attempt  was  mada 
to  exterminate  Christianity  tliirty-four  years  ago,  we  have  been  having 
conversions  at  the  rate  of  over  a  thousand  a  month  during  the  year  now- 
closing,  with  every  prospect  of  much  greater  increase  in  the  near  future. 
And  from  all  our  fields  come  glorious  tidings  of  success.  For  all  this  we 
give  glory  to  God.  But.  after  all,  we  have  only  just  made  a  beginning. 
When  the  whole  Church  averages  as  much  per  member  as  the  Philadel- 
phia Conference  did  last  year  ($1),  we  shall  have  $2,250,000.  When 
it  averages  as  much  as  the  Baltimore  Conference  did  last  year  ($1.04), 
we  shall  have  $2,340,000.  When  it  comes  up  to  the  average  of  the  East 
German  Conference  ($1.64),  we  shall  have  $3,690,000.  We  will  come  up 
to  this,  and  go  beyond  it,  long  before  the  Church  reaches  the  apostle's 
measure,  "According  as  God  hath  prospered  you." 

Our  Society  has  a  roll  of  worthies  of  whom  we  are  not  ashamed.  Af- 
rica will  be  indissolubly  linked  with  the  name  and  memory  of  Cox,  and 
South  America  with  such  precious  names  as  those  of  Dempster  and  Good- 
fellow  and  Kidder.  China  will  always  be  associated  with  the  name  of 
the  heroic  Collins,  who,  when  he  learned  that  no  provision  was  made  for 
opening  a  mission  in  China,  wrote  to  Bishop  Janes:  "  Get  me  a  place  to 
go  before  the  mast,  and  my  own  strong  arms  shall  work  my  way  there  and 
support  me  on  the  field ; "'  and  of  the  devoted  White  and  the  judicious 
veteran  Maclay.  The  name  of  William  Butler  will  always  stand  out  in 
the  foreground  of  our  history  in  India,  with  such  worthy  associates  as 
Parker  and  Thoburn  and  a  score  of  others.  Soper  and  Davison  and  Cor- 
r;'ll  will  live  in  the  memory  of  the  Church  in  connection  with  the  marvel- 
ous regeneration  of  the  empire  of  Japan.  But  time  would  fail  us  to  sjieak 
of  all  who  ought  to  be  mentioned.  Let  us  adopt  the  words  and  be  thrilled 
v.ith  the  spirit  of  our  lamented  General  Fisk,  which  led  him  to  say  at  the 
Centennial  Conference  in  Baltimore  in  1884: 

'•It  is  for  us  and  our  children  to  work  and  believe  and  pray  and  give 
until  every  coast  shall  be  peopled  by  sincere  worshipers  and  lovers  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ;  until  every  mountain  barrier  shall  be  overcome;  until 
every  abyss  shall  be  spanned  for  the  uninterrupted  jirogress  of  the  Kin^r's 
highway  of  holiness,  and  the  people  of  the  earth  shall  flow  together  as  in 
the  prophetic  vision  to  the  mountain  of  the  Lord's  house;  until  the  fires 
of  sin  are  evcry-where  extinguished,  and  the  pure  light  of  holiness  shall 
be  every-wlicre  enkindled;  until  every  idol  is  abolished;  until  every 
father  becomes  a  high-priest  in  his  own  household,  ofTering  the  dailv  sac- 


61G  MISSIONS   IN    HEATHEN    LANDS. 

rifice  of  prayer  and  praise,  aud  every  mother  shall  teacli  her  infani  charge 
to  lisj)  the  name  of  Jesus;  until  religion,  pure  and  undefiled,  shall  con- 
serve all  people  as  virtue  conserves  the  soul;  until  the  infinite  power  of 
the  Holy  Sjiirit  to  renew  and  sanctify  the  soul  shall  he  verified  by  the  ex- 
perience of  every  dweller  on  this  earth;  until  the  world  shall  be  full  of 
the  glory  of  the  Lord  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea ;  until  there  shall  be  but 
one  story  that  every  child  shall  lisp,  one  memory  that  every  nation  shall 
cherish,  one  name  that  shall  be  above  every  name.  Let  it  be  the  covenant 
work  of  our  Methodism  to  hasten  that  glad  day,  and  may  the  living  Church 
in  all  its  revolving  cycles  of  time  unceasingly  have  for  its  inspiration  that 
blessed  assurance  which  gave  our  dying  leader  such  consolation  when  the 
everlasting  sunrise  burst  in  upon  failing  heart  and  flesh,  "The  best  of  all 
is,  God  is  with  us!  " 

The  general  discussion  of  tlie  evening  was  introduced  by  the 
Rev,  William  "Wilson,  of  the  Wesleyan  Metliodist  Church, 
as  follows  : 

Mr.  President:  Christian  missions  to  the  heathen  populations  of  the 
world  form  a  subject  profoundly  interesting  and  among  the  most  impor- 
tant on  which  the  mind  of  man  can  think,  his  heart  feel,  or  his  tongue 
speak.  When  we  open  our  Bibles  and  read  how  the  prophets  wrote  and 
spoke  on  this  subject,  well  may  our  hearts  kindle  and  our  spirits  be  stirred ; 
for,  as  they  looked  into  the  future  with  prophetic  eye  and  saw  what  we 
are  privileged  to  behold  in  this  missionary  era,  their  hearts  burned  within 
them,  and  they  sang:  "  Sing,  O  ye  heavens;  for  the  Lord  hath  done  it  ; 
shout,  ye  lower  parts  of  the  earth ;  break  forth  into  singing,  ye  mountains, 
forest,  and  every  tree  therein,  for  the  Lord  hath  redeemed  Jacob,  and 
glorified  himself  in  Israel."  If  they  thus  rejoiced  in  anticipation,  what 
ought  to  be  our  rejoicing  ?  "  Blessed  are  your  eyes,  for  they  see  ;  and 
your  ears,  for  they  hear.  For  verily  I  say  unto  you,  That  many  prophets 
and  righteous  men  have  desired  to  see  those  things  which  ye  see,  and  have 
not  seen  them ;  and  to  hear  those  things  which  ye  hear,  but  have  not  heard 
them." 

I  want  to  bespeak,  on  behalf  of  foreign  missions,  an  increase  of  the 
spirit  and  habit  of  prayer.  It  will  be  remembered  by  some  that  in  the 
years  1856  aud  1837  the  churches  gave  themselves  to  prayer  for  a  revival 
of  the  work  of  God  at  home  and  the  outpouring  of  his  S2)irit  abroad  upon 
all  mission  stations;  and  the  immediate  answer  was  given  in  gracious  re- 
vivals in  Ireland,  Scotland,  in  some  parts  of  England,  in  America  and 
Australia,  and  especially  in  Fiji.  The  missionaries  had  been  laboring 
there  for  years,  and  had  just  realized  an  amount  of  success  which  kept 
them  from  fainting  and  growing  weary;  but  prayer  prevailed,  and  we  saw 
a  work  begun,  not  a  revival,  but  a  creation  of  religion,  which  spread  far 
and  wide,  and  for  twenty  months  in  succession  there  was  an  average  of 
one  thousand  per  month  of  conversions  to  Christianity,  so  mightih'  grew 
the  word  of  God  and  prevailed.  The  work  did  not  become  stationary  at 
the  end  of  this  period,  but  continued  to  prevail  until  the  whole  of  the 
isles  became  Christianized. 

O,  that  we  had  time  to  tell  you  of  our  adventures,  deliverances,  and 
the  triumphs  of  the  Gospel  in  that  once  cruel  and  cannibal  island.  We 
think  we  could  interest  and  detain  you  as  long  as  Paul  did  his  hearers  at 
Troas,  and  not  one  would  have  the  exjierience  of  Eutychus.      We  have 


GENEKAl.    U1:MAR1vS.  C17 

bfcn  manipulated  l\v  the  fin<j^ris  of  the  ciiiinibals  and  pronounced  by  them 
in  (jood  order.  \\iz  have  had  lo  run  before  u  pursuinj^'  crowd  of  infuriated 
heathen,  led  by  their  priests,  and  only  escaped  by  a  few  leaps.  Ourcour- 
!i<ife  rose  considerably  when  we  gained  the  canoe  and  shot  into  tlie  broad 
river  where  we  could  not  be  followed.  There  is  no  time  for  euumeratiou 
of  incidents  and  events,  however  stirrrin*;  they  might  be  to  you,  and  how- 
ever mightily  they  stirred  us;  but  we  plead  for  more  prayer  for  the  great 
mission  cause,  and  then  we  may  take  fresh  heart  and  li()])e  for  the  conver- 
sion of  the  world.  A  darker  and  more  cruel  })laee  than  Fiji  was  cannot  be 
found  on  the  svwfaco  of  the  wide  earth.  But  seeing  it  lias  been  won  for 
Christ,  we  may  now  look  upon  the  world,  and,  viewing  the  darkest  and 
most  heathenish  ])lace  remaining,  let  us  say  with  the  faithful  witnesses  of 
old:  ''  We  are  well  ;il)le  to  go  up  and  possess  the  land."  We  would  en- 
courage all  to  aid  in  this  blessed  missionary  work,  but  especially  the 
young  and  strong.  There  is  no  work  to  surpass  it  in  iin))ortancc;  none  in 
which  we  can  be  more  useful;  none  that  brings  more  happiness  to  the 
sinning,  suflfering,  dying  races  of  men,  or  more  glory  to  (rod.  None  will 
have  more  honor  and  a  greater  reward  at  the  last,  for  the  Lord  of  missions 
has  promised  that  "They  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the 
firmament;  and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness  as  the  stars  forever 
and  ever." 

The  Rev.  Davii>  Hill,  of  tlie  Wesleyan  Methodist  Cliufcli, 
concluded  the  discussion  of  the  evening  in  the  following  re- 
marks ; 

Mr.  President:  The  subjects  on  which  I  desire  to  address  the  Confer- 
ence are  three:  (1)  The  increase  of  lay  agency  in  the  foreign  work ;  (3) 
The  prosecution  of  charitable  work  in  the  mission  (ield;  and  (o)  The  riots 
iu  China. 

With  regard  to  the  introduction  and  increase  of  lay  ;igcncy  in  the  foreign 
work,  the  existing  missionary  societies  have  for  the  most  j)art  done  so  little 
in  this  line  that  we  must  either  widen  the  basis  of  our  missionary  organi- 
zations or  must  have  a  foreign  department  for  every  branch  of  church 
work.  In  other  words,  we  must  either  very  largely  increase  our  mission- 
ary income  and  agencies  or  must  enlarge  the  various  branches  of  our  home 
organization,  such  as  our  educational  and  church  building  operations,  by 
the  addition  of  a  foreign  department.  This  evening,  however,  I  desire  to 
continc  attention  to  the  introduction  and  increase  of  lay  agency  in  the 
mission  field.  And  if  there  b(!  one  lesson  more  than  another  which  God  has 
been  teaching  his  Church  in  China  during  the  last  ten  years  it  is  with  regard 
to  the  em]iloynient  of  laymen  in  missionary  evangelistic -work.  When  we 
see  one  man  used  of  God  for  the  calling  out  of  two  or  three  hundred  lay 
agents  within  that  period  we  must  surely  recognize  the  finger  of  God 
pointing  his  Church  to  the  employment  of  this  agency ;  and  when  we  see 
the  work  of  evangelists  blessed  in  such  a  inarked  manner  as  the  Presby- 
terian brethren  have  been  in  the  north  of  CJhina,  and  in  a  smaller  degree 
as  the  recently  conmienced  lay  evangelism  of  our  own  Church  has  been 
blessed  in  Central  China,  we  cannot  but  tiacc  how  that  the  Lord  has 
l»ut  upon  his  work  tlie  seal  of  his  approval. 

But  besides  evangelism,  there  is  a  deep  and  urgent  need  for  a  staff  of 
laymen  to  engage  in  various  kinds  of  charitable  work  for  the  relief  of  the 
ever-present  poverty  and  chronic  distress  of  the  heathen  world.  The.se 
two  agencies  mu.st  go  hand  in  hand — the  ministry  of  word  and  the  min- 
istry of  work;  for  until  tlie  Gospel  we  preach  is  embodied  in  lives  of 
42 


G13  MISSIONS    IN    HEATHEN    LANDS. 

Christlike  compassion  and  acts  of  Christlike  charity,  I  cannot  hope  to 
see  any  very  great  and  marvelous  success.  In  the  city  of  Hankow  the  non- 
Christian  Chinese  have  instituted  some  twenty-eight  or  thirty  benevolent 
institutions  for  the  relief  of  the  physical  distress  Avhich  is  chronically 
present  in  that  city.  They  give  rice  to  the  hungry,  warm  clothing  to  the 
naked,  medicine  to  the  sick,  and  coffins  for  the  dead;  and  if  we,  well 
housed  and  well  clad  ourselves,  do  nothing  to  emulate  these  Chinese 
charities,  I  fail  to  see  how  the  word  of  God  as  ministered  by  us  is  to  run 
and  be  glorified. 

A  word  or  two,  in  the  third  ])lace,  with  regard  to  the  recent  riots  in 
China.  First,  they  have  been  fostered  and  fomented  by  means  of  litera- 
ture. From  the  city  of  Ichang  right  down  the  valley  of  the  Yangtze,  a 
distance  of  nearly  one  thousand  miles;  from  the  city  of  Hankow  right  up 
the  river  Han  eight  hundred  or  one  thousand  miles  to  the  city  of  Han- 
chung  in  the  far  north-west;  around  the  south  coast  as  far  as  Canton, 
placards  and  publications  of  the  foulest  and  most  blasphemous  character 
have  been  circulated.  In  these  publications  missionaries  are  charged  with 
kidnaping  infant  children,  killing  and  boiling  them  for  food,  and,  in- 
credible as  it  may  seem,  these  slanderous  stories  are  veiy  largely  believed 
by  the  people.  Can  we  wonder,  then,  when  mothers  think  that  we  are 
carrying  on  our  work  with  the  secret  intention  of  decoying  and  destroying 
their  infant  babes,  that  they  should  be  incensed  against  us?  Can  we  be 
surprised  that  these  outraged  feelings  should  vent  themselves  in  acts  of 
violence  and  wildest  riot?  It  has  seemed  to  me  sometimes  as  though  the 
devil,  aware  of  the  noble  work  which  is  being  done  by  means  of  Christian 
literature,  and  seeing  his  kingdom  imperilled  by  it,  had  stirred  up  his 
power  to  counteract  the  influence  which  our  Christian  tracts  were  exert- 
ing in  so  many  minds  in  China.  But  should  we  not  see  in  the  wide  dif- 
fusion of  literature  so  vicious  a  call  to  increased  activity  in  our  tract  work? 
Last  year  from  the  city  of  Hankow  one  million  Chinese  tracts  were  issued, 
and  this'  year  we  might,  if  our  funds  "uould  but  allow  of  it,  issue  a  still 
larger  riuraber;  but  we  are  straitened  financially,  and  besides  the  £400  a 
year  generally  granted  by  the  Keligious  Tract  Societies  of  London  we 
n  ed  further  help. 

Turning  again  to  the  recent  riots,  I  would  add,  secondly,  that  they  de- 
mand strong  and  earnest  representation  to  the  Chinese  government  on  the 
part  of  the  representatives  of  Christian  governments.  When  inflammatory 
publications  are  so  widely  circulated  and  people  are  stirred  up  to  deeds  of 
violence;  when  houses  are  burned  and  chapels  looted  and  ladies  assaulted 
and  a  missionary  killed,  it  is  time  that  vigorous  action  be  taken  toward 
the  suppression  of  such  offensive  literature.  The  Chinese  authorities  are 
amenable  to  reason.  But  they  look  for  the  reason  to  be  set  forth  by 
proper  and  authorized  persons;  and  when  it  is  so  set  forth,  they  will,  I 
think,  take  steps  toward  its  siippression. 

Thirdly,  the  sad  occurrences  of  recent  months  will,  I  believe,  tend  to 
the  extension  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  China.  We  have  been  called  to 
pass  through  a  baptism  of  blocnl,  but  had  it  not  been  for  the  death  of  our 
own  Brother  Argent  I  doubt  much  whether  the  imperial  edict  which  has 
been  alluded  to  would  ever  have  been  issued.  To  the  vicarious  death  of 
a  British  lay  missionary  we  owe  in  great  measure  the  most  favorable  edict 
which  has  been  promulgated  from  the  imperial  throne.  But  we  are  hop- 
ing besides  that  the  province  of  Hunan,  which  has  hitherto  been  the 
most  hostile  of  any  in  the  empire,  and  from  which  this  vicious  literature 
has  emanated,  will  now  be  thrown  open  to  the  Gospel.  Hitherto  not  a 
single  Protestant  missionary  has  gained  foothold  in  that  province.  Some 
of  mv  brethren  have  been  driven  and  stoned  from  the  gates  of  its  chief 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  619 

city;  but  we  are  praying  that  by  the  blessing  of  God  on  the  endeavor  to 
suppress  and  root  out  these  antagonistic  pul)lications  the  twenty-three 
millions  of  the  people  of  llunau  may  be  brought  under  gospel  inliueuce  and 
the  doors  of  the  province  thrown  open.  But  for  the  various  agencies  men 
are  needed,  and  no  more  glorious  sphere  of  service  can  anywhere  be  found. 
Indeed,  I  am  surprised  that  so  few  of  our  educated  and  well-to-do  young 
men  are  fouiul  to  olTcr  for  this  work.  It  may  be  that  we  have  not  prayed 
enough  for  this  increase  of  laborers.  As  a  Church  we  need  to  get  down 
upon  our  knees  and  pray  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  that  he  will  send  forth 
laborers  into  his  harvest. 

The  motion  for  adjournment  havin_<^  prevailed,  the  doxology 
was  sun^,  and  the  benediction  was  pronounced  by  the  Eev. 
George  Sargeant. 


620  BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS. 


TWELFTH  DA  Y,   Tuesday,    October  20,  1891. 


TOPIC : 
THE  OUTLOOK. 

FIRST    SESSION 


THE  Conference  met  at  10  A,  M.,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Allen, 
of  the  Wesleyan  Metliodist  Chvirch,  presiding.  The  de- 
votional exercises  were  conducted  by  Mr.  Thomas  Woething- 
TON,  of  the  Independent  Metliodist  Church,  and  the  Rev.  John 
Rhodes,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 

The  Journal  of  the  sessions  of  the  preceding  day  was  read, 
amended,  and  approved. 

The  Business  Committee,  through  its  Secretary,  recom- 
mended as  to  the  selection  of  a  deputation  to  the  Pan-Presby- 
terian Council  at  Toronto,  in  September,  1892,  that  the 
Conference  request  the  Board  of  Bishops  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  the  Board  of  Bishops  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  and  the  Special  Committee  of  the 
General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Canada, 
each  to  appoint  a  single  representative  to  constitute  this  depu- 
tation. On  motion,  the  foregoing  recommendation  of  the  Busi- 
ness Committee  was  adopted. 

The  Business  Committee,  through  the  Rev.  J.  AV.  Hamilton, 
D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  presented  the  fol- 
lowing amended  report  as  to  the  constitution  of  the  Executive 
Commission  on  the  next  Ecumenical  Conference: 

The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  question  concerning  a  third 
Ecumenical  Methodist  Conference  recommends  that  such  Conference  be 
held  in  the  year  1901,  subject  to  the  approval  and  direction  of  all  the 
several  bodies  of  Methodists. 

The  committee  respectfully  recommends  the  appointment  of  an  Execu- 
tive Commission,  which  shall  be  constituted  on  the  basis  of  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Ecumenical  Conference,    and  which  shall  consist  of  eighty 


BUSINESS    PKOCEEDINGS.  621 

members.  The  Commission  shall  be  divided  into  two  sections,  ealled 
respectively  the  Eastern  Section  and  the  Western  Section.  The  Eastern 
Section  shall  consist  of  thirty  members,  and  the  Western  Section  of  lifty 
members.  The  Executive  Commission  of  the  Eastern  Section  shall  be  dis- 
tributed among  the  various  branches  of  ^lethodism  in  that  Section,  as 
follows: 

Members. 

Wesloyan  Methodist 10 

Primitive  Methodist 5 

United  Methodist  Free  Church 3 

Methodist  New  Connection 2 

Irish  Methodist 2 

Bible  Christians 2 

Wesleyau  Reformed  Methodist 

Free  Gospel  Church 

Australasian  jMethodist 

French  Methodist   

West  Indian  Methodist 

South  African  Methodist 


Total 30 

The  Western  Section  shall  be  distributed  among  the  various  branches  of 
the  Methodism  represented  in  that  Section,  as  follows: 

Members. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church 18 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South   9 

Methodist  Church  in  Canada 4 

African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 3 

African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Ziou 3 

Colored  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 

Methodist  Protestant  Church .... 

United  Brethren  in  Christ 

American  Wesleyau  Church   

Union  American  Methodist  Episcopal 

African  Union  Methodist  Protestant 

Free  Methodist 

Congregational  ]\IethodiKts 

Primitive  Methodists 

British  Methodists 

Independent  Methodists 

United  Brethren  in  Christ  (Old  Constitution) 

Evantrelical  Association . 


o 


Total    50 

The  Eastern  Section  shall  be  authorized  to  subdivide  in  such  sub- 
sections as  may  be  necessary  to  the  convenience  of  the  more  remote  soci- 
ties  or  Churches. 


622  THE    OUTLOOK. 

In  the  interim  of  the  Ecumenical  Conferences  the  Executive  Commission, 
in  the  exercise  of  the  powers  delegated  to  it,  shall  not  exceed  the  limita- 
tions of  the  Rules  of  the  Ecumenical  Conference. 

In  all  matters  of  fraternal  greetings  the  Executive  Commission  shall  act 
as  a  whole,  where  it  is  practicable,  but  in  instances  where  it  may  not  be 
possible  or  expedient,  each  Section  shall  be  given  the  right,  within  its 
limitations,  to  act  for  itself  or  for  both  Sections. 

All  the  business  of  the  Executive  Commission,  so  far  as  practicable, 
shall  be  conducted  by  correspondence. 

Until  the  several  Conferences  shall  have  appointed  the  members  of  the 
Commission  the  two  sections  of  the  Business  Committee  of  this  Conference 
are  authorized  to  transact  any  necessary  business,  and  especially  to  com- 
municate with  the  several  Conferences. 

The  Rev.  John  Bond  is  instructed  to  act  as  the  secretary  for  the  East- 
ern Section  of  the  Business  Committee  for  such  purpose,  and  the  Rev. 
James  M.  King,  D.D.,  for  the  Western  Section. 

The  Executive  Commission  shall  be  charged  to  make  the  necessary 
arrangements  for  the  next  Ecumenical  Conference,  subject  to  the  approval 
of  the  several  Churches  represented. 

The  foregoing  report  was,  on  motion,  unanimously  adopted. 

The  programme  of  the  day  was  taken  up.  The  Rev.  J.  S. 
Simon,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Churcli,  read  the  following 
appointed  essay,  on  "  Christian  Resources  of  the  Old  World  : "' 

Mr.  President :  Only  a  man  of  most  despondent  mind  could  deny  the  vast 
ness  of  this  subject.  The  Christian  resources  of  the  Old  World  are  innu- 
merable and  immeasurable.  For  that  let  us  thank  God !  The  greatness  of 
the  question  which  we  have  to  discuss  must  be  our  apology  for  any  inade- 
quacy of  treatment.  We  can  only  deal  with  a  few  points.  It  is  neces- 
sary, also,  that  we  should  limit  the  area  which  is  to  be  subjected  to  our 
examination.  We  must  avoid  the  fascination  of  the  phrase,  "the  Old 
World."  If  we  yielded  to  its  influence  we  should  have  to  consider  the 
religious  condition  of  many  countries  which  must  be  resolutely  excluded 
from  our  field  of  vision.  For  instance,  in  dealing  with  the  "  Old  World  " 
it  seems  natural  that  we  should  say  something  about  India.  There,  in 
the  home  of  old  and  mighty  systems  of  religious  thought,  it  is  pos- 
sible at  this  hour  to  watch  the  slow  but  certain  evoluticm  of  Christian 
ideas — ideas  which  will  become  the  ruling  principles  of  that  great  assem- 
blage of  nations.  But  we  dare  not  venture  upon  that  tempting  theme. 
Then  the  continent  of  Europe  surely  is  an  important  part  of  the  ' '  Old 
World  ! "  Those  who  are  watching  the  religious  education  of  the  race 
know  that  ever  since  the  Reformation  a  struggle  has  been  proceeding 
on  the  continent  of  Europe  in  which  the  deepest  interests  of  Christianity 
are  involved.  If  we  take  the  single  case  of  Germany,  how  keen  has  been 
that  contest,  still  undecided,  which  we  believe  will  cud  in  the  complete 
triumph  of  Christ  !     At  the  Reformation  a  people,  drugged  with  super- 


ESSAY    (iF    ULX.    J.    S.    SIMoN.  023 

stition,  awoke  out  of  sk'cp,  roused  by  tlic  brilliunee  of  anew  day.  From 
a  coudilioM  of  patient,  uiiiiujuiriiig  acee[)taiiee  of  theories  about  religiou, 
they  proceeded  to  investigate  the  facts  upon  wliich  those  theories  were 
supposed  to  be  founded.  In  their  investigation  they  were  carried  far 
beyond  the  limits  which  an  eulightenod  reverence  assigns  to  our  processes 
of  intiuiry.  Following  the  lead  of  English  deism,  they  broke  away  from 
tlie  Christian  faith  and  hurried  into  the  indiscretions  and  delusions  of  a 
ruthless  rationalism.  Then  the  needs  of  human  nature  asserted  them- 
selves. The  people  at  large  grew  weary  of  the  husks  of  negation  and  the 
fleeting  waters  of  speculation,  and  began  to  seek  for  a  religion  free  from 
superstition,  satisfactory  to  the  understanding,  sovereign  in  the  domain  of 
the  spirit,  master  of  the  conscience  and  conduct,  mighty  in  its  c<mtcsts 
with  the  miseries  and  mischiefs  of  the  world,  tender  in  its  consolations, 
tirm  in  its  predictions  of  the  future  blessedness  of  the  children  of  God. 
The  problem  of  religion  is  not  yet  worked  out  in  Germany ;  but  no  one 
can  read  such  a  book  as  Bishop  Hurst's  History  of  nationalism  without 
anticipating  a  Christian  solution.  Considerable  time  probably  will  elapse 
before  that  solution  is  reached.  "We  who  by  frantic  elTorts  produce  tran- 
sient results  sometimes  murmur  because  the  Eternal  Worker  fills  an  age 
with  the  processes  that  secure  everlasting  effects.  We  must  be  patient. 
The  day  will  l)reak;  the  shadows  will  flee  awaj'. 

In  this  paper  we  shall  limit  ourselves  to  a  consideration  of  the  Christian 
resources  of  one  part  of  the  "  Old  World  " — that  country  which  is  ine.v- 
pressibly  dear  to  its  children  scattered  throughout  the  earth. 

When  an  Englishman  attempts  to  discern  and  enumerate  the  Christian 
resources  of  his  country  the  manner  and  the  results  of  his  inquiry  will  be 
conditioned  by  the  character  of  his  mind.  If  he  is  what  is  called  "  a  man 
of  business  "  he  will  probably  count  up  the  churches,  chapels,  and  mis- 
sion halls  which  are  to  be  found  in  town  and  ooimtry;  he  will  ascertain 
the  number  of  ministers,  local  preachers,  lay  missionaries,  class-leaders, 
Sunday-school  teachers,  and  other  workers  in  the  immense  army  which  is 
continuously  fighting  against  irreligiou  and  immorality;  he  will  gather 
together  and  study  the  reports  of  all  the  religious  and  philanthropic  so- 
cieties which  seek  to  lessen  the  sum  of  h\unan  misery.  When  he  has 
arranged  his  figures  he  will  point  to  them  and  glory  in  them,  as  indicating 
the  "  resources  of  Christianity."  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  value  of 
this  method  of  inquiry.  We  ought  to  know  our  .strength;  to  see  whether 
we  arc  a  match  for  the  thousands  marching  against  us  ;  to  ascertain 
whether  the  success  of  our  work  bears  any  just  proportion  to  the  means 
which  are  employed.  Admitting  the  value  of  the  statistical  method  of 
inquiry,  we  can  nevertheless  understand  that  there  are  many  thinkens 
who  will  choose  to  approach  the  problem  from  another  side.  We  will  try 
to  place  ourselves  in  their  position,  and  to  share  their  view. 

Matthew  Arnold,  in  a  memorable  passage,  speaks  of  the  Power,  not  our- 
selve.s,  which  mikes  for  righteousness.  That  definition  of  the  undetinable 
God  fails,  Imt  it  will  help  us  now.  What  "  makes  for"  Christ— for  the 
righteousness  which  Christ  represents — at  this  moment  in  England?     If 


C24  THE  OUTLOOK. 

we  can  answer  that  question,  we  shall  be  able  to  discern  the  Christian  re- 
sources of  England. 

What  "makes  for"  Christ?  We  select  this  form  of  the  question  in  or- 
der that  we  may  avoid  a  depressing  error.  It  has  become  necessary  to 
distinguish  between  Christ  and  Christianity.  The  meaning  of  the  latter 
word  has  been  obscured.  To  some  the  success  of  Christianity  means  the 
success  of  their  opinions  about  religion,  or  the  success  of  tlie  particular 
Church  to  which  they  belong.  We  must  emancipate  our  minds  from  this 
mistake.  We  do  not  deny  its  value  as  a  motive  force.  Those  who  only 
see  their  own  side  of  a  question  are  often  splendidly  aggressive  workers, 
much  fitter  than  philosophers  to  lead  forlorn  hopes.  But  in  the  end 
truth  proves  itself  to  be  a  greater  force  than  delusion.  We  will,  therefore, 
agree  that  Christ  may  be  succeeding  even  when  our  notions  concerning 
Christianity  are  unrealized;  that  his  success  is  something  wider  than  the 
success  of  any  single  ecclesiastical  community;  that  he  sometimes  tri- 
umphs by  the  defeat  of  our  opinions,  and  in  sj)ite  of  Churches  that  bear 
his  name. 

The  distinction  we  have  made  between  Christ  and  Christianity  is  not 
due  to  the  play  of  analytic  faculty.  It  is  a  severe  distinction,  which  must 
be  scrupulously  observed.  The  men  Avho  are  in  closest  touch  with  the 
masses  of  the  English  people  are  impressed  with  the  fact  that  while 
theories  about  the  Christian  religion  fail  to  arouse  interest,  the  living  and 
])ersonal  Christ  is  regarded  with  an  increasing  enthusiasm.  This  tendency 
of  the  public  mind  has  been  so  strongly  developed  that,  for  a  time,  sys- 
tematic theology  has  been  threatened  v>'ith  neglect.  Men  who  can  scarcely 
have  bestowed  much  time  on  the  study  of  the  meaning  of  terms  have 
ridiculed  theology  in  the  name  of  Him  who  is  the  greatest  of  all  theolo- 
gians, the  wisdom  and  the  word  of  God.  In  passing,  we  may  say  that 
Ave  regret  the  ill-considered  denunications  which  well-meaning  persons 
have  launched  against  tlie  greatest  of  all  the  sciences.  In  an  age  when 
our  knowledge  of  the  physical  universe  is  being  reduced  to  order,  it  is  not 
wise  to  disparage  the  work  of  those  mighty  thinkers  who  have  faced  spir- 
itual mysteries  and  have  made  them  comprehensible  by  clear  description 
and  definite  expression.  But,  while  paying  our  reverent  tribute  to  sys- 
tematic theology,  we  are  compelled  to  recognize  the  fact  that  in  England 
audiences  are  more  anxious  to  see  Christ,  and  to  hear  what  he  says  about  him- 
self, than  to  listen  to  mere  doctrinal  statements  concerning  the  Christian 
religion.  Instead  of  being  discouraged  by  this  fact,  let  us  recognize  its 
significance.  Does  it  not  remind  us  of  the  apostolic  method  of  preaching? 
We  catch  a  glimpse  of  that  method  in  St.  Paul's  words  to  the  Ephesians: 
"  But  ye  have  not  so  learned  Christ;  if  so  be  that  ye  have  heard  him,  and 
have  been  taught  by  him,  as  the  truth  is  in  Jesus"  (Eph.  iv,  20,  31).  That 
statement  brings  out  a  beautiful  picture.  The  apostolic  preacher  is  hidden 
in  the  light  which  streams  from  Him  whom  he  preaches.  Christ  is  not  only 
the  lesson,  he  is  the  teacher.  Those  who  were  assembled  for  instruction 
"heard  him."  He  exi-)lained  the  truth  which  is  enshrined  in  himself. 
And  as  he  spake,  can  we  doubt  that  the  voice  which  once  sounded  from 


ESSAY    OF   REV.    J.    8.    SIMON.  025 

the  "excellent  glory  "  aguia  declared,  "This  is  my  beloved  Son,  hear 
him !  " 

We  look  upon  this  eagerness  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
as  a  force  "making  for"  Christ  in  England.  It  would  be  interesting  to 
search  out  the  causes  of  the  change  which  has  come  over  the  English 
mind  in  respect  of  the  preaching  which  is  now  the  most  popular.  That 
change  is  vmdoubted  and  remarkable.  The  yearning  for  mere  rhetoric  is 
assuaged.  The  men  who  are  producing  the  greatest  effects  are  more  than 
rhetoricians.  Some  of  them  are  elotjuent ;  and  it  would  be  a  shame  if  the 
splendor  of  their  theme  did  not  affect  their  speech.  A  glorious  Christ 
should  not  be  dully  preached.  But  the  secret  of  their  power  is  that  they 
proclaim  Jesus.  Lifting  him  up,  men  are  every-where  attracted.  "Why 
have  these  preachers  obtained  this  hold  on  the  heart  of  the  British  peo- 
ple? We  may  find  some  faint  suggestion  of  an  answer  in  that  interesting 
book  which  produced  a  temporary  excitement  in  some  circles  not  long 
ago.  In  Robert  Elsmere  Mrs.  Humphry  Ward  leads  her  feebly  resisting 
hero  through  intellectual  experiences  which  conduct  him,  at  last,  to  the 
Jesus  who  lived  and  wrought  in  the  workshop  in  Nazareth.  The  English 
public  has  been  passing  through  a  somewhat  similar  process.  Men  un- 
accustomed to  theological  inquiry  have  been  perplexed  by  biblical  criti- 
cism, and  have  fled  for  refuge  to  the  historical  Christ.  The  liistorical 
Christ!  Not  the  Jesus  of  Robert  Elsjnere,  the  Jesus  who,  altliough  "mir- 
acles do  not  happen,"  miraculously  survives  the  destruction  of  the  best 
authenticated  evidence  concerning  himself.  The  heart  can  never  be  satis- 
fied with  such  a  Saviour.  The  sense  of  sin  resists  the  efforts  of  destructive 
criticism.  While  that  remains,  men  will  reject  the  merely  human  Christ. 
They  will  ask  to  be  led  into  the  presence  of  one  who  can  stretch  out  his 
hand  and  touch  them  and  make  them  clean ;  who  can  give  ease  to  the  con- 
science; who  is  not  only  truth  for  the  intellect,  but  life  for  the  spirit. 
This  phase  of  the  public  mind  is  an  advantage  which  must  be  recognized 
and  used  by  those  who  jiossess  that  complete  Gospel  which  is  "the  power 
of  God  unto  .salvation." 

When  trying  to  estimate  the  Christian  resources  of  England  it  is  imper- 
ative that  we  should  ascertain  if  the  ministers  and  workers  of  the  English 
Churclu's  are  ])repared  to  avail  themselves  of  the  condition  of  the  public 
mind  which  we  have  described.  It  is  difficult  to  arrive  at  a  correct  conclu- 
sion in  this  matter.  Rash  and  unfavorable  decisions  are  rebuked  by  the  rec- 
ollection of  the  apostle's  charity,  who,  in  the  utterances  of  envy  and  strife 
and  of  action,  perceived  a  preaching  of  Christ  in  which  he  rejoiced.  It 
reipiires  a  courage  sustained  by  a  similar  brnad-heartedness  to  face  the 
condition  of  ecclesiastical  life  in  England  at  this  moment.  The  rapid 
diminution  of  the  evangelical  party  in  the  Church  of  England  is  an  omi- 
nous sign.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  remarkable  revival  of  religion 
which  has  occurred  in  the  An<rlican  C'hurch  has  resulted  in  a  great  increase 
of  the  High  Church  Party,  especially  of  that  section  of  the  party  which 
is  composed  of  men  who  are  scarcely  distinguishable  from  Romanists. 
Must  we  number  the  ritualists  among  the  Christian  resources  of  England? 


626  THE    OUTLOOK. 

That  suggests  very  grave  questions.  We  are  compelled  to  ask,  "Is  ritu- 
alism directly  for  Christ?  Is  its  aim  simply  aud  exclusively  the  exaltation 
uud  proclamation  of  the  living  and  life-giving  Saviour? "  Those  who  in- 
vestigate the  "Oxford  movement"  at  its  outset  will  scarcely  affirm  that 
in  distinct  intention  and  as  a  first  step  it  was  a  movement  toward 
Christ.  The  enthusiasm  that  inspired  it  was  excited  by  new  views  of  the 
authoi-ity  of  the  Church  aud  its  clergy,  and  by  very  advanced  teaching  as 
to  the  substance  and  effects  of  the  sacraments.  These  views  were,  ex- 
pressed by  a  symbolic  ceremonialism  which  made  the  priest  the  center  of 
the  service.  If  we  examine  ritualism  now,  v,e  find  that  its  development 
has  been  in  harmony  with  this  beginning.  This  serious  defect  makes  us 
hesitate  in  claiming  the  successes  of  the  extreme  High  Churchmen  as  suc- 
cesses won  for  Christ.  As  far  as  ritualism  has  stopped  men  on  their  way 
to  the  Saviour;  as  far  as  it  has  directed  attention  from  him,  and  fixed  it 
upon  any  human  agency  or  organization ;  as  far  as  it  has  suggested  or 
taught  a  doctrine  which  has  failed  to  recognize  the  priestly  rights  of  the 
one  Mediator  between  God  and  man;  as  far  as  it  has  interfered  with  the 
absolute  spirituality  of  the  Christian  religion,  it  must  be  regarded  as  an 
opponent  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

We  should,  however,  be  unjust  if  we  failed  to  note  that  there  is  light 
in  the  gloom  of  ritualism.  There  are  some  extreme  High  Churchmen  who 
seem  to  emancipate  themselves  from  the  defects  of  their  creed  when  they 
stand  in  the  presence  of  congregations  of  men  and  women  who  yearn  to 
hear  "good  tidings  of  great  joy."  Some  of  the  best  known  Anglican 
mission  preachers  proclaim  Christ  as  simply  and  fully  as  human  lips  can 
preach  him.  In  private  interviews  a  recrudescence  of  sacrameiitarianism 
may  occur,  but  face  to  face  with  crowds  of  dying  men  they  know  only  the 
crucified  Christ.  May  we  not  look  upon  this  as  a  hopeful  sign?  Will  not 
Christ  assert  himself  against  the  obstructions  which  prevent  him  f lom  be- 
ing displayed  before  the  eyes  of  his  people?  Surely  the  stone  will  be  rolled 
away,  and  the  Koman  guard  will  be  scattered. 

Turning  from  the  Episcopal  Church,  we  think  that  we  may  unhesitat- 
ingly declare  that  the  evangelical  Non -conformists  of  England  are  pre- 
pared to  minister  to  that  desire  for  a  living  Christ  which  now  character- 
izes the  public  mind.  We  are  not  unmindful  of  the  "  down-grade"  cbn- 
troversy.  No  doubt  there  are  some  young  men  in  the  dissenting  Churches, 
as  elsewhere,  who  are  troubled  with  an  abnormal  development  of  the  or- 
gan of  destructiveness;  who  revel  in  assailing  creeds  which  they  deem 
"  worn  out."  With  them  heterodoxy  is  a  fetich  which  they  worship  with 
an  irritating  obtrusiveness.  It  is  unfortunate  that  the  theological  mischief, 
maker  has  gained  a  footing  in  some  of  the  dissenting  Churches.  But  we 
must  be  careful  to  distinguish  l^etween  men  who  differ.  It  is  easy  to  label 
those  who  do  not  hold  our  views,  or  do  not  express  them  in  our  way.  We 
are  convinced  that  many  who  have  been  recently  attacked  for  their  too 
great  breadth  of  thought  are  unwavering  believers  in  the  central  truths 
of  the  Gospel.  We  cannot  believe  that  the  rightly  described  "down- 
grade "  man  is  a  prevailing  type  in  the  dissenting  Churches.     On  the  con- 


ESSAY    OF   liEV.    J.    S.    SIMON. 


G27 


trary,  we  rejoice  to  know  that  the  luimber  of  ministers  who  preach  Christ 
in  those  Churches  has  renuirlvably  increased  during  the  hist  thirty  years. 
Within  that  jjcriod  there  has  been  a  striking  revival  of  evangelistic  preach- 
ino-  in  the  Baptist  Churches,  chiefly  attributable  to  the  work,  example, 
and  intluence  of  that  mighty  man  of  God,  Charles  H.  Spurgeon.  Then, 
all  careful  observers  must  have  noted  the  (juiet  but  irresistible  advance  of 
the  Enolish  Presbyterian  Church.  That  advance  is  phenomenal.  All  who 
know  the  character  of  the  Presbyterians  will  agree  that  their  prosperity 
south  of  the  border  is  one  of  the  most  encouraging-  signs  of  the  times. 
They  have  greatly  augmented  the  Christian  resources  of  England. 

In  such  an  assembly  as  this  we  are  chiefly  concerned  with  the  spirit  and 
work  of  Methodism.  How  do  we,  as  preachers  and  workers,  stand  related 
to  that  craving  for  Christ  which  we  have  described  ?  If  we  are  true  to 
our  doctrines  and  our  traditions,  then  we  ought  to  be  pre-eminently  fitted 
for  this  crisis.  The  wisdom  of  John  Wesley  was  nowhere  more  conspicu- 
ously displayed  than  in  his  selection  of  the  standard  of  doctrinal  belief  to 
which  his  preachers  are  still  compelled  to  conform.  That  belief  was  ex- 
pressed in  sentences  of  crystal  clearness.  Wesley  tells  us  that  in  writing 
his  sermons  he  abstained  from  "all  nice  and  philosophical  speculations," 
and  from  "  all  perplexed  and  intricate  reasonings."  He  labored  "  to  avoid 
all  words  which  are  not  easy  to  be  understood,  or  which  are  not  used  in 
common  life;  and,  in  particular,  those  kinds  of  technical  terms  that  so  fre- 
quently occur  in  bodies  of  divinity;  those  modes  of  speaking  which  men 
of  reading  are  intimately  acquainted  with,  but  Avhich  to  common  people 
are  an  unknown  tongue."*  In  simple,  lucid  language  he  described  the 
doctrines  which  he  embraced  and  taught  "as  the  essentials  of  true  re- 
ligion." In  this  admirably  expressed  creed  Christ  stands  at  the  center, 
and  his  glory  streams  to  every  part  of  the  circumference.  As  long  as 
Methodist  preachers  are  loyal  to  their  doctrines,  a  witness  for  Jesus 
Christ  must  be  perpetually  borne  in  the  presence  of  the  English  people. 

We  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  English  Methodists  are  true  to 
their  doctrines.  That  faithfulness  may  be  considered  as  one  of  the  forces 
"  making  for  Christ  "  in  England.  Loyal  to  our  doctrines,  are  we  main- 
taining our  traditions?  That  is  a  question  which  closely  concerns  our 
efficiency  and  our  hope  of  ultimate  success.  We  will  pass  by  several  as- 
pects of  this  inquiry,  and  fix  our  attention  on  one.  At  the  beginning,  the 
mission  of  Methodism  was  national.  It  aimed  at  awakening  the  conscience 
of  the  national  clergy.  Then,  it  found  its  true  sphere  among  the  people 
of  England.  Encouraged  by  success,  it  looked  abroad  and  claimed 
the  world  as  its  parish.  Its  spirit  was  catholic;  the  creed  it  proclaimed 
was  supreme  love  for  God  and  the  universal  love  of  man;  it  was  fitly 
described  by  Wesley  as  "a  manly,  noble,  generous  religion,  equally  re- 
mote from  the  meanness  of  superstition,  which  places  religion  in  doing 
what  God  hath  not  enjoined,  and  abstaining  from  what  he  hath  not  for- 
bidden; and  from  the  unkindness  of  bigotry,  which  confines  our  alTection 


•  Sermons,  Pref.  il. 


628  THE   OUTLOOK. 

to  our  own  party,  sect,  oroj^inion."*  It  possessed  all  the  characteristics  of 
a  religion  destined  to  be  universally  accepted. 

It  is  essential  that  this  characteristic  of  early  Methodism  should  be 
maintained.  England  needs  our  doctrines,  our  ethics,  oar  spirit  as  much — 
nay,  more — than  ever.  We  must  recognize  the  fact  that  we  are  a  national 
Church  charged  with  a  national  mission.  We  must  not  "give  up  to  a 
sect  what  is  meant  for  mankind."  Scrupulously  careful  to  preserve  those 
organizations  of  our  Church  which  experience  has  shown  to  be  of  priceless 
value  in  guarding  and  advancing  the  spiritual  life ;  intensely  anxious  to 
maintain  the  moral  force  which  springs  from  purity  of  heart  and  conduct, 
resisting  with  invincible  courage  every  attempt  to  weaken  our  testimony 
concerning  Christ  and  his  salvation,  let  us  be  mindful  of  those  who  are 
outside  the  boundaries  of  our  Church.  Let  us  bring  the  influence  of  our 
Church  to  bear  on  them.  Then  the  people  who  sit  in  darkness  will  see  a 
great  light,  and  to  them  which  sit  in  the  region  and  shadow  of  death  will 
light  spring  up. 

Those  who  insist  upon  the  national  mission  of  Methodism  have  much  to 
encourage  them  at  the  present  time.  Methodist  ministers  and  people  are 
entering  into  public  life  and  assisting  in  the  solution  of  national  problems. 
The  remarkable  success  of  our  mission  halls  and  our  mission  workers  has  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  the  English  people,  and  they  are  beginning  to 
understand  our  character  and  our  aspirations.  Especially  they  are  learn- 
ing that  our  testimony  concerns  the  living  Christ.  That  is  the  witness 
which  England  requires.  We  are  so  convinced  of  this  fact  that  we  wel- 
come every  thing  that  brings  our  Church  in  its  true  character  into  promi- 
nence. For  the  glory  of  God  we  wish  to  be  conspicuous.  We  cry  aloud 
in  the  street ;  we  utter  our  voice  in  the  broad  places ;  we  cry  in  the  chief 
place  of  concourse;  at  the  entering  in  of  the  gates  and  in  the  city  we  utter 
our  words,  that  men  may  be  convinced  of  the  folly  and  guilt  of  sin,  and 
allured  to  Christ  their  Saviour. 

In  surveying  the  Christian  forces  of  England  we  have  to  direct  our 
attention  to  organizations  which  do  not  claim  for  themselves  a  distinct 
ecclesiastical  position.  We  have  only  time  to  refer  to  one  of  them.  The 
Salvation  Army  has  made  its  mark.  It  is  difficult  to  tabulate  its  successes. 
It  numbers  among  its  officers  many  who  were  Christian  people  before  they 
joined  its  ranks.  It  has  to  a  considerable  extent  thriven  on  the  losses  of 
the  Churches  of  England,  especially  on  the  losses  of  the  Methodist 
Churches.  But,  in  addition,  the  Army  has  made  decisive  inroads  upon  the 
dense  masses  of  the  unconverted  population.  It  would  be  a  mistake  to 
sui:)pose  that  this  section  of  the  people  of  England  was  overlooked  or  un- 
touched before  General  Booth  commenced  his  campaign.  The  alleys  and 
courts  of  our  large  towns  have  been  for  along  time  the  scene  of  the  quiet 
toils  of  the  city  missionaries,  Bible-women,  tract  distributors,  sick  visit- 
ors, and  of  those  noble  workers  who  have  preached  Christ  witli  their  lips 
and  displayed  the  spirit  of  his  sacrifice  in  their  lives.      "  Outcast  London  '" 

*  Works,  Vol.  viil,  p.  357,  8vo  ed. 


ESSAY    OF   REV.    J.    S.    SIMON.  629 

did  very  well  for  llie  title  of  ;i  piiniphlct,  but  the  Christiiin  Chuich  has 
never  east  out  tlie  degraded  and  abandoned  them  to  their  fate.  The  ten- 
der pity  of  Christ  has  always  htid  some  representative  in  the  darkest 
homes  of  misery  and  vice.  But  we  think  that  all  unprejudiced  spectators 
will  agree  that  the  Salvation  Army  has  attacked  English  heathenism  with 
a  better  metliod  and  a  more  sustained  effort  than  have  hithei-to  been  used. 
It  has  met  with  its  reward.  It  is  easy  to  criticise  the  Army,  but  enough 
has  been  achieved  to  induce  wise  men  to  suspend  their  judgment;  to  be 
slow  in  tlieir  criticism  and  swift  in  their  sympathy. 

In  estimating  the  Christian  resources  of  England  we  have  concerned 
ourselves  chiefly  with  the  work  of  the  Churches  and  of  directly  religious 
organizations,  but  our  review  would  be  incomplete  if  we  did  not  recog- 
nize that  outside  such  Churches  and  organizations  there  is  a  power  which 
is  accomplishing  the  purposes  of  Christ.  Christ  is  light,  and  every  thing 
that  emits  light  is  of  him  and  for  him.  Those  who  watch  the  course  of 
events  in  England  know  that  a  new  spirit  is  manifesting  itself  in  public 
life.  That  life  is  being  lifted  to  a  higher  level.  It  has  been  decided  that 
flagrant  immorality  cannot  be  tolerated  in  a  public  man ;  and  that  decis- 
ion is  ])ractically  universal.  Then  light  is  contending  with  the  darkness 
of  popular  ignorance,  and  gradually  that  darkness  is  being  dispersed.  It 
is  admitted  on  all  hands  that  crime  in  Englan^l  is  diminishing.  Our 
criminal  judges  suggest  that  this  diminution  is  the  effect  of  a  more  widely 
extended  education.  We  should  be  inclined  to  supplement  that  explana- 
tion ;  but  we  welcome  the  light  of  education  in  the  name  of  the  Lord. 
The  work  of  our  temperance  societies  is  telling  on  the  vice  of  drunken- 
ness, and  the  course  of  legislation,  influenced  bj'  the  action  of  men  who 
are  awaking  to  the  duties  of  Christian  citizenship,  is  in  favor  of  sobriety, 
and  antagonistic  to  the  national  curse.  The  interest  which  is  being  ex- 
cited in  the  social  condition  of  the  people,  the  effort  to  relieve  the  drudg- 
erj'  of  life  by  innocent  recreation,  the  attempt  to  refine  the  taste  and 
elevate  the  tone  of  all  classes  by  the  influence  of  art,  the  improvement  in 
family  life  which  has  been  effected  by  those  who  have  followed  in  the 
footsteps  of  George  Peabody  and  cared  for  the  housing  of  the  working 
classes — all  these  things  indicate  that  the  spirit  of  Christ  is  displaying 
itself  in  the  nation,  ^\'e  know  that  the  powers  of  darkness  are  stubbornly 
contesting  every  inch  of  the  ground,  but  who  can  doubt  the  issue  of  the 
strife  ?  On  our  side  fights  every  intellectual,  moral,  and  social  force  that 
scatters  the  gloom  of  ignorance,  that  advances  purity  and  sobriety,  that 
secures  the  true  "  rights  of  man."  As  Christians  we  welcome  the  assist- 
ance of  every  one  who  aims  a  blow  at  evil  and  shields  that  which  is  good. 
But,  after  all,  our  confidence  chiefly  rests  in  the  men  and  women  who 
confess  Christ  as  their  JMaster,  and  who  believe  that  his  Gospel  is  the  true 
remedy  for  the  sins  and  sorrows  of  the  world.  And  when  our  fears  be- 
cloud our  faith,  when  our  hearts  fail  us  because  Christian  workers  seem 
helpless  in  the  battle,  we  remember  the  words  which,  faded  on  the  lips  of 
John  "Wesley,  to  be  treasured  and  repeated  by  his  children  throughout 
the  world:   "  The  best  of  all  is,  God  is  with  us!  " 


GoO  THE    OUTLOOK. 

The  Ecv.  J.  C.  Watts,  D.D.,   of  tlie  Metliodist  New  Con 
nexion,  gave  the  following  invited  address,  on  "  Christian  Re- 
sources of  the  Old  World  :  " 

In  discussing  our  theme  we  must  first  "fence  the  tables,"  as  our  Pres- 
byterian friends  say.  There  is  (1)  the  time  limit — but  fifteen  minutes! 
and  (2)  the  sphere  limit,  namely,  to  the  natural,  for  the  supernatural  re- 
sources are  the  same  for  the  Old  World  and  the  New  World,  except  that 
the  supernatural  is  always  in  favor  of  the  New;  for  when  God  makes  any 
thing  new  he  makes  it  better.  That  is  why  America  is  superior  in  many 
respects  to  Europe,  and  why  Americans  never  boast  of  the  fact,  for 
"  What  have  they  that  they  have  not  received  ?  "  The  spiritual  resources 
of  "the  holy  Church  throughout  all  the  world"  are  "the  exceeding 
riches  of  grace."  Yet  with  the  same  divine  promises  as  the  earlier 
Church,  we  have  in  these  later  days  greater  providential  facilities  for  the 
prosecution  of  Christian  work  on  a  scale  of  magnificence  and  with  a  splen- 
did muuiliccnce  beyond  that  of  any  previous  period  in  the  history  of  the 
Church  of  Christ. 

In  estimating  our  resources  we  note: 

1.  Oreater  Numbers. — The  numerical  growth  of  the  Christian  Church  is 
very  important,  for  redeemed  men  rightly  equipped  and  directed  arc  the 
best  resources  of  a  Church.  They  are  omnipotent.  They  ' '  turn  the  world 
upside  dowm."  One  of  them  said:  "  I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ 
which  strengtheneth  me."  Yet  in  the  Old  World  the  advance  is  not  so 
rapid  as  we  could  wish.  State  Churchism  is  in  most  European  countries 
the  great  hinderance  to  real  Christian  progress.  The  ideal  commonwealth  is 
expressed  in  Count  Cavour's  flue  diction :   "A  free  Church  in  a  free  State." 

2.  Orowing  Wealth. — Yet  our  monetary  resources  are  not  so  fully  uti- 
lized in  Christian  enterprises  as  they  should  be.  The  "silver  and  gold" 
belong  unto  the  Lord.  But  wealth  is  too  frequently  hoarded.  So  long  as 
thousands  are  perishing  in  grievous  poverty,  and  so  long  as  heathendom 
is  unevangelized,  a  Christian  millionaire  should  be  an  impossibility. 

3.  Widening  Irdelligence. — In  this  there  has  been  marked  improvement 
during  the  last  fifty  years.     As  Tennyson  says : 

"  The  thoughts  of  men  are  widening  with  the  process  of  the  suns." 

Our  intellectual  resources  are  multiplying  marvelously.  Our  Sunday  and 
day  schools,  our  universities  and  colleges,  are  rendering  invaluable  serv- 
ice in  the  elevation  of  our  people.  Modern  culture  is  worthily  repre- 
sented in  British  Methodism  by  such  names  as  Dr.  Moulton,  Pope, 
Dallinger,  Arthur,  Beet,  Davison,  and  Findlay.  We  need  not  fear  the 
startling  discoveries  in  natural  science  nor  the  equally  startling  discoveries 
of  biblical  scholarship.  The  verifiable  cannot  be  gainsaid.  All  that  is 
fit  to  survive  will  outlive  the  evolution  and  revolution  of  these  stirring 
times,  for  what  has  a  right  to  live  cannot  die.  Have  faith  in  God !  More- 
over, this  increasing  breadth  of  thought  is  giving  us  power  to  lay  hold  of 
all  classes  for  Christ.     Truth  is  many-sided.     We  Avelcome  thorough  and 


ADDRKSS    OF    KEV.    J.    C.    WATTS.  631 

rt'vcrcnt  research.  "Where  the  S})int  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is  liberty.'" 
Therefore  the  largest  freedom  of  thought,  expression,  and  action,  conso- 
nant with  loyalty  to  truth,  should  be  encouraged.  Perhaps  we  have  yet  to 
learn  the  profound  spiritual  significance  of  our  Lord's  words:  "The truth 
shall  make  you  free."  Truth  is  not  a  chain  to  bind,  but  a  scepter  to 
wield. 

4.  Undeveloped  Resources  of  Adaptation. — Christianity  is  cosmopolitan. 
It  is  adapted  to  all  the  nationalities  of  the  Old  AVorld — the  Scandinavian, 
Teutonic,  Celtic,  Slavonic,  Asiatic,  and  African — and  to  every  variety  of 
temperament  and  taste  in  each  laud.  Divine  grace  has  marvelous  elas- 
ticity. God  saves  men  through  their  environment.  The  Church  is  slowly 
recognizing  this  fact,  and  is  adapting  her  methods  to  modern  needs. 
Whether  in  the  stately  cathedral  or  the  humble  chapel,  with  simple  or 
ornate  ritual,  with  pealing  organ  or  ringing  tambourine,  God  will  honor 
an  earnest,  spiritual,  and  faithful  ministry.  Christianity  has  breadth 
enough  to  embrace  and  sanctify  all  reverent  and  sincere  service.  Best 
assured  that  the  Church  that  becomes  "all  things  to  all  men,  if  by  any 
means  it  may  save  some,"  is  the  Church  of  the  future. 

5.  Facilities  for  Evangelism. — Old  barriers  are  being  broken  down. 
Nations  which  formerly  knew  little  of  each  other  are  now  in  constant  in- 
tercourse. Through  the  telegraph  every  mountain  range  becomes  a  vast 
whispering  gallery  under  the  cathedral  dome  of  heaven.  Commerce  and 
science  are  effecting  a  fusion  of  nationalities.  And  though  the  masses  of 
the  people  in  the  Old  World  are  largely  alienated  from  the  Christian  Church, 
yet  we  believe  that  the  lands  now  under  the  sway  of  the  Greek  and  Latin 
Churches  shall  soon  be  profoundly  stirred  by  the  inflowing  of  the  new  life 
of  the  Gospel,  and  as  millions  feel  the  inspiration  of  the  freshening  breeze 
and  the  swell  of  the  inrolliug  tide  the  old  superstitions  shall  be  swept 
away,  and  the  ransomed  nations  in  their  holy  gladness  shall  lay  their  pre- 
cious things  in  grateful  tribute  at  the  Saviour's  feet. 

Even  in  the  British  Isles,  so  long  the  liome  of  Christianity,  multitudes 
are  still  outside  the  ]iale  of  the  Church  because  the  immense  resources  of 
freshness  and  energy  in  our  young  people  and  of  gentleness  and  grace  in 
our  women  have  not  yet  been  fully  enlisted  for  Christ.  We  must  not 
forget  that  the  forces  of  the  Gospel  are  in  the  masses  of  the  people.  There 
are  infinite  resources  in  our  laity  still  undeveloped.  But  Eastern  Method- 
ism is  waking  up  to  a  new  life  imder  the  leadership  of  such  noble  men  as 
Champness,  Hughes,  and  Thompson.  Their  splendid  enthusiasm  is  en- 
kindling others,  for  even 

"  Weak  words  are  mighty  that  with  heart-blood  beat." 

Gifted  youth  and  godly  ladies  are  now  devoting  themselves  to  manifold 
ministries  of  Christly  love  for  the  salvation  of  men. 

Finally,  we  are  gaining  power  by  our 

G.  Growing  Unity. — Union  is  strength.  Angularities  and  asperities  arc 
gradually  disappearing;  brotherly  courtesy  is  working  wonders  of  assimi- 
lation.    In  the  deepest  heart  of  the  Church  the  divine  spirit  has  wrought 


632  THE    OCTLOOK. 

nil  irrepressible  yearning  for  union.  Hence  the  union  of  Presbyterian 
Churches  and  of  Baptist  Churches  in  England  and  of  Methodism  in  Can- 
ada. If  John  Wesley  were  among  us  to-day  he  would  say,  as  did  an 
earlier  John,  "'  Little  children,  love  one  another."  While  we  dej^lore  our 
remaining  divisions,  we  should  bear  in  mind  how  oft  in  nature  the  fairest 
bloom  of  vegetation  and  the  richest  fullness  of  organic  life  spring  out  of  a 
state  of  confusion  and  chaos,  when  the  elemental  powers,  after  a  long 
struggle  and  conflict,  settle  at  last  into  a  state  of  harmonious  equipoise, 
unite  and  fructify,  and  in  some  happy  creative  moment,  when  the  great 
struggle  is  over,  give  birth  to  new  and  more  beautiful  forms  of  existence. 

"May  not  all  discords  to  one  concord  lead  ?" 

even  "  to  that  infinite  harmony  whose  name  is  God !  " 

What  a  solemn  responsibility,  then,  rests  upon  this  generation!  What 
may  we  not  accomplish  with  our  ever-accumulating  resources!  "The 
people  that  do  know  their  God  shall  be  strong,  and  do  exploits."  O,  if 
"  the  men  of  this  generation  "  are  true  to  God,  if  they  march  boldly  down 
the  coming  years  to  the  music  of  redemption,  then  the  advent  of  the  next 
generation  will  find  us  exultant  over  a  united  Methodism  with  the  glorious 
prospect  of  a  uiiiveisal  Christianity.  We  siiall  delightedly  catch  the  first 
sounds  of  the  ringing  of  the  sweet  millennial  bells,  and  hail  the  day-dawn 
glistening  on  the  summit  of  the  distant  hills.     O,  Spirit  of  the  living  God, 

"  Speed  on  thy  glorious  way  ; 
Wake  up  the  sleeping  lands; 
]\Iillions  are  watching  for  the  ray. 
And  lift  to  thee  their  hands." 

Chancellor  Edward  Mayes,  of  tlio  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  read  the  following  appointed  essay,  on  "  Chris- 
tian Kesonrces  of  the  New  "World  :  " 

Mr.  President:  It  is  not  possible  in  this  paper,  nor,  indeed,  in  a  volume, 
to  give  an  accurate  and  exhaustive  summary  of  the  Christian  resources  of 
the  New  World.  Many  weeks  of  patient  and  painstaking  investigation 
have  resulted  only  in  the  ascertainment  of  the  facts  that  the  sources  of  in- 
formation are  very  few,  and  that  the  information  obtainable  from  them  is 
fragmentary  and  doubtful.  Only  in  a  few  instances  have  statistics  on  re- 
ligious topics  been  collected  by  governments;  and  even  then  but  to  a 
limited  extent,  and  in  diverse  methods.  Many  of  the  collections  made  by 
church  organizations  are  so  inartiflciall}'  done  as  to  abound  in  troublesome 
and  embarrassing  ambiguities ;  while  several  of  the  most  powerful  Chris- 
tian bodies  seem  to  make  no  official  compilations — among  these  being  the 
Church  of  England  and  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 

However,  while,  for  the  reasons  now  hinted  rather  than  explained,  it  is 
not  possible  to  get  the  whole  truth,  we  may  get  some  interesting  and  val- 
uable facts;  and  while  we  may  be  unable  to  speak  witli  exactness  always, 
it  is  possible  to  make,  in  many  cases,  important  estimates  based  on  ascer- 
tained facts,  and  to  make  them  with  a  degree  of  confidence. 


ESSAY    OF    CHANCELLOR    EDWAKD    MAYES.  633 

You  are  requested  to  fix  your  attention,  in  the  outset,  on  the  southern 
boundary  of  the  United  States.  That  boundary  is  not  only  the  line,  roughly 
speaking,  between  the  Latin  and  the  Germanic  races,  which  have  migrated 
to  the  New  World,  but  also  is  that  between  Catholicism  and  Protestant- 
ism; between  those  two  great  divisions,  ethnological  and  theological,  of 
the  Christian  peoples,  which  have  contended  against  each  other  for  now 
many  hundred  years.  But  your  attention  is  not  called  to  it  for  the  pur- 
pose of  passing  those  controversies  in  review,  or  of  adding  to  them,  or  of 
furthering  them  in  any  way.  It  is  only  to  indicate  clearly  the  two  grand 
divisions  of  the  New  World,  from  the  Christian  point  of  view ;  divisions 
within  which,  because  of  the  great  differences  in  church  polity  and  or- 
ganization, the  Christian  resources  are  also  different,  and  must  be  differ- 
ently treated. 

South  of  the  United  States  all  of  the  New  World  is  Roman  Catholic ; 
except  that  in  the  British  possessions  (comprising  the  Bahamas,  Barba- 
does,  British  Guiana,  British  Honduras,  Jamaica,  British  Leeward  Islands, 
the  Windward  Islands,  the  Bermudas,  Trinidad,  and  Tobago)  the  prevail- 
ing religion  is  that  of  the  Church  of  England;  while  in  Dutch  Guiana  and 
in  the  Danish  Leeward  Islands  it  is  Lutheranism.  In  the  Argentine  Re- 
public, in  Uruguay,  in  Mexico,  and  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands  Protestant- 
ism has  some  foothold;*  elsewhere,  little  or  none.  This  entire  region, 
with  the  enumerated  exceptions,  will  in  this  paper  be  designated  "the 
Catholic  New  World."  Throughout  its  entire  extent,  with  the  single  un- 
enviable exception  of  Ecuador,  all  religions  are  tolerated.  In  the  Argen- 
tine Republic,  Bolivia,  Chili,  Columbia,  Costa  Rica,  Ecuador,  Honduras, 
Paraguay,  Uruguay,  and  Peru  Catholicism  is  established  as  the  State  religion. 

In  the  United  States  and  in  the  British  possessions  of  North  America 
the  prevailing  religion  is  Protestantism;  and  they,  together  with  the  ex- 
cepted States  named  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  will  be  designated 
herein  "the  Protestant  New  World."  In  this  region  there  is  a  very  large 
Catholic  element,  nvmibering  a  population  of  about  9,640,000  in  a  total  of 
69,150,000,  or  about  one  seventh  of  the  whole. 

With  this  general  view  of  the  field  over  which  our  investigations  must 
extend,  we  are  prepared  now  to  descend  into  particulars. 

Christianity  is  for  man ;  God  has  no  need  of  it ;  brutes  cannot  accept 
it.  It  is  the  divine  beneficence  to  those  whom  God  has  created,  and 
created  in  his  own  image.  It  seeks,  as  is  shown  by  both  the  teaching  and 
the  example  of  Christ  while  he  was  with  us,  two  general  results:  first, 
and  mainly,  man's  salvation  and  eternal  bliss  in  the  world  to  come;  sec- 
ondly, the  consolation  of  his  sorrows  and  the  relief  of  his  physical  ills  in 
this  world.  Whatever  means,  then,  whether  material  or  moral,  are  pos- 
sessed by  Christ's  people,  and  are  used  for  any  or  all  of  those  puqioses, 
and  in  his  name,  are  to  be  counted  as  Christian  resources. 

♦Buenos  Ayres  has  more  Protestant  churches  than  any  other  city  in  South  America.  There 
were  In  1889  one  hundred  and  nineteen  Protestant  Churches  In  the  States  of  Mexico. 

The  Queen  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  belongs  to  the  Church  of  Enf^land,  and  there  is  a  bishop 
at  Honolulu. 

43 


C)U 


THE    OUTLOOK. 


1.  Now,  mind  enkindles  mind;  soul  moves  soul.  The  dynamic  in- 
fluence of  spirits  aroused  by  a  pure  and  lofty  passion  is  no  secret  to  the 
philosopher,  Christian  or  other;  it  is  the  electricity  of  the  moral  world. 
Obviously,  therefore,  the  first  and  the  most  important  thing  to  be  con- 
sidered is  the  Christian  people — the  membership  of  the  army  of  the 
Church  militant.  The  following  table  will  give  the  numbers  in  the  Prot- 
estant New  "World,  as  nearly  as  they  can  be  ascertained : 


Adventists 

Baptists 

Catholics  (non-Roman) 

Christian  Union 

Congregiitionalists 

Episcopalians  (includes  Church  of  England). 
Friends 


Communicants. 


German  Elvangelical 

Lutherans 

Mennoiiites 

Methodists 

Moravians 

New  Jerusalem  (Swedenborgians). 

Plymouth  Brethren 

Presbyterians 

Reformed 

Salvation  Army 

Unitarians 

Uuiversalists 


Total  non-Roman  Catholics 

Roman  Catholics  in  United  States 

Roman  Catholics  in  British  and  Dutch   and  Danish 
possessions 


Total  in  Protestant  New  World. 


59,792 

4,318,532 

26,454 

120.000 

506,832 

761,558 

108,568 

223,588 

1,192,743 

102,671 

5,270,612 

16,781 

6,000 

2,279 

1,480,665 

291,378 

8,771 

20,500 

44,082 


14,327,938 
6,250,045 

2,084,402 


22,662,385 


Ministers. 


780 

32,513 

45 

500 

4,790 

6,800 

1,032 

930 

5,064 

665 

*54,760 

168 

113 

none 

11,910 

1,420 

1,024 

520 

705 


123,739 
6,250 

2,084 


132,073 


One  feature  of  the  foregoing  table  needs  explanation.  It  is  the  custom 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  for  baptized  persons  to  make  their  first 
communion  between  the  ages  of  nine  and  eleven  years.  For  this  reason 
the  numbers  given  represent  about  eighty-five  per  cent,  of  the  entire 
Catholic  population.  Now,  as  is  well  known,  the  Protestants  work  on  a 
different  plan,  their  church  members  communicating  from  a  more  or  less 
fervent  personal  piety,  and  numbering  only  about  twenty-five  per  cent,  of 
their  respective  followings.  It  is  manifest  that  the  matter-of-course  system 
adopted  by  the  Catholics,  while  it  greatly  swells  the  church  lists,  yet 
must  include  vast  numbers  who  have  no  genuine  religious  life.  If  it  be 
desired  to  translate  the  Catholic  estimates  into  terms  of  equal  value  with 
those  of  Protestant  communicants,  it  can  be  done  approximately — assum- 
ing that  in  this  country  the  adherents  of  the  two  faiths  have  about  equal 
proportions  of  their  members  who  are  of  pious   inclinations.     It  will  be 


*  Includes  24,080  local  preachers. 


ESSAY    OF   CHANCELLOK    EDWARD   MAYES. 


635 


done  by  taking  one  fourth  of  the  entire  Catholic  population  of  the  Prot- 
estant New  World  to  represent  those  who  are  about  in  the  spiritual  con- 
dition of  the  average  Protestant  communicant.  Modifying  the  table  ac- 
cordingly, the  result  is  this : 

Protestiint  communicants  as  above 14,327,938 

Catliolic  communicants  of  equal  value,  say 2,410,000 

Ministers  aud  priests 132,073 

Grand  total 16,870,011 

which  is  one  fourth  of  the  entire  population. 

This  enormous  statement  must  arrest  attention.  Before  its  numbers  the 
massed  armies  of  all  Europe  dwindle.  The  total  is  four  times  as  great  as 
was  that  of  our  entire  population  one  century  ago.  These  peoples  hold 
firmly  to  a  loving  faith  in  the  existence  and  the  mercies  of  a  personal  God 
and  a  divine  Christ.  With  a  trust  which  is  unalterable,  they  stand  upon 
the  Bible  as  upon  a  great  rock  of  refuge.  It  is  the  most  tremendous  ver- 
dict of  all  history.  The  people  who  have  rendered  it  are  of  varied  national- 
ities and  numerous  sects ;  but  the  Christianity  itself  is  an  established  and 
undeniable  fact. 

2.  But  hopeful  as  is  this  statement,  it  is  not  all.  In  connection  with  it 
must  be  considered  the  Sunday-schools,  those  inestimably  precious  feeders 
of  the  Church.  The  little  children  in  hosts  are  being  led  to  the  gentle 
and  loving  Saviour,  whose  calling  of  them  unto  himself  is,  perhaps,  the 
most  beautiful  story  of  all  the  beautiful  Gospel.     Here  are  the  statistics : 


Sunday-    Teachers  and 
schools.         Ufflcers. 

Scholars. 

Total. 

United  States 

Canada 

108,939 

6,706 

314 

2,185 

1,151.340 

55,924 

2,162 

9,673 

8,649,131 

474,296 

22,817 

110,233 

9,800,471 

530,220 

24.979 

119,906 

Newfoundland  and  Labrador 

West  Indies 

Total 

118,144 

1,219,099 

9,256,477 

10.475,576 

This  table  does  not  include  returns  from  the  Roman  Catholic  and  other 
non-evangelical  Churches,  except  as  to  the  State  of  Maryland.  Perhaps 
700,000  scholars  should  be  added  in  order  to  include  the  Catholic  schools 
of  the  United  States  (that  being  the  estimate  given  by  the  Xew  York 
World)  and  200,000  for  the  other  territories  named  ;  making  a  total 
pupilage  of  about  10,150,000. 

3.  Let  us  now  turn  to  the  great  auxiliary  societies — the  flying  squad- 
rons, the  sappers  and  miners,  which  circle  about  the  great  array  of  Christ, 
and  prepare  the  way  for  its  movements.  They  are  of  various  kinds,  but 
all  have  certain  common  characteristics.  They  are  undenominational; 
they  are  evangelical ;  they  are  philanthropical.  Either  they  have  no 
creeds,  or  else  very  simple  ones.  All  are  followers  of  the  crucitied  Christ. 
"In  His  Name,"  is  the  motto  of  one;  and  it  is  the  spirit  of  till. 


636  THE    OUTLOOK. 

(1)  "  The  Young  People's  Societies  of  Christian  Endeavor  "  were  founded 
in  1881.  There  is  no  connection  between  them  except  a  voluntary  fra- 
ternal one.  They  are  local  organizations,  affiliating  with  single  churches, 
of  all  evangelical  creeds.  Their  purjjose  is  to  aid  in  the  "  training  of  young 
converts  for  the  duties  of  church  membership;  to  promote  an  earnest 
Christian  life  among  their  members ;  to  increase  their  mutual  acquaintance ; 
and  to  make  them  more  useful  in  the  service  of  God."  Ten  years  cover 
their  history;  and  yet  they  have  grown  in  the  United  States  and  the 
British  provinces  into  16,023  societies,  with  a  membership  of  about 
993,500. 

(2)  "  The  Order  of  the  King's  Daughters  "  originated  in  1886.  Its  members 
are  bound  individually  and  collectively  to  serve  the  needy  and  the  suffer- 
ing. Each  circle  may  choose  its  own  method  of  labor,  but  cannot  escape 
the  obligation  of  service.  It  deals  with  every  topic  by  which  women  may 
be  made  helpful  to  humanity.  Its  membership  is  about  200,000.  The 
King's  Sons  is  an  organization  for  men  and  boys,  similar  in  purpose  to  the 
King's  Daughters,  and  is  managed  by  that  society. 

(3)  ' '  The  Christian  Alliance  "  was  organized  in  1 887,  and  is  sj^reading  rap- 
idly through  the  United  States  and  Canada.  All  professing  Christians 
are  eligible  to  membership.  Its  objects  are  "  the  wide  diffusion  of  the 
Gospel  in  its  fullness,  the  promotion  of  a  deeper  and  higher  Christian 
life,  and  the  work  of  evangelization,  especially  among  the  neglected 
classes,  by  highway  missions  and  any  other  practicable  methods."  In 
New  York  city  a  special  work  is  done  for  fallen  girls  by  means  of  ' '  The 
Door  of  Hope." 

(4)  "  The  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  "  were  founded  in  London 
in  1844;  introduced  into  America  in  1851.  They  seek  to  extend  Christ's 
kingdom  among  men,  and  maintain  loyalty  to  all  the  interests  of  all  evan- 
gelical Churches.  They  have,  as  means,  gymnasiums,  libraries,  reading- 
rooms,  schools,  chapels.  In  the  United  States  and  the  British  possessions 
are  1,385  societies,  with  a  membership  of  about  234,000.  They  occupy  235 
buildings  of  their  own;  have  511  libraries,  containing  422,912  volumes; 
and  have  a  total  net  property  of  over  $10,400,000.  They  employ  1,186 
secretaries  and  assistants  and  gymnasium  directors,  and  expended  in  1890 
for  current  expenses  $1,817,231. 

(5)  "  The  Young  "Woman's  Christian  Association"  is  an  organization  of 
similar  nature  for  work  among  women.  The  International  Association 
was  formed  in  1886.  Its  work  is  fourfold :  physical,  by  gymnastics, 
health  talks,  and  holiday  excursions ;  mental,  by  libraries,  reading-rooms, 
educational  and  manual  training-classes ;  social,  by  receptions  in  home-like 
rooms,  with  musical  and  literary  entertainments,  and  helpful  companion- 
ship ;  spiritual,  by  Bible-classes,  evangelistic  meetings,  and  personal 
work.  There  are  225  associations  in  ximerica,  with  a  membership  of 
12,000. 

(6) "  The  Evangelical  Alliance  of  the  United  States, "  a  scion  of  the  "World's 
Alliance,  was  established  in  1867.  It  is  formed  of  pastors  and  laymen  of 
evangelical  Churches,  for  the  purposes  of  Christian  fellowship  and  the  dis- 


ESSAY    OF   CHANCELLOR   EDWARD   MAYES.  037 

cvission  of  common  interests,  of  auuual  canvasses  of  the  community,  and 
of  systematic  house-to-house  visitation. 

(7)  "The  American  Sabbath  Union  "  was  organized  in  1888.  Its  object  is 
to  preserve  the  Christian  Sabbath  as  a  day  of  rest  and  worship.  Its  niem- 
bersliip  has  been  extended  into  every  State  and  Territory  of  the  American 
Union.     The  treasurer's  receipts  for  1890  were  $10,219. 

(8)  '*  The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  "  was  founded  in  1874, 
its  object  being  to  unify  and  prosecute  tliroughout  tlie  enlightened  world 
the  work  of  women  in  temperance  and  social  reform  on  evangelistic  princi- 
ples. In  the  National  Union  are  10,000  local  unions,  with  a  memljership 
and  following  (including  the  children's  societies  of  "The  Loyal  Temper- 
ance Legion  ")  of  about  500,000.  It  has  in  Chicago  a  large  publishing 
house,  with  a  capital  of  $150,000,  and  with  a  capacity  of  135,000,000  pages 
annually,  a  lecture  bureau,  a  temperance  hospital,  and  a  temperance 
temple  projected  to  cost  over  .$1,000,000.  A  similar  organization  exists 
in  Canada.  An  offshoot,  composed  of  seceders  from  the  National 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  on  a  jioint  of  internal  policy,  was 
organized  in  1890,  and  was  called  ''The  Woman's  Non-Partisan  National 
Christian  Temperance  Union,"  eschewing  politics  and  sectarianism.  In 
this  connection  should  be  noted,  also,  the  National  Temperance  League, 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  Temperance  Society,  and  the  Roman 
Catholic  Total  Abstinence  Union  with  its  membership  of  over  40,000. 

(9)  ' '  The  American  Bible  Society  "  was  established  in  1816,  for  the  purpose 
of  encouraging  a  wider  circulation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  without  note 
or  comment.  Its  total  issues  in  seventy-three  years  have  been  52,730,075. 
For  the  year  ending  May  G,  1890,  it  issued  1,490,057  copies  in  various  lan- 
guages, disbursing  $529,955. 

(10)  "The  American  Tract  Society  "  was  organized  in  1825,  for  the  diffu- 
sion of  knowledgeof  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Redeemer  of  sinners,  and 
the  promotion  of  vital  godliness  and  sound  morality,  by  the  issuance  of  such 
publications  as  shall  be  approved  by  all  evangelical  Christians.  From  its 
foundation  to  1890  the  society  issued  9,371,832,882  pages  of  books  and 
tracts  in  150  different  languages  and  dialects.  For  the  year  ending 
April,  1890,  the  disbursements  were  $435,801;  colporteurs  employetl,  165; 
families  visited,  118,397. 

There  is  another  group  of  societies  having  similar  aims,  but  denomina- 
tional in  character,  which  may  be  mentioned  here: 

(1)  "The  Epworth  League,"  an  organization  within  Methodism,  was 
established  in  1889,  for  the  promotion  of  loyal  and  intelligent  piety  in  the 
young  members  and  friends  of  the  Church,  to  aid  them  in  social,  intellect- 
ual, and  religious  development,  and  to  train  them  in  works  of  mercy  and 
help.  It  is  intimately  correlated  with  the  officiary  of  the  Church.  There 
are  now  in  the  United  States  and  Canada  4,230  Leagues,  with  a  member- 
ship of  200. 250. 

(2)  "The  Society  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,"  a  Roman  Catholic  organiza- 
tion, cares  for  their  poor  in  the  large  cities  of  the  United  States.  The  poor 
are  visited  and  relieved,  situations  are  obtained  for  deserving  persons  out 


638  THE   OUTLOOK. 

of  employment,  and  attendance  on  the  Sunday-schools  of  the  Church  is 
promoted. 

Recurring,  now,  to  the  Churches  proper:  It  would  be  very  desirable 
and  helpful,  if  it  were  possible,  to  present  a  statement  of  their  possessions 
and  their  work,  comprising  mainly  their  invested  values,  their  annual 
contributions  of  money,  their  publishing  and  literary  interests,  their  edu- 
cational facilities,  etc.  But,  for  the  reasons  already  stated,  it  is  not  pos- 
sible to  do  so  with  any  sort  of  accuracy.  Something,  however,  can  be 
told. 

Invested  Values. — So  nearly  as  it  is  ascertainable,  the  whole  number 
of  church  edifices  in  the  Protestant  New  World  is  163,143.  valued  at  about 
$618,595,536;  being  an  average  of  1  church,  worth  $3, 791,  to  every  423  per- 
sons. The  parsonages,  manses,  and  rectories  are  about  36,000,  worth 
about  $55,150,000.  AVeeks  of  arduous  labor  failed  to  enable  me  to  give 
any  estimate  of  the  other  values  owned  or  controlled  by  the  Churches  in 
their  corporate  capacity.  The  school  and  college  properties,  the  publish- 
ing-houses and  religious  periodicals,  the  orphanages,  hospitals,  and  ref- 
uges, the  various  funds  held  in  trust  for  charitable  purposes,  are  rarely 
mentioned  with  exactness,  and  never  recapitulated  exhaustively.  They 
are,  however,  enormous  in  their  total. 

Annual.  Contributions. — It  is  impossible  to  state  what  are  the  total  an- 
nual contributions  of  the  Christian  people  in  America  to  the  Christian  cause. 
The  data  needed  have  never  been  compiled ;  probably  never  will  be.  How- 
ever, it  is  ascertained  that  for  the  year  1890  six  great  Churches,  to  wit, 
the  regular  Baj^tists,  the  Congregationalists,  the  Protestant  Episcopal,  the 
Methodist  Episcopal,  the  Presbyterians,  Northern  and  Southern,  with  a 
membership  in  the  United  States  of  7,298,880,  raised  the  sum  of  |69,202,- 
149;  an  average  of  $9.47  per  member.  These  Churches  include  all  classes 
of  our  people.  It  is  probably  fair  to  assume  that  the  members  of  others 
do  as  well ;  and  on  that  assumption  we  may  estimate  the  annual  church 
contributions  of  the  Protestant  New  World  at  about  $159,759,000.  To 
this  large  sum  must  be  added  the  very  considerable  amounts  raised  by  the 
various  auxiliary  societies  already  mentioned,  and  others  of  similar  char- 
acter ;  and  it  must  be  remembered  that  immense  sums  are  privately  dis- 
bursed, of  which  no  record  is  made  save  in  heaven. 

Missions. — The  disbursements  for  missions,  foreign  and  domestic,  are 
included  in  the  estimates  foregoing;  but  the  subject  is  one  of  such  ex- 
traordinary interest  as  to  demand  a  special  notice.  In  that  field  the  follow- 
ing facts  have  been  gathered :  Twenty-nine  churches,  whose  aggregate 
membership  was  about  11,400,000,  contributed  during  the  year  past  about 
$9,040,000,  or  79  cents  per  capita;  at  which  rate  the  total  amount  raised 
in  all  churches,  including  their  auxiliary  societies,  may  be  estimated  at  about 
$13,300,000.  The  most  generous  contributors  to  this  cause  are  the  Con- 
gregationalists, who  gave  about  $3.75  per  capita.  "  The  Woman's  Union 
Missionary  Society,"  of  New  York  city,  was  organized  in  1861.  It  has 
zealously  and  successfully  prosecuted  its  work ;  and  from  the  beginning 
to  the  year  1886  had  raised  $779,552.     There  are  in  the  United  States 


ESSAY    OF    CHANCELLOR    EDWAKD    MAYES.  639 

twenty-five  other  priiiciiiul  Women's  Missionary  Boards ;  but  tliey  are  de- 
nominational and  their  work  is  included  within  that  of  their  respective 
Churches. 

Religious  Pekiodicals. — These  publications  assume,  in  the  main,  four 
forms ;  the  heavy  review,  published  cither  monthly,  bimonthly,  or  quar- 
terly; the  weekly  church  paper;  the  Sunday-school  literary  paper;  and 
the  Sunday-school  lesson  papers.  Of  the  reviews  and  church  j)apcrs,  the 
latest  statement  accessible  places  the  numbers  in  the  United  States  alone 
as  follows : 

Roman  Catholic,  76,  with  a  circulation  of. .391,605 

Protestant,  Evangelical,  .398,  with  a  circulation  of 2,26,8302 

Protestant,  non-Evangelical,  19,  with  a  circulation  of. . . .         63,679 

Total,  493,  with  a  circulation  of 2,723,586 

Publishing  Houses  are  maintained  in  the  United  States  and  Canada, 
numbering  at  the  least  forty-five,  exclusive  of  those  of  the  Bible  and  tract 
societies  already  mentioned.  The  capital  invested  in  them  is  about 
$5,000,000,  and  their  annual  sales  are  about  $5,000,000. 

Colleges  and  Univeksities  of  a  denominational  character  over  300  in 
number  are  to  be  found  in  the  United  States  alone,  employing  over 
2,500  professors,  and  attracting  over  30,000  students.  These  numbers  do 
not  embrace  the  very  numerous  institutions  called  seminaries,  academies, 
and  institutes.  Including  them,  over  175,000  students  annually  attend  the 
more  advanced  educational  institutions  of  the  Churches.  Included  in  the 
list  are  about  150  theological  seminaries,  with  about  5,500  students.  The 
Lutherans,  the  Disciples  of  Christ,  the  Regular  Baptists  (North  and  South), 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  tlie  ]\Iethodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  have  alone  about  ^20,000,000  invested  in  higher  school  property, 
■with  about  $15,000,000  of  endowments. 

The  Catholic  New  World  is  largely,  for  the  purposes  of  this  investiga- 
tion, a  terra  incognita.  The  few  isolated  particulars  which  can  be  picked 
up  here  and  there  are  of  little  value  toward  a  systematic  presentation. 
Only  the  general  fact  can  be  stated  that  there  is  a  great  population  suf- 
fering under  the  lethargizing  influence  of  absorption  into  one  Church. 
Nearly  all  nominally  Christians,  there  is  yet  but  little  vital  piety.  The 
great  work  of  Protestant  evangelization  is  needed ;  and  needed  outside  of 
the  question  of  proselytizing  Catholics  into  Protestants.  Within  itself 
Catholicism  needs  the  rivalry  of  Protestantism,  and  the  friction  with  it, 
in  order  to  achieve  its  best  results  and  rise  to  its  own  highest  types. 

To  conclude:  The  foregoing  statement  of  Christian  resources  in  the 
New  World,  fragmentary  and  in  some  respects  unsatisfactory  as  it  is,  must 
yet  fill  us  with  thankfulness  for  the  advances  made  and  with  hope  for  the 
future.  Let  agnostics  and  atheists  sneer  as  they  will,  let  pessimism  wear 
its  gloomy  front  as  it  will,  yet  the  glorious  fact  remains,  and  the  hard  cold 
logic  of  statistics  demonstrates  it  to  be  the  fact,  that  "God's  truth  is 
marchinjj  on." 


640  THE    OUTLOOK. 

The  Kev.  J.  A.  M.  Chapman,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  gave  the  following  invited  address,  on  "  Chris- 
tian Resources  of  the  New  World  : " 

Mr.  President,  Brethren  of  the  Conference :  The  Christian  resources  of 
the  New  World  and  the  Christian  forces  that  are  common  to  both  worlds 
have  been  so  fully  and  ably  presented  that  I  shall  beg  leave  to  consider  a  few 
of  the  features  that  differentiate  the  New  World  from  the  Old — a  subject 
more  remotely  related,  but  not  utterly  irrelevant,  to  the  one  before  us.  Let 
me  first  call  your  attention  to  this  simple  fact :  that  the  New  World — confin- 
ing my  thought  to  that  portion  occvroied  by  English-speaking  people — af- 
fords a  theater  broader  in  extent,  more  varied  in  character  and  affluent  in 
resources  than  any  inhabited  by  a  people  speaking  one  language  upon 
which  Christianity  has  ever  displayed  its  saving  power.  In  territorial  ex- 
tent, in  variety  of  climate,  in  diversity,  beauty,  and  sublimity  of  scenery, 
it  presents  an  almost  ideal  theater ;  and  so  far  as  these  can  effect  civiliza- 
tion, contribute  to  the  spread  of  Christian  truth,  or  become  factors  in  the 
development  of  Christian  character  the  New  World  affords  them  in  am- 
plest measure.  Within  this  vast  territory  are  all  the  resources  of  soil, 
forest,  and  mine,  of  land  and  water  of  mountain  and  plain,  that  are  the 
essential  natural  conditions  of  the  highest  and  most  complex  civilization, 
as  well  as  the  highest  efficiency  and  largest  success  of  the  Church  in  her 
•work  of  evangelizing  the  people. 

Upon  this  point  I  will  stop  simply  to  remark,  first,  that  ten  times  our 
present  population  might  find  homes  and  plenty,  with  ample  means  for 
providing  all  educational,  jihilanthropic,  and  religious  institutions  essen- 
tial to  their  highest  well-being  and  comfort,  and  the  Church  multiply  her 
missionaries  a  hundred-fold.  Secondly,  that  such  are  the  variety  and  fer- 
tility of  our  soil  and  the  range  of  our  climate,  that  when  the  cultivation 
of  cereals  shall  be  wisely  distributed  through  the  land,  as  undoubtedly 
it  will  be,  a  famine  that  would  reduce  us  to  dependence  upon  another 
country  for  our  support  will  be  a  natural  impossibility.  What  providen- 
tial visitations  God  may  have  in  store  for  us,  as  a  discipline  or  a  punish- 
ment for  our  national  sins,  I  know  not;  but  nothing  less  than  such  a 
providential  interposition  would  reduce  us  to  such  an  extremity.  Still 
more,  as  vast  as  is  this  territory,  such  are  the  means  of  travel  and  com- 
munication that  it  is  not  so  large  to  us  as  Palestine  was  to  Christ  and  his 
apostles.  A  few  days  of  luxurious  travel  cover  the  vast  distances  from 
north  to  south  and  from  east  to  west,  and  as  many  minutes  will  flash  in- 
telligence over  the  same  distances ;  so  that  distance  ceases  to  be  an  ob- 
stacle in  carrying  on  the  practical  work  of  the  Church  or  in  the  official 
administration  of  her  affairs. 

The  peculiar  character  of  our  population  has  its  elements  of  weakness 
and  also  of  greatest  possible  strength.  The  question  it  presents  is,  "  Can 
the  civilizing  and  Christianizing  forces  of  American  society  harmonize, 
unify,  and  enfranchise  the  heterogeneous  masses  that  are  crowding,  and 
will  continue  to  crowd,  our  land?  "     The  problem  is  serious — more  dif- 


ADDRESS    OF    KEV.    J,    A.    M.    CHAPMAN.  G41 

ficult,  I  fancy,  than  any  that  has  ever  confronted  a  people  in  the  world's 
history.  The  tiruicst  believer  in  the  stability  and  adequacy  of  our  institu- 
tions, to  meet  and  survive  any  conflict  that  lies  before  them,  may  well 
found  his  faith  in  that  Providence  that  has  been  our  guide  in  the  past, 
and  that  we  doubt  not  will  ha  in  the  future.  But  God  alone  can  guide 
this  great  nation  to  a  successful  issue  from  the  conflicts  tliat  confront  it; 
and  that  he  will  we  confidently  believe. 

On  the  human  side  these  two  things  may  be  said:  1.  The  foundations 
of  American  society  were  not  laid  in  a  converted  heathenism,  but  in  a  col- 
ony of  intelligent  and  thoroughly  consecrated  Christian  men  and  women 
in  whose  veins  flowed  humanity's  best  blood,  tested  and  developed  by 
years  of  severest  discipline,  holding  their  faith  in  God,  fidelity  to  con- 
science, love  of  liberty,  above  price ;  ready  to  do,  dare,  and  die  in  obedi- 
ence to  their  convictions  of  duty.  By  a  slow  growth  from  within,  and  a 
gradual  and  congenial  accretion  from  without,  through  the  pressure  of 
want,  toil,  and  trial,  they  became  a  homogeneous,  clearly  defined,  and 
thoroughly  established  nation,  with  a  form  of  civil  government  possible 
of  largest  liberty  to  the  individual,  consistent  with  the  rights  and  security 
of  all  incipient  institutions,  civil,  educational,  and  religious,  capable  of 
broadest  expansion  and  highest  perfection.  And  then,  having  laid  the 
foundation  so  strong  and  broad,  God  by  his  providence  threw  open  to  all 
lands  the  gates  of  immigration.  So  that  never  since  the  birth  of  authen- 
tic history  has  there  been  such  a  commingling  of  races  and  languages, 
civil,  social,  religious,  and  moral  ideas,  as  in  this  New  World ;  making 
possible  when  fused,  refined,  and  welded  together  the  development  of  a  rep- 
resentative or  cosmopolitan  character  and  universal  forces  that  may  become 
potent  factors  in  the  Christianization  of  the  world.  If  the  Church  is  loyal 
to  her  great  Head,  and  true  to  herself,  there  must  arise  out  of  it  a  civiliza- 
tion containing  in  it  a  composite  character,  elements  congenial  to  all  that  is 
essential  in  every  race  under  the  sun,  and  putting  the  Church  in  practical 
and  vital  touch  with  every  form  of  civilization  on  the  face  of  the  globe. 
2.  These  masses  are  not  colonized  in  particular  localities,  but  are  widely 
scattered  through  the  land,  soon  become  citizens — too  soon,  we  sometimes 
think,  for  their  good  or  for  ours — mingle  Avith  the  native-born  popula- 
tion, readily  adopt  our  habits  and  customs,  and,  under  the  influence  of 
our  institutions  and  civilization,  are  quickly  merged  in  the  national  life, 
become  Americanized  and  as  loyal  to  the  flag  as  though  they  were  to 
the  manner  born.  One  of  the  marvels  in  our  history  is  the  ease  with  which 
the  half  million  immigrants  are  absorbed  who  yearly  land  upon  our  shores, 
and  of  whose  coming  we  should  scarcely  be  aware  were  it  not  for  the  an- 
archist, the  professional  agitator,  the  indolent  ]iauper,  and  hopeless  crimi- 
nal that  constitute  too  large  a  fraction  of  this  inflowing  tide. 

If  we  turn  from  the  people  to  our  form  of  civil  government,  we  find 
that  it  secures  to  every  citizen  the  right  to  "  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness,"  and  to  the  Church  protection  and  the  right  to  discharge 
her  functions  and  carry  on  her  work  in  her  own  way,  without  fear  or 
molestation,  so  long  as  she  does  not  interfere  with  the  equal  rights  of 


642  THE   OUTLOOK. 

others.  Every  citizen  is  the  master,  or  rather  should  be  the  subject,  of 
his  own  conscience,  compelled  to  support  no  Church,  at  liberty  to  iden- 
tify himself  with  and  worship  God  in  any.  Within  the  limits  of  law  and 
order,  in  all  his  individual,  domestic,  civil,  social,  and  religious  relations, 
he  is  as  free  as  the  air  he  breathes.  What  it  secures  to  the  individual  it 
secures  to  all  organizations,  societies,  and  so  to  the  Church.  The  State 
and  the  Church  are  separate,  each  occupying  its  own  clearly  defined  prov- 
ince, the  State  protecting  the  Church  and  the  Church  conserving  the 
State.  But  neither,  in  its  official  or  organic  character,  can  intrench  upon 
the  rights  of  the  other.  This  gives  the  Church  au  immense  advantage  in 
carrying  on  her  own  work  in  her  own  waj%  relying  alone  upon  her  great 
Head,  his  truth  and  spirit,  and  the  loyalty  and  affection  of  her  members. 

If  we  turn  to  our  educational  facilities,  our  attention  is  first  arrested  by 
our  system  of  common  schools,  which  brings  an  elementary  education 
within  the  reach  of  every  child  in  the  land.  Not  yet  nationally  systema- 
tized, crude  and  inefficient  in  many  places,  not  reaching,  perhaps,  its 
highest  possibility  anywhere,  yet,  such  as  it  is,  it  is  the  bulwark  of  our 
liberties  and  free  institutions,  and  the  most  potent  agency  in  fusing  and 
welding  together  the  diverse  elements  of  our  population ;  and  palsied  for- 
ever be  the  hand  that  is  uplifted  for  its  overthow,  whether  by  prelate  or 
politician !  And  then  seminaries,  colleges,  and  incipient  universities, 
springing  up  all  over  the  land,  bring  a  higher  education  within  the  reach 
of  all  who  desire  it.  Surely,  when  languages  may  be  mastered,  sciences 
studied,  philosophical  speculations  pursued,  and  a  tolerably  complete 
course  of  mental  training  and  discij^line  secured,  by  summer,  winter,  and 
evening  schools,  by  reading  circles,  correspondence,  and  university  exten- 
sion, scarcely  any  class  need  be  debarred  from  an  education  that  will  be 
the  source  both  of  personal  enjoyment  and  increased  usefulness. 

In  conclusion,  I  wish  to  make  these  three  points : 

1.  It  is  a  fact  of  intense  significance  that,  by  increasing  intelligence,  by 
improvement  in  methods,  implements,  and  machinery  in  all  industrial  and 
manual  pursuits,  the  same  results  or  their  equivalents,  or  better  and  larger, 
are  secured  by  less  than  one  half  of  the  time  and  labor  required  one  half 
century  ago.  I  scarcely  overstate  it  when  I  say  that  such  are  the  indus- 
trial and  educational  facilities  of  our  country  that,  if  the  social  and  moral 
conditions  corresponded,  the  hours  of  industrial  and  business  toil  might 
be  lessened  by  one  half,  and  all  the  legitimate  physical  demands  of  the 
people  met,  and  ample  time  and  means  afforded  for  intellectual  and  moral 
culture.  And  then  these  changes  increase  the  demand  for  skilled  labor, 
putting  an  intellectual  element  into  the  commonest  work,  ennobling  it 
and  giving  it  an  attraction  that  will  reduce  the  congested  condition  of 
our  cities  by  preventing  such  a  constant  flow  from  the  country  to  them. 
When  agricultural  and  other  manual  pursuits  are  associated  with  ajsthetic 
and  intellectual  culture,  as  they  may  and  undoubtedly  will  be,  they  will 
no  longer  be  regarded  as  menial  and  unworthy  of  men  of  brains  and 
scholarship.  The  phrase  learned  will  no  longer  be  monopolized  by  the 
professions,  but  learning  will  be  diffused  through  society,  and  the  toiler 


ADDRESS    OF    KEV.    J.    A.    M.    CHAPMAN.  6i3 

•with  tlie  hauds  will  be  uo  less  the  toiler  with  the  brains.  But  this  time 
has  uot  yet  come,  because  the  social  aud  moral  couditions  are  not  yet 
supplied. 

In  looking  at  the  conflict  between  employers  and  employees  as  it  exists 
in  this  country,  these  things  may  and  ought  to  be  said :  (a)  The  cham- 
pions of  the  wage-earner  but  injure  their  cause  when,  by  indiscriminate 
denunciation  of  employers — whether  individuals,  companies,  or  corpora- 
tions— they  intensify  the  feelings  of  the  former  against  the  latter,  (b)  They 
mislead  him  when  they  teach  him  that  the  cupidity  of  soulless  corpora- 
tions or  unscrupulous  capitalists  is  the  chief  cause  of  his  unfortunate  cir- 
cumstances, so  far  as  they  are  unfortunate,  (c)  They  still  more  mislead 
him  when  they  teach  him  that  fewer  hours  of  toil  and  higher  wages  will 
inevitably  improve  his  material  and  social  conditions ;  for  in  too  many  in- 
stances fewer  hours  of  toil  and  higher  wages  would  be  an  increasing  men- 
ace to  social  order  aud  an  increasing  means  of  dissipation  and  indolence. 
(d)  The  real  foes  of  the  laboring  classes  are  the  professional  agitator  and 
the  political  demagogue  on  the  one  hand,  and  intemperance  and  the 
want  of  economy  on  the  other,  (e)  Habits  of  sobriety,  industry,  and 
economy  will  lift  any  class  of  American  w()rkmen  to  a  higher  financial, 
social,  and  intellectual  plane,  and  afford  increasing  opportunity  for  per- 
sonal enjoyment  and  culture.  (/)  With  the  exception  of  the  young 
women  working  in  the  stores  and  the  women  of  the  noodle,  all  this  talk 
about  starvation  wages  is  purely  gratuitous.  The  fact  is  that  the  average 
■wages  of  the  men  that  have  engaged  in  strikes  in  the  last  ten  years  is 
higher  than  the  salaries  of  many  ministers  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church.  Why,  sir,  soljor,  honest,  industrious  men  are  every-where  at 
a  premium,  and  the  way  is  open  to  them  to  the  highest  position  in  the  de- 
partments in  which  they  are  engaged.  Now,  sir,  I  have  said  these  things, 
not  to  exculpate  the  employer  or  to  incriminate  the  laborer,  but  to  state 
the  facts  as  they  exist  in  this  country,  and  to  indicate  the  line  of  effort 
the  Church  must  pursue  if  she  would  permanently  benefit  the  working 
classes,  namely :  once  aud  forever  abolish  the  infamous  saloon,  and  seek, 
by  going  to  them,  to  improve  their  social  and  moral  condition.  Until 
this  is  done  the  shortening  the  hours  of  toil  and  the  increase  of  wages 
will  leave  the  problem  unsolved. 

2.  If  the  same  ratio  of  increase  in  our  population  is  maintained  for  the 
next  half  century  there  will  be  in  1950  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of 
inhabitants  in  this  land  speaking  the  same  language,  and  that  the  English, 
instinct  as  it  is  with  the  spirit  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  enriched  and 
burdened  with  the  wealth  of  the  ages,  the  language  in  which  Burke  and 
Sheridan  spoke,  Shakespeare  and  IMilton  sung,  and  Bunyan  dreamed, 
which  immortalized  and  was  made  immortal  by  that  marvelous  literary 
achievement — King  .lamos's  translation  of  tho  word  of  God.  One  hun- 
dred and  fifty  millions  of  people,  inhabiting  the  same  land  of  exhaustless 
resources,  invested  with  all  the  rights  of  citizenship,  bound  together  by 
all  the  ties  of  material,  civil,  social,  and  religious  interests,  trained  in  the 
duties  and  responsii)ilities  of  free  men,   speaking  the  English  language, 


644  THE    OUTLOOK. 

with  free  schools,  free  churches,  and  an  open  Bible,  ought  to  take  the 
world  for  freedom  and  for  Christ. 

3.  A  free  Church  in  a  free  land,  unfettered  by  hostile  or  partial  civil 
legislation,  untouched  by  the  blighting  atmosphere  of  an  overshadowing 
ecclesiasticism,  untrammeled  in  her  activities  by  creed  or  ritual,  and  un- 
limited in  her  thought  by  civil  or  ecclesiastical  authority,  free  to  live,  free 
to  think,  free  to  act  out  Godls  ever-unfolding  message  of  truth  and  love  to 
the  world! 

Now,  sir,  it  must  have  been  made  apparent  to  every  listener  by  the  dis- 
cussions of  this  subject  that  the  resources  of  the  Church  are,  and  perhaps 
always  have  been,  in  advance  of  her  use  of  them.  What  she  most  needs  is 
not  more  wealth,  learning,  or  eloquence,  not  more  time  or  talent  in  discuss- 
ing the  problems  of  the  age,  but  a  supreme  baptism  of  the  Christ-life 
and  spirit  that  shall  unify  her,  inspire  men  and  means,  and  send  her 
out  to  use  the  resources  she  already  has  in  seeking  and  saving  the  lost.  In. 
the  light  and  heat  of  this  inspiration  means  would  flow  into  her  hands, 
obstacles  would  vanish  from  her  path,  and  the  problems  before  which  she 
stands  trembling  would  find  easy  solution ;  and  the  next  Ecumenical  Con- 
ference would  meet  amid  the  glories  of  the  dawning  millennium. 

The  general  discussion  of  the  morning  was  introduced  by  the 
Rev.  W.  Y.  Tudor,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  in  the  following  remarks  : 

Mr.  President:  Some  years  ago  the  late  Bishop  Simpson,  of  revered 
memory,  delivered  a  grand  oration  on  the  subject,  "  Our  Country,''  in. 
the  hail  of  the  House  of  Representatives  iu  this  city.  At  the  close  Mr. 
Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  who  was  present  and  had  heard  the 
address,  approached  the  bishop  to  congratulate  him,  and  said:  "Bishop, 
that  was  a  splendid  discourse,  but  you  failed  to  '  strike  oil.' "  He  had 
omitted  to  mention  the  oil-wells,  as  he  had  spoken  at  great  length  of  the 
material  resources  of  our  land.  I  do  not  wish  to  imply  by  this  illustra- 
tion of  anecdote  that  any  of  the  speakers  preceding  me  have  failed  to 
mention  any  of  the  Christian  resources  of  our  country,  but  I  would  only 
by  illustration  shed  some  illumination  upon  the  resources  already  named. 
Necessity  or  demand  we  know  often  develops  resources  that  have  lain 
unobserved  or  unappreciated ;  and  also  adaptation  creates,  transforms  into 
resource,  that  which  had  not  formerly  been  recognized  as  such,  a  resource 
adapted  to  the  end  now  contemplated. 

In  the  last  conversation  I  had  with  the  late  Dr.  Curry,  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  he  said  that  the  one  great  need  of  the  present  for  the 
conversion  of  the  world  through  missionary  work  was  that  the  plethoric 
pockets  of  Christian  men  of  wealth  should  be  emptied  into  the  missionary 
treasury.  I  go  a  little  farther,  and  say  and  affirm  and  venture  to  predict 
that  the  next  great  movement  in  advance  in  the  mission  work  of  the 
Christian  world  will  be  that  not  only  shall  the  pockets  of  the  wealthy  be 
emptied  into  the  treasury  of  the  Church  to  that  end,  but  also  that  we 
shall  find  societies,  Churches,  communities — whole  communities — emptied 
of  men  and  families  together  who  shall  turn  their  possessions  into  current 
funds  and  themselves  into  missionaries  by  hundreds  and  thousands,  load- 
ing trains  and  ships,  and  delivering  themselves  upon  foreign  lands  and  in 
heathen  climes,  maintained  at  their  own  expense  to  their  last  dollar  that 
they  can  obtain  through  personal  sacrifice,  in  fulfillment  of  the  implied 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  645 

prediction  iu  one  significant  passage  of  Scripture,  "  Ever}^  man  shall  say 
to  his  brother,  and  every  man  sliall  say  to  his  neighbor,  Know  tlieLord," 
and  when  the  bride  shall  accompany  the  Spirit  north,  south,  east  and 
west,  and  shall  say  to  all  the  people  of  all  lands,  "Come,  come  into  the 
ark."     God's  people  are  his  resources.     "  Ye  are  my  witnesses." 

The  Rev.  J.  C.  Price,  D.D.,  of  the  African  Methodist 
Episcopal  Zion  Chnrcli,  continued  tlie  discussion,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Brethren  of  the  Conference :  The  subject  this  morn- 
ing seems  eminently  fitting,  coming  as  it  does  at  the  closing  period  of  our 
sessicm — the  outlook  of  the  Church  and  the  resources  of  the  Church  which 
give  character  to  that  outlook.  Standing  upon  this  eminence  after  the 
progress  of  centuries,  it  is  reasonable  for  us  to  say  that  the  outlook  of  the 
Church  is  colored  by  its  conquests  in  the  past;  and  the  only  question  that 
presents  itself  to  us  now  is  this :  What  are  the  available  resources  that  can 
make  certain,  that  can  make  siu-e,  the  triumph  which  must  come  to  the 
Church  and  to  C'hrist  as  the  head  of  the  Church  ? 

When  it  comes  to  resources,  I  beg  to  harmonize  the  course  that  I  shall 
pursue  with  the  time  allotted  me.  I  believe  that  these  resources  are  ma- 
terial as  well  as  inunaterial,  that  they  are  visible  and  invisible;  and  when 
it  comes  to  the  material,  I  believe  that  this  earth  and  all  that  we  see 
around  and  about  it  are  a  part  of  the  resources  of  the  Church.  For  these 
resources  arc  not  restricted  to  those  which  the  Church  has  within  its  own 
bounds;  but  those  things  outside  of  the  Church  are  available  instrument- 
alities for  good.  The  holy  Scriptures  tell  us  that  God  has  set  Christ  "  at 
his  own  right  hand  in  the  heavenly  places,  far  above  all  principality  and 
power  and  might  and  dominion,  and  every  name  that  is  named,  not  onlv 
in  this  world,  but  also  in  that  which  is  to  come;  and  has  put  all  thino-s 
under  his  feet,  and  gave  him  to  be  the  head  over  all  things  to  the  Church." 
The  stars  above  go  on  errands  of  mercy  for  him.  The  howling  of  the 
storm,  the  sweep  of  the  cyclone,  the  gold  and  silver  locked  up  in  the 
mountain  vaults  of  the  earth,  the  hidden  treasures  of  nature,  electricity, 
iron,  steam,  are  but  a  part  of  the  resources  of  the  Church,  and  must  add 
to  its  advancement.  And  who  can  say  there  are  not  other  secret  forces 
yet  to  be  discovered  that  shall  give  support  and  speed  to  the  Church  of 
God? 

There  are,  however,  other  resources.  And  I  beg  here  to  refer  not  only 
to  the  men,  women,  and  children  of  the  Church  as  available  means  for  its 
advancement,  but  I  venture  in  this  presence  to  say  that  every  man,  woman, 
and  child  living,  and  every  man,  woman,  and  child  tliat  may  be  born  into 
the  world,  are  possible  resources  that  Christ  shall  yet  use  in  bringing  to 
pass  the  time  when  he  shall  be  recognized  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of 
lords.  We  speak  of  going  to  men  of  the  Church  for  their  purses ;  but  we 
should  go  also  to  men  outside  of  the  Church  with  the  authority  that  comes 
from  creative  power,  with  the  claims  that  arise  from  ownership.  For 
men  in  the  Church  or  out  of  the  Church  are  not  their  own.  They  were 
bought  with  the  precious  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  It  is  notice- 
able that  the  Church  sometimes  goes  to  men  and  women  in  her  mission  of 
soul-saving  and  church  support  apologetically ;  but  the  Church  should  go  to 
men,  not  with  an  apology,  l)ut  backed  uj)  by  the  sense  of  responsibility  that 
comes  to  it  as  Christ's  representative  on  earth,  and  say:  "  It  is  your" duty 
to  come  into  the  Church  of  God  and  help  her  conquer  this  world  for  the 
Master."  If  the  Church  is  alive  to  this  idea  and  to  the  demand  that  comes 
out  of  a  realization  of  God's  sovereignty  and  ownerslii]),  the  progress  of 
the  Church  in  the  ue.vt  decade  is  assured,  and  her  final  victory  will  be 


646  THE    OUTLOOK. 

hastened  and  made  certain.  The  outlook  of  the  Church  is  encouraging, 
not  only  from  its  progress  in  the  past,  not  only  because  of  great  discov- 
eries, great  railroads,  great  steam-ships;  these  are  tributary  to  her  success. 
But  let  us  face  the  truth  as  it  has  come  to  us  for  more  than  eighteen  cent- 
uries— that  the  Church  of  God  must  have  an  outlook  that  is  grand  and 
inspiring  and  all-conquering  in  the  end,  because  it  has  in  it  the  vitality 
and  personality  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Rev.  Walter  U.  Lambuth,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  niiide  the  following  remarks : 

Mr.  Chairman :  The  resources  of  the  Church  are  supernatural  and  nat- 
ural. Jesus,  upon  the  eve  of  his  being  offered  up,  said  to  his  dejected 
disciples,  "  Greater  things  than  these  shall  ye  do,  because  I  go  unto  the 
Father."  Here  he  plainly  indicated  that  it  was  necessary  that  he  should 
be  absent  in  the  fiesh,  taking  away  all  material  support  in  order  that  they 
should  be  brought  into  full  sympathy  with  the  plan  of  supernatural  and 
spiritual  forces  which  could  only  be  conveyed  to  them  through  the  Spirit. 
Luke  records  the  command  that  they  were  to  wait  for  the  promise  of  the 
Father;  and  the  Master  himself,  after  saying,  "All  power  is  given  unto 
me  in  heaven  and  in  earth,"  exclaims,  "  Ye  shall  receive  power  after  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon  you."  Here  were  the  spiritual  resources  of 
the  early  Church,  and  such  are  ours  to-day;  forces  superhuman,  super- 
natural, divine,  which  we  have  never  yet  measured,  and  powers  we  have 
not  yet  exhausted — in  fact,  have  scarcely  begun  to  draw  upon.  The 
Church  needs  to  rise  to  the  higher  levels,  and,  getting  into  touch  with 
God,  be  thus  prepared  to  touch  man's  soul  in  the  name  of  the  Son  of  God 
and  begin  to  work  even  greater  things  than  did  the  Master.  Is  the  Church 
endued  with  power?     Have  we  received  the  Holy  Ghost? 

Again,  there  are  natural  resources.  The  greatest  of  these,  perhaps,  are 
the  children  of  the  Church  gathered  in  Sunday-schools  and  Epworth 
Leagues — our  children.  They  are,  and  will  be,  a  tremendous  power.  Are 
they  upon  the  altar?  They  should  be  trained  for  God  and  the  Church. 
One  of  the  most  significant  movements  of  the  age  is  the  students'  volun- 
teer movement  for  foreign  missions,  in  connection  with  which  the  names 
of  over  four  thousand  five  hundred  young  men  and  women  have  been  re- 
ported from  the  institutions  of  Canada  and  the  United  States.  These  are 
all  in  preparation,  according  to  their  pledge,  for  active  missionary  service 
in  foreign  lands.  The  Churches  of  all  Christendom  should  be  upon  the 
alert  to  conserve  the  enthusiastic  zeal  of  this  remarkable  body  of  youthful 
disciples. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  has  taken  on  a  missionary  phase 
in  sending  out  secretaries — thoroughly  trained  men — who  are  organizing 
associations  in  China  and  India,  in  an  endeavor  to  reach  the  young  men 
of  the  Orient  for  Christ.  In  this  connection  a  committee  of  business  men 
in  New  York  city  have  generously  furnished  funds  for  outfit  and  travel 
to  a  number  of  gradiiates  from  colleges  and  universities,  who  have  thus 
been  enabled  to  fill  places  in  Japanese  government  schools  which  would 
otherwise  be  occupied  by  agnostics  and  rationalists.  The  Church  would 
do  well  to  see  to  such  employment  of  her  resources  in  foreign  lands,  es- 
pecially with  the  entrance  of  a  civilization  which  carries  much  of  a  harm- 
ful nature  with  it. 

One  other  of  the  great  resources  of  the  entire  Christian  Church  in  Amer- 
ica is  a  body  of  seven  million  colored  people,  the  majority  of  whom  are 
professing  Christians.  The  avarice  and  passions  of  men  have  been  over- 
ruled, and  at  last  we  behold  this  large  body  of  docile,  faithful  people  civ- 


GENERAL    KEMAKKS.  647 

ilized,  Christianized,  omancipiitcd,  cnfruncliised,  and  rapidly  being  edu- 
cated in  public  and  j)iivatc  sschools.  At  this  juncture  in  their  history  as 
a  race,  Africa,  the  land  of  their  ancestors,  opens  up.  Is  tiiere  not  a  paral- 
lelism in  the  movement  which  indicates  the  hand  of  God?  If  that  hand 
has  ever  been  seen  in  the  checkered  history  of  nations  and  peoples  it 
seems  to  me  that  it  is  plainly  outlined  here.  My  colored  brethren,  I  do 
not  argue  for  colonization;  do  not  mistake  me.  Socially  and  religiously 
you  are  better  off  in  America.  But  I  do  beseech  your  prayers,  your  tears, 
and  your  efforts  for  the  evangelization  of  "the  Dark  Continent" — your 
continent  which  David  Livingstone  explored,  your  kindred  for  whom 
Christ  died,  and  for  whose  evangelization  God  has  so  wonderfully  pre- 
pared you. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  J.  C.  Keenek,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  concluded  the  discussion  of  the  morn- 
ing, as  follows  : 

Mr.  President :  I  have  listened  with  great  delight  to  every  thing  I  have 
been  able  to  hear  and  luulerstand  in  this  august  assembly,  but  have  been 
very  much  disturbed  in  some  directions,  especially  in  that  of  "  higher  criti- 
cism." I  was  not  prepared  for  the  wonderful  advances  in  that  direction 
among  the  British  Wesleyans  which  seem  to  have  taken  place.  I  presume 
they  believe  themselves  to  be  far  in  advance  of  us.  I  mean  our  good 
friends  who  delivered  the  Fernley  lectures — some,  indeed,  not  confined  to 
to  our  own  Church — such  as  Dr.  Dallinger,  Mr.  Beet,  Mr.  Davison,  and 
also  Bishop  Temple,  Mr.  Flint,  and  others  I  might  mention,  some  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  others  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland. 

In  order  that  I  may  save  time  and  come  to  the  heart  of  the  subject,  I 
shall  inform  all  these  gentlemen  that  within  twelve  hours  of  this  place,  if 
they  choose  to  go  there,  are  beds — fossil  beds — which  contain  the  bones  of 
every  animal  that  I  ever  heard  of — every  animal,  whether  mentioned  in 
geologies  or  natural  histories,  and  not  a  few  of  them;  for  they  comprise 
sixty-five  per  cent,  of  that  vast  deposit  of  phosphate  of  lime  in  the  Ashley 
beds,  evenly  disposed,  yielding  eight  hundred  tons  of  this  phosphate  to 
the  acre,  and  in  the  last  three  months  four  million  tons.  These  beds  have 
loaded  the  entire  tonnage  of  the  United  States,  river,  ocean,  and  lake,  two 
and  a  half  times  within  the  last  ten  years. 

In  these  beds  are  found  the  bones  of  the  megatherium,  the  teeth  of  the 
beaver,  the  horse,  the  Virginia  deer,  the  gigantic  shark  with  teeth  six  and 
a  half  inches  long,  indicating  a  whole  length  of  body  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet.  You  know  that  in  the  mouth  of  the  shark  there  are  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty-three  teeth  in  one  of  the  jaws,  and  one  hundred  and 
eighty-five  in  the  other.  These  monstrous  teeth  belong  to  this  extinct 
creature;  and  yet  there  too  are  the  bones  of  the  muskrat,  the  bones  of  the 
opossum,  the  coprolite  of  the  ichthyosaurus,  the  teeth  of  the  gigantic 
saurius,  of  the  mastodon,  of  the  tiger,  tlie  elephant,  and  all  those  other 
animals  which  live  in  the  neighborhood  of  man.  When  Agassiz  came  to 
Charleston  in  1853,  and  there  was  handed  to  him  a  tray  full  of  horses' 
teeth,  he  spent  the  entire  night  on  the  floor  examining  them,  and  ex- 
claimed to  Professor  Holmes:  "  These  old  bones  have  set  me  crazy;  they 
have  destroyed  the  work  of  a  life-time." 

Now,  gentlemen,  brethren,  take  these  facts  home  with  you.  Get  down 
and  look  at  them.  This  is  the  watch  that  was  inider  the  steam  hammer 
— the  doctrine  of  evolution — and  this  steam  hammer  is  the  wonderful 
deposit  of  the  Ashley  beds.  There  is  nothing  in  evolution,  nothing  in  the 
Darwinian  theory,   if  you  take  the  time  out  of  it.     When  you  put  the 


6-kS  THE    OUTLOOK. 

megatherium  and  tlae  beaver  together ;  when  you  put  the  ichthyosaurus 
and  the  horse  together— for  there  they  are  found  together,  there  they  died 
together,  there  they  slept  together,  there  they  lived  together — it  is  evident 
they  wei'e  created  together.  I  say  it  takes  the  time  out  of  evolution,  and 
knocks  higher  criticism  into  the  condition  the  vs'atch  would  be  in  if  the 
steam  hammer  came  down  upon  it. 

Now,  one  cannot  say  very  much  in  five  minutes,  but  I  am  anxious  to 
say  this  much.  My  brethren,  the  j^reatest  thing  about  Mr.  Wesley  was 
that  he  knew  what  to  get  rid  of.  Like  wild  steers  from  a  Texan  pen  of 
cattle  he  let  out  the  Moravians  because  of  doctrine ;  he  let  out  the  Calvin- 
ists  ))ecause  of  Calvinism;  he  let  out  the  men  who  advocated  the  doctrine 
of  sauctification — Mr.  Maxwell  and  four  hundred  with  him — because  they 
disturbed  the  connectional  integrity  of  Methodism.  I  wish  to  say  to  my 
English  friends  now  in  this  Conference,  in  all  admiration  for  them — for 
no  one  admires  these  great  men  before  me  more  than  I  do — go  home ;  get 
rid  of  this  doctrine  of  evolution,  that  puts  a  nucleated  vesicle — Winchell's 
amceba — at  the  bottom  of  the  Pentateuch  and  the  cosmogony  of  Moses 
that  will  ruin  you  if  you  do  not  get  rid  of  it.  If  you  cannot  get  rid  of 
the  doctrine,  get  rid  of  the  men  and  the  institutions  that  teach  it,  no 
matter  how  dear  they  are  to  you,  for  they  will  blow  you  up  if  you  don't. 
I  must  confess  that  this  is  the  first  fissure  in  the  Methodist  faith.  We 
have  had  many  divisions  on  discipline,  but  none  on  doctrine.  But  this  is 
a  tremendous  fissure  in  the  faith  of  Wesleyan  Methodism. 

These  words  are  not  speculation,  but  sober  thought.  I  don't  profess  to 
know  anything  beyond  the  knowledge  of  "a  plain  man"  about  these 
sciences  "  falsely  so  called,"  but  I  know  that  there  is  a  bed  one  hundred 
miles  in  diameter,  reaching  from  the  Santee  to  the  Savannah,  that,  as 
Agassiz  pronoimced  it  to  be,  is  the  greatest  cemetery  in  the  world,  and 
looks  as  if  all  the  creatures  of  the  post-pliocene  period  had  been  summoned 
there  to  die.  Take  the  thne  out  of  Darwinism  and  there  is  nothing  of 
it ;  there  is  absolutely  nothing  left  of  it ;  and  these  Ashley  beds  knock  it 
out. 

The  Lour  for  adjournment  Laving  arrived,  the  doxology  was 
sung,  and  tLe  benediction  was  pronounced  by  tLe  presiding 
officer,  tLe  Rev.  Thomas  Allen. 


BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS.  649 


SECOND  SESSION. 

The  Conference  opened  at  2:30  P.  M.,  the  Rev.  Bishop  J.  F. 
Hurst,  D.D.,  LL.D,,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  the 
cliair.  Hymn  770,  ''I  love  thy  kingdom,  Lord,"  was  sung; 
prayer  was  offered  by  the  Rev.  Bishop  J.  C.  Granbery,  D.D., 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South  ;  and  a  portion  of  the 
fourteentli  chapter  of  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  was  read  by  the 
Rev.  Bishop  Thomas  Bowman,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church. 

The  Journal  of  the  morning  session  was  read  and  approved. 

The  Secretary  offered  from  the  Business  Committee  the 
following  report  on  "  The  Aggressions  of  the  Roman  Hierarchy 
and  Civil  and  Religious  Liberty,"  and  moved  its  adoption.  The 
motion  prevailed.     The  report,  as  adopted,  was  as  follows  : 

This  Conference  views  witli  deep  concern  the  subtle  and  persistent 
efforts  of  the  Roman  hierarchy  to  make  its  power  felt  outside  its  own 
proper  sphere  in  many  hinds,  to  the  detriment  and  danger  of  the  civil 
and  religious  liberties  of  the  people. 

This  Conference  recognizes  with  satisfaction  the  fact  that  the  Roman 
Catholic  laity  have  in  notable  instances  had  the  courage  and  the  wis- 
dom to  withstand  the  unwarrantable  pretensions  of  their  ecclesiastical 
superiors,  and  the  Conference  further  disclaims  any  intentions  to  seek  for 
itself,  or  the  Churches  it  represents,  a  single  })rivilege  which  it  would  not 
readily  concede  to  all  others ;  but  it  feels  bound  to  remind  the  members 
of  these  Churches  of  the  sacred  rights  and  privileges  they  enjoy,  won  for 
them  by  the  sacrifice  and  fidelity  of  their  forefathers,  and  to  call  on  them 
to  unite  with  the  members  of  other  Protestant  Churches  in  maintaining 
their  great  inheritance  of  freedom,  and  handing  down  the  same,  intact,  to 
the  succeeding  generations. 

On  recommendation  of  the  Business  Committee,  the  Confer- 
ence directed  that  the  following  statements  be  published  in  the 
opening  of  the  printed  volume  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Con- 
ference : 

First.  That  each  writer  and  speaker  is  alone  responsible  for  the  opin- 
ions wliich  he  has  expressed  and  which  are  printed  in  this  volume. 

Second.  The  views  of  the  Conference  are  expressed  only  in  the  Pastoral 
Address  and  in  the  resolutions  which  it  has  adopted  by  vote. 

The  order  of  the  afternoon  was  taken  up,  and  the  Rev.  J.  M. 
Buckley,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 

44 


650  THE   OUTLOOK. 

read  the  following  appointed  essay  on  "The  Church  of  the 
Future : " 

Mr.  President :  The  last  day  of  the  feast  is  come.  Standing  here  in  the 
recollection  of  the  past,  we  pause  in  the  rush  of  the  present  to  peer  wist- 
fully into  both  the  dawning  and  the  more  distant  future.  The  Church  of 
the  present  has  always,  until  this  twentieth  day  of  October  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  1891,  been  the  "  Church  of  the  future,"  as  the  Church  of  the  pres- 
ent while  we  speak  is  engulfed  by  the  insatiable  and  changeless  past.  The 
Gospel  contains  the  origin  and  early  career  of  the  Church  that  was,  and 
history  records  the  modifications  by  which  it  became  the  Church  that 
it  is. 

To  forecast  the  future  infallibly  is  not  given  to  man.  An  analysis  of 
the  recent  evolution  of  the  visible  Church  and  an  estimate  of  the  direction 
and  force  of  the  tendencies  now  manifest  are  the  only  means — except  as 
prophecy  sheds  light  upon  it — at  our  command  to  discern  the  signs  of  the 
times  concerning  things  that  shall  shortly,  or  after  long  delay,  come  to 
pass.  The  pessimist  and  the  optimist  view  a  subject  through  opposite 
ends  of  the  telescope.  To  neither  are  things  what  they  seem.  Whether 
this  essay  distinguishes  the  mean  of  truth  judge  ye  after  the  whole  vision 
shall  have  been  imfolded. 

I.  From  a  moral  point  of  view  candor  requires  it  to  be  said  that  honesty 
is  not  maintained  as  it  should  be  among  Christians.  So  many  have  been 
the  dishonest  failures  and  defalcations;  so  wide-spread  are  the  adulter- 
ations of  manufactured  articles ;  so  many  customs  which  cannot  be  justi- 
fied by  morality,  much  less  by  the  Golden  Rule,  have  arisen,  that  a  feeling 
is  general  that  a  profession  of  Christianity  furnishes  no  guarantee,  and  but 
a  weakening  presumption,  that  there  will  not  be  an  attempt  to  take  undue 
advantage.  Self-denial,  which  in  former  years  occupied  so  prominent  a 
place  in  every  scheme  of  holy  living,  receives  comparatively  little  attention 
either  in  precept  or  practice. 

Extravagance  is  noticeable  in  most  Christian  denominations,  in  modes 
of  living  and  entertainments,  and  has  made  such  inroads  that  the  social 
life  of  many  of  the  Churches  is  not  to  be  distinguished  from  worldly 
society.  And  their  members  who  are  not  able  to  indulge  in  such  extrava- 
gances, or  are  not  willing  to  do  so,  are  often  made  to  feel  their  isolation 
within  the  Church  even  more  keenly  than  without. 

The  Church,  with  here  and  there  an  exception,  has  relinquished  the 
Sabbath  in  large  part  to  the  world.  In  Scotland  the  sentiment  and  prac- 
tices of  the  people  have  changed  for  the  worse,  and  in  England,  after  im- 
proving, they  have  deteriorated ;  while  in  the  United  States,  as  the  result 
of  immigration,  the  influence  of  luxury,  and  the  stimulus  of  sharp  com- 
petition, it  is  rapidly  degenerating  into  continental  laxity. 

The  power  of  discipline  seems  to  have  been  almost  abdicated.  Exclu- 
sions from  the  Church  for  immorality,  and  even  investigations— unless  the 
charge  be  for  some  odious  and  unpopular  crime — are  almost  as  rare  as  if 
every  member  were  perfect  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man.     As  is  the  case 


ESSAY    OF    KEY.    J.    M.    BUCKLEY.  651 

always,  the  relaxation  of  morals  tends  to  the  deterioration  of  doctrine; 
so  tliat  many  ministers  in  all  denominations  can  be  found  to  deny  the 
place  of  discipline  and  to  obstruct  and  disparage  its  administration. 

Spiritually  there  are  many  evil  tendencies.  The  power  of  the  pulpit  in 
the  presentation  of  truth  lias  sensibly  declined.  It  is  increasingly  seldom 
that  convictions  are  attributed  to  particular  sermons.  This  arises  from 
the  fact  that  preaching  is  not  as  spiritual,  that  sin,  guilt,  punishment,  and 
the  need  of  regeneration  are  not  preached  with  a  clearness,  solemnity,  and 
earnestness  commensurate  with  their  vital  relation  to  salvation,  and  that 
churches  are  regarded  as  places  of  entertainment  instead  of  solemn  ad- 
monition. Revivals  appear  to  be  more  and  more  superficial,  conversions 
not  deep,  character  not  changed.  Nor  do  revivals  take  hold  of  intelligent 
and  strong  characters  as  formerly.  Many  churches,  having  considerable 
financial  ability  and  a  large  attendance,  find  themselves  so  destitute  of 
spiritual  power  that  they  cannot  secure  the  conversion  of  their  own  chil- 
dren and  of  the  persons  who  regularly  attend  their  services,  without  the 
aid  of  evangelists  who  create  an  epidemic  excitement,  and  often  leave  a 
multitude  of  persons  who  have  asked  for  prayers  to  be  incorporated  with 
a  church  which  had  not  the  moral  force  to  convince  them  of  sin  or  lead 
them  to  Christ. 

Less  importance  seems  to  be  attached  to  secret  prayer  and  family  wor- 
ship; an  ominous  fact  wliich  is  ascertained  by  the  absence  of  the  fruits 
thereof,  by  observation,  and  by  the  confession  of  many  nominal  Chris- 
tians. The  study  of  the  word  of  God,  for  private  devotions  and  for  the 
mastery  of  its  supreme  doctrines,  its  devout  and  constant  use,  with  the 
conunission  of  the  very  words  to  the  store-house  of  memory,  has  dimin- 
ished; and  for  the  mastery  of  its  substance  has  been  substituted  the  knowl- 
edge of  what  may  be  called  the  accidents  of  the  word.  Such  ignorance 
exists  in  many  congregations  in  all  the  denominations  that  it  is  difficult 
to  command  the  attention  of  an  audience  by  the  exposition  of  the  deej) 
things  of  God,  w'hile  the  simplest  truths  are  illustrated  into  weakness.  It 
is  an  age  also  of  spiritual  excrescences  and  eccentricities,  which  always 
increase  by  reaction  in  i)roportion  to  the  decline  of  faith  in,  and  practice 
of,  the  principles  of  the  Gosi)el. 

The  relation  of  children  to  the  Church  has  undergone  a  serious  change. 
The  fashion  is  to  receive  them  into  the  Church  at  the  most  tender  age, 
upon  public  profession.  It  must  be  gladly  conceded  that  to  admit  into 
the  Church  children  who  have  been  trained  from  the  beginning  of  con- 
scious existence  to  pray,  and  have  been  surrounded  by  holy  examples  and 
godly  influences,  is  full  of  promise ;  but  to  receive,  after  they  have  per- 
haps merely  risen  for  prayers,  children  of  worldly  or  nominal  Christians, 
and  then  leave  them  to  such  home  influences,  and  to  the  Sabbath-school, 
is  but  incorporating  the  world  with  the  Church.  The  Sunday-school 
movement  of  modern  times  has  attached  children,  in  a  certain  sense,  to 
the  Church,  and  has  been  the  means  of  the  conversion  of  many ;  but  it 
hiis  led  many  to  sul)stitute  an  attendance  upon  the  Sabbath-school  for  the 
Church,  and  tempted  indolent  parents  to  trust  the  school,  with  its  half 


652  THE   OUTLOOK. 

hour  of  lessoa  and  many  distractions,  to  give  the  children  all  necessary 
religious  and  moral  instruction. 

The  substitution  of  machinery  for  the  actions  which  spring  from  spirit- 
ual life  presents  a  portentous  contrast  with  the  simplicity  of  the  opera- 
tions of  the  Church  in  the  days  of  its  greatest  power.  How  simple  was 
primitive  Christianity!  How  simple  was  primitive  Methodism!  Now 
the  Church  threatens  to  become  a  vast  system  of  wheels  within  wheels, 
with  the  minds  of  the  people  so  centered  upon  the  numerous  small  wheels 
as  to  forget  to  seek  for  the  jiower  which  moves  the  great  wheel. 

Thus  far  the  pessimist  would  go  with  us,  indorsing  each  criticism  with  a 
lugubrious  Ame7i.  . 

But  we  have  seen  only  one  side  of  the  shield.  Ostensible  unity  of  doc- 
trine exists  in  all  Protestant  sects  upon  the  deity  of  Christ,  the  depravity 
of  man,  spiritual  regeneration,  and  the  fact  that  the  death  of  Christ  has  a 
vital  and  unparalleled  relation  to  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  In  eschatology 
there  are  differences  of  opinion,  but  the  great  multitude  of  both  clergy 
and  laity  of  all  the  Churches  still  accept  the  doctrine  tliat  life  is  a  proba- 
tion, and  the  irreversible  rewards  and  judgments  to  be  distributed  at  the 
last  day.  In  all  the  Churches  there  ai'C'many  who  have  not  defiled  their 
garments,  and  are  giving  all  diligence  to  make  their  calling  and  election 
sure.  And  there  are  numerous  tendencies  of  a  hopeful  character:  the 
genuine  sympathy  existing  between  different  denominations;  the  spread 
of  temperance  and  total  abstinence  jjrinciples  in  all  branches  of  the 
Church;  the  philanthropic  spirit  exhibited  in  the  erection  and  support  of 
institutions  for  the  blind,  orphans,  idiots,  pavipers,  and  hospitals  for  the 
sick  and  insane ;  and  the  increase  in  liberality  of  the  Christian  Church. 

The  spread  of  the  revival  spirit  to  denominations  which  were  until 
recently  without  it  is  a  fact  of  great  importance.     The  vast  missionary 
movements;  the  influence  exerted  by  Christianity  upon  education;  and 
especially  the  number  of  colleges  and  academies  under  the  control  of  re- 
ligious societies,  where  revivals  of  religion  are  common ;  the  organization 
of  young  men  for  Christian  work ;  the  activity  of  Christian  women  in  the 
promotion  of  home  and  foreign  missions,  hospital  and  deaconess  work, 
prison  and  almshouse  visitation,  temperance  and  education ;  the  growing 
union  of  all  nations  in  sympathy  with  Christian  priDciples ;  the  spreading 
influence  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance ;  the  hatred  of  the  slave  trade,  and 
the  gradual  abolition  of  slavery;  the  principle  of  arbitration  between  the 
nations,  which  has  its  root  in  the  Golden  Rule ;  the  prevalence  of  peace, 
and  a  disposition  to  frown   upon  war;  the  increase  of  the  spirit  of  re- 
ligious freedom  in  many  parts  of  the  world ;  the  power  of  the  voluntary 
system  whereby  the  dissenting  denominations  in  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land, and  all  the  Churches  of  this  country,  Canada,  and  Australia  sustain 
themselves  and  philanthropic  enterprises  with  a  liberality  surpassing  the 
appropriations  made  by  governments  for  Churches  united  with  the  State, 
demonstrate  that  the  visible  Church  rests  more  securely  upon  the  hearts 
of  true  believers  than-it  ever  did  upon  the  arm  of  power. 

The  visible  Church,  tested  by  the  scales  of  revelation  and  reason,  ex- 


ESSAY    OF    REV.    J.    M.    BUCKLEY.  653 

hibits  a  great  improvement  siuce  the  time  of  the  Council  of  Trent.  For 
a  hundred  of  tlie  past  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  Protestantism  ex- 
hibited a  continued  and  rapid  advance  in  the  sphere  of  genuine  pros- 
perity; but  in  the  last  third  of  that  period  the  social  and  intellectual 
elements  of  church  life  have  gained  witfi  alarming  rapidity  upon  the 
spiritual. 

II.  Concerning  the  immediate  future,  it  would  seem  that  the  Church  has 
entered  upon  a  period  of  outward  prosperity,  accompanied  by  the  over- 
throw of  false  religions,  with  which  the  general  jirogress  of  civilization, 
and  the  conquest  and  colonization  by  Christian  governments  of  large  parts 
of  Asia  and  Africa,  have  much  to  do,  and  the  missionary  effort  of  the 
Churches  still  more — a  period,  also,  of  superficial  unity,  growing  out  of  a 
comparative  indifference  to  convictions — and  that  in  this  seeming  pros- 
perity and  unity  a  decline  of  spiritual  and  moral  power  may  take  place. 
Judging  by  the  past,  material  prosperity  will  continue  until  worldliness, 
with  its  attendant  vices  and  resulting  heresies,  shall  so  cut  the  branch 
from  the  true  vine  as  to  diminish  its  fruit-bearing  power;  alarming  the 
remnant  until  they  shall  offer  the  prayer  of  Habakkuk  with  an  earnestness 
not  now  felt:  "O  Lord,  revive  thy  work  in  the  midst  of  the  years;  in 
the  midst  of  the  years  make  known:  in  wrath  remember  mercy.'' 

Should  this  be  a  correct  forecast,  the  rise  of  new  denominations,  seek- 
ing after  spiritual  piety,  may  be  expected.  As  formerly  some  of  these 
will  wander  into  excess  of  distortion,  and  others  consolidate  into  perma- 
nent and  powerful  religious  organizations.  In  all  the  Protestant  Churches 
which  have  not  rejected  the  supreme  deity  of  Christ  and  the  need  of  su- 
pernatural regeneration  by  the  Holy  Ghost  there  is  the  potency  of  renew- 
al ;  and  tidal- waves  of  divine  power  may  restore  them  by  the  spirit  of 
burning  or  melting,  as  the  infinite  mind  may  deem  necessary.  Reactions 
from  prevalent  tendencies  which  are  in  excess  are  sure  to  follow  to  the  op- 
posite extreme.  But  as  the  ages  come  and  go  the  violence  must  cease, 
the  oscillation  will  cover  less  distance,  until  the  variation  from  the  mean 
of  truth  will  be  only  that  which  the  finite  mind  at  its  best  will  always 
rcijuire, 

Xo  union  of  Protestantism  and  Romanism  is  possible.  Their  funda- 
mental principles  are  absolutely  irreconcilable,  those  of  Protestantism 
being  the  all-sufficiency  of  the  word  and  the  right  of  private  judgment  in 
its  interpretation;  while  Romanism  demands  absolute  subjection  of  the 
individual  mind  to  the  visil>le  fabric  of  which  the  pope  is  the  head. 

III.  Turning  from  the  immediate  to  the  ultimate  future  of  the  Church,  we 
may  at  once  dismiss  all  fear;  for  is  it  not  written  of  Jesus,  "He  shall  see 
of  the  travail  of  his  soul  and  be  satisfied  ? "  And  does  not  St.  Peter, 
speaking  of  the  time  of  his  second  coming,  expressly  declare  that  "  The 
Lord  is  not  slack  concerning  his  promise,  as  some  men  count  slackness; 
but  is  long-suffering  to  us-ward,  not  willing  that  any  should  perish,  but 
that  all  should  come  to  repentance."  This  is  the  place  of  refuge  for  the 
genuine  Christian  ojitimist.  Whether  the  coming  of  Christ  be  delayed  or 
liastened,  the  motive  on  tlie  part  of  him  who  sent  his  Son  into  the  world, 


654:  THE    OUTLOOK. 

uot  to  condemn  the  world,  but  that  the  world  through  him  might  be 
saved,  is  to  increase  the  number  of  the  saved ;  and  the  same  words  declare 
that  it  is  through  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  that  this  is  to  be  done. 
Whatever,  therefore,  the  changes  that  may  take  place,  whether  one  denom- 
ination flourish  or  decline,  the  work  of  salvation  must  and  does  go  forward. 

The  ultimate  Church  upon  the  earth  will  fulfill  all  the  prophecies  con- 
cerning it.  Its  standard  of  truth  will  be  God's  word.  It  will  enforce  no 
theory  of  inspiration,  but  all  its  members  will  believe  that  its  fundamental 
l^rinciples  came  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  that  miraculous  disjilays  of  his 
infinite  attributes  attended  the  revelation.  The  Church  will  then  have  a 
simjile  yet  comprehensive  creed.  Christian  views  of  creation,  sin,  spirit- 
ual renewal,  of  Christ,  of  human  responsibility,  duty,  privilege,  destiny, 
will  be  so  stated  as  to  reveal  the  essentials  of  salvation.  Metaiohysical 
distinctions  will  be  left  to  those  wbo  love  them  and  can  trace  them. 

The  rules  of  the  ultimate  Church  will  be  few.  The  mania  for  makingr 
new  laws  for  God's  people  upon  points  upon  which  inspiration  has  not 
spoken  will  give  place  to  the  Christian  liberty  exhibited  by  St.  James  and 
indorsed  and  illustrated  by  St.  Paul.  In  it  all  believers  will  be  equal, 
not  intellectually,  commercially,  or  socially,  but  in  privilege  and  in  spirit ; 
caste  and  the  tyranny  of  worldly  aristocracy  will  be  unknown.  Cant  will 
disappear.  Believers  will  be  as  careful  to  use  words  in  their  true  meaning 
upon  religion  as  they  are  in  making  business  contracts.  The  standard  of 
living  will  be  midway  between  asceticism  and  luxurj-,  and  all  will  joyfully 
conform  to  it.  The  servants  of  God  will  give  as  he  hath  prospered  them, 
needing  only  instruction  as  to  the  best  modes  of  serving  him  with  their 
substance.  Stratagem  and  appeals  to  carnal  motives  will  no  longer  be 
needed.  Reason  and  enthusiasm  will  modify  each  other,  so  that  knowl- 
edge will  not  be  found  without  zeal,  or  zeal  that  is  not  according  to 
knowledge;  for  God  will  have  put  his  laws  into  their  mind  and  written 
them  in  their  hearts.  The  immoral  will  not  seek  place  in  the  Church. 
Discipline  will  be  helpful  to  the  penitent,  but  not  tolerant  to  the  incor- 
rigible. Revivals  will  not  be  needed  in  the  Church,  but  will  arise  from 
the  united  efforts  of  true  believers  to  save  sinners.  The  normal  condition 
of  the  ultimate  Church  will  be  that  of  devotion;  but  while  sinners  remain 
upon  the  earth  it  will,  from  time  to  time,  according  to  the  indications  of 
God's  providence  and  the  movements  of  his  Spirit,  gird  itself  to  aggressive 
movements. 

Science  and  religion  will  walk  hand  in  hand ;  though  till  the  last  there 
may  be  irreligious  scientists,  and  some  Christians  so  ignorant  or  timid 
as  to  fear  that  the  increase  of  knowledge  in  the  sphere  of  nature  neces- 
sarily implies  the  destruction  of  faith  in  the  realm  of  religion.  Social 
questions,  as  such,  which  in  the  interval  must  receive  more  attention  than 
heretofore,  will  then  have  disappeared.  Christians  being  governed  wholly 
by  the  principles  of  the  Gospel.  The  evils  which  vex  and  oppress  so- 
ciety, so  far  as  they  are  the  result  of  unchristian  principle  or  spirit,  will 
have  faded  away.  The  area  of  sin  and  of  selfish  competition  will  have 
diminished  until  the  rich  and  the  poor  shall  dwell  together  in  unity,  the 


ESSAY   OF   KEV.    J.    M.    JJUCKLEY.  G55 

brother  of  low  degree  rejoiciugia  that  he  is  exalted,  and  the  rich  in  that  lie 
is  made  low.  In  that  happy  time  all  true  believers  will  be  joined  in  heart, 
gladly  emphasizing  points  of  agreement,  and  true  to  their  convictions 
where  differing  in  judgment,  maintaining  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the 
bonds  of  peace. 

IV.  IIow  shall  this  glorious  result  be  achieved?  The  Church  of  to-mor- 
row depends  in  large  measure  upon  our  living  to-day ;  and  all  our  powers 
should  be  applied  to  discover  the  mind  of  God.  The  ideal  of  abstract 
purity,  reverence,  zeal,  co-ojieration,  catholicity,  supremacy,  universality, 
and  spirituality  which  we  find  in  the  word  should  always  be  held  before 
us  as  our  model  and  displayed  by  us  for  the  guidance  of  others.  What- 
ever we  see  in  the  Church  of  to-day  distorted  we  should  endeavor  to 
mold  into  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  Christ  or  eliminate;  and  enlarge  that 
which  is  defective. 

Ever  should  we  be  comparing  the  principles  of  the  Gospel  with,  the  age 
in  which  we  live.  Especially  does  it  devolve  upon  us  to  beware  of  the  de- 
lusive theory  that  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  is  to  be  the  creature  or  ser- 
vant of  the  age.  Alliance  with  the  world  has  ever  been  the  precursor  of 
■wickedness.  We  are  to  sow  in  the  hearts  of  this  generation  undoubting 
faith  in  God's  word,  unselfish  devotion  to  his  law.  According  to  our 
teaching  and  living  will  future  standard-bearers  be  strong  towers,  or  reeds 
shaken  by  every  wind  of  doctrine ;  seekers  after  the  unsearchable  riches 
of  Christ,  ambitious  only  to  hear  his  voice  saying,  *'  Well  done,  good  and 
faithful  servant,  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord,"  or  covetous  only  of 
the  dross  which  perisheth,  and  thirsting  for  the  applause  of  men. 

Neither  mournfully  recalling  the  past,  nor  gazing  feebly  upon  a  con- 
flicting present,  nor  paralyzed  by  an  unworthy  fear  of  the  future,  we 
should  concentrate  every  energy  of  heart  and  mind  upon  the  perfecting 
of  our  individual  characters  and  the  perfecting  and  strengthening  of  the 
Church  of  the  present.  Thus  human  providence  will  labor  together  with 
God's  providence  to  make  the  Church  of  the  future  a  glorious  Church, 
**  not  having  spot  or  wrinkle  or  any  such  thing,  holy  and  without  blem- 
ish." 

"  'How  wrought  I  yesterday?'  Small  moment,  now, 
To  question  with  vain  tears,  or  bitter  moan. 
Since  every  word  you  wrote  upon  the  sands 
Of  yesterday  hath  hardened  into  stone. 

"  '  How  work  to-morrow? '  'Tis  a  day  unborn. 

To  scan  whose  formless  features  is  not  granted. 
Ere  the  new  morning  dawns,  soul,  thou  mayest  wing 
Thy  flight  beyond  to-morrow,  disenchanted. 

"  *  How  shall  I  work  to-day? '     O  soul  of  mine! 
To-day  stands  on  her  threshold,  girt  to  lead 
Thy  feet  to  life  immortal.      Strive  with  fear, 

Deep  pitfalls  strew  the  way.     Take  heed — take  heed !  " 


656  THE   OUTLOOK. 

The  Kev.  W.  J.  Dawson,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church, 
gave  the  following  invited  address  on  "  The  Church  of  the 
Future : " 

Mr.  President :  We  are  all  familiar  with  the  lines  of  Tennyson : 

"When  I  dipt  into  the  future  far  as  human  eye  could  see; 
Saw  the  vision  of  the  world,  and  all  the  wonder  that  would  be." 

Now  the  right  of  prophecy  belongs  to  the  Christian  equally  with  the  poet, 
and  it  rests  upon  surer  grounds.  The  vision  of  a  perfect  Church  has  al- 
ways allured,  rebuked,  and  fascinated  men.  It  is  an  ideal  which  has  stung 
men  into  energy  and  ambition  in  shaping  the  real. 

"A  man's  reach  should  exceed  his  grasp, 
Or  what's  a  heaven  for? " 

says  Browning.  What,  then,  is  the  ideal  Church  which  we  see  in  the 
dawn  of  the  illimitable  to-morrow — the  Church  of  the  future,  the  bride 
adorned  for  her  Husband,  glorious  within  and  without  with  holiness,  per- 
fection, and  achievement?  Now,  even  the  poet  can  only  paint  the  future 
with  the  colors  of  the  present.  We  can  conceive  a  better  Church,  a 
broader  Church,  a  more  universal  Church,  but  the  colors  of  the  picture 
are  derived  from  the  Church  we  know.  The  Church  of  the  future  must 
be  the  Church  of  the  past.  We  have  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism. 
The  foundations  cannot  be  altered ;  they  are  the  rock  on  which  the  Church 
is  built,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it. 

But  if  we  are  to  use  words  with  any  sense  of  their  meaning,  we  must 
ask  two  questions:  (1)  What  do  we  mean  by  "the  Church? "  and  (2) 
What  streams  of  tendency  can  we  discover  which  are  already  shaping  the 
Church  of  the  future?  To  the  first  question  I  re2:)ly  that  the  Church  is 
simply  a  company  of  men  and  women  who  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  with  all  their  hearts,  and  who  are  trying  to  fill  the  world  with  his 
temper  and  spirit,  and  to  bring  all  men  to  the  knowledge  of  his  truth.  The 
Church  may  differ  in  its  forms,  and  it  does.  It  may  be  a  school  of  sjiir- 
itual  culture,  or  a  school  of  compassion.  In  one  age  its  chief  note  may  be 
contemplation,  and  in  another  social  activity.  It  may  be  the  Church  mil- 
itant, or  the  Church  quiescent.  But  whatever  forms  it  takes,  its  aim  is 
the  same ;  it  is  to  embody  and  declare  the  spirit  and  temper  of  Jesus.  All 
that  we  can  do  to  pierce  the  future  is  to  ascertain  the  drift  of  the  present. 
What  forms  is  church  life  likely  to  assume  in  the  next  generation?  What 
will  be  her  environments,  and  what  tendencies  in  her  show  signs  of  de- 
velopment? That  is  a  legitimate  question,  and  one  that  is  pre-eminently 
worth  consideration. 

Now,  it  seems  to  me  that  there  are  four  notes,  so  to  speak,  which  will 
distinguish  the  Church  of  the  future.  The  first  note  is  simplification. 
The  simplification  of  life  was  the  great  lesson  taught  by  the  French  revo- 
lution and  in  the  poetry  of  Wordsworth ;  and  the  note  was  struck  by 
Wesley  before  either.     Wesley  applied  simplification  to  religious  truth. 


ADDRESS    OF    KEV.    M'.    J.    DAWSON.  657 

He  had  a  keen  eye  for  the  essential  and  cared  little  for  the  accidental. 
This  process  has  been  going  on  all  around  us  for  the  last  half  century.  In 
science,  in  mechanics,  in  philosophy,  there  has  been  a  sifting  of  all  things 
resulting  in  the  fuller  expression  of  great  })rinciples,  central  laws,  essen- 
tial truths — a  movement  toward  simplification.  I  believe  that  it  is  along 
this  path  that  the  Church  of  the  future  must  needs  move  also.  We  shall 
learn  to  care  less  for  dogma,  more  for  life ;  less  for  creeds,  more  for  char- 
acter; less  for  the  accidentals  of  religious  truth,  more  for  the  essentials. 
We  shall  move  more  and  more  toward  points  of  combination,  toward  those 
great  catholic  truths  on  which  all  religious  souls  agree;  and  the  divergen- 
cies and  distractions  of  disputed  doctrines  v^ill  then  perish  for  want  of 
fomentation. 

Of  course,  we  cannot  have  a  Church  without  theology,  but  we  can  have 
a  Church  tliat  insists  more  upon  a  Christlike  life  than  upon  any  particu- 
lar concejition  of  Christian  truth.  Years  ago  Lawrence  Oliphant  wrote 
a  book  which  produced  a  profound  sensation,  the  gist  of  which  was  a 
message  to  all  professing  Christians  to  live  the  life.  That  note  has  been 
struck  again  and  again  in  literature  by  Kingsley,  by  George  Macdonald, 
by  Carlyle,  by  Ruskin,  and  a  host  of  others.  The  theology  of  the 
Churches  to-day  is  manufactured  outside  the  Churches.  It  is  the  great  sec- 
ular writers  of  the  English  language  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  who  are 
making  the  theology  of  the  future.  It  is  mere  imbecility  to  ignore  this 
fact.  Tennyson,  Browning,  and  Carlyle  have  probably  done  more  to 
influence  and  shape  the  thought  of  the  Church  than  any  score  of  theolo- 
gians or  controversial  writers  of  the  last  fifty  years  who  might  be  named ; 
and  the  net  result  of  all  this  teaching  is,  live  the  life.  The  pulpit  has 
heard  this  voice  and  has  become  more  real.  The  eloquent  and  ornament- 
ed sermon  that  aimed  at  nothing — and  hit  it — has  nearly  disappeared. 
The  theological  and  controversial  sermon  has  gone  with  it.  A  franker, 
more  direct,  and  real  style  of  address  has  arisen,  and  ethics  are  every- 
where displacing  disputations  in  theology.  Does  not  all  this  point  out 
the  path  of  the  future?  Too  long  the  Church  has  been  so  busy  keejjing 
its  eye  upon  heaven  that  it  has  had  no  time  to  deal  with  the  injustices  of 
earth.  Too  long  it  has  been  smiting  a  certain  abstraction  called  "sin," 
and  has  not  dared  to  attack  the  notorious  and  the  public  sinner.  If  we  do 
not  think  so,  be  sure  of  it  that  is  what  great  numbers  of  people  outside  the 
Churches  are  saying.  All  this  must  be  changed,  and  indeed  is  rapidly 
changing,  and  it  is  clear  in  the  Church  of  the  future  the  creed  will  occupy 
the  smallest  possible  space,  and  character  will  occupy  the  largest. 

The  second  note  which  will  distinguish  the  Church  of  the  future  is  the 
democratic  note.  Broadly  speaking,  we  are  all  agreed  that  we  are  ajiproach- 
ing,  if  we  have  not  reached,  an  age  of  triiuupliant  democracy.  The  ex- 
ample of  America  has  had  a  wholly  incalculable  influence  upon  the  polit- 
ical conditions  of  the  Old  World.  Every  decade  adds  to  the  power  of  the 
people,  and  the  whole  trend  of  modern  politics  is  toward  their  fuller 
emancipation.  But  democracy  in  the  State  means  democracy  in  the 
Church  also.     It  means  that  in  the  long  run  the  Church  which  is  most 


658  ..  THE    OUTLOOK. 

!' 

ii 
frankly  democratic  in  its  methods  must  win.     Autocracy  in  church,  oqv- 

ernment  is  dooiSied.  Every  new  school  which  is  erected,  every  new  philo- 
sophical book  which  is  read,  every  fresh  liberty  which  is  gained  for  the 
masses  of  the  people  by  the  action  of  Senates  and  Parliaments,  is  another 
nail  driven  into  the  coffin  of  autocracy.  And  I  say,  therefore,  that  the 
Church  which  is  most  frankly,  wisely,  and  genially  democratic  will  be  the 
Church  of  the  future.  No  Church  which  boasts  that  it  ministers  to  an 
intellectual  aristocracy  can  take  a  large  hold  on  the  twentieth  century. 
The  Church  that  touches  the  common  people  will  do  that,  and  the  Church 
of  the  common  people  cannot  fail  to  be  the  Church  of  the  world. 

The  third  note,  necessarily  following  from  the  second,  is  the  social  note. 
Just  as  the  Avhole  trend  of  politics  is  toward  the  enfranchisement  of  the 
people,  so  it  is  toward  social  reconstruction.  There  is  no  mistaking  the 
fact  that  the  great  mass  of  toilers  in  the  more  laborious  drudgeries  of  life 
are  wholly  and  justifiably  discontented  with  their  lot.  Socialism  is  a  real 
force  in  every  country,  and  in  most  a  growing  force.  What  can  we  do? 
We  are  followers  of  a  divine  Socialist  who,  l)eing  rich,  for  our  sakes  be- 
came poor.  If  we  cannot  Christianize  our  socialism,  can  we  not  socialize 
our  Christianity?  We  both  can  and  must.  It  is  our  simple  duty  to  apply 
the  ethics  of  Jesus  to  the  common  social  life  of  the  people.  It  cannot  be 
doubted  that  the  air  vibrates  with  the  armed  feet  of  change.  Men  are 
blindly  conscious  that  the  present  social  system  is  unjust,  and  they  are 
blindly  feeling  after  something  better.  What  have  we  to  say  to  them? 
You  may  ignore  them,  and  then  I  think  I  can  tell  3  ou  what  wall  happen.  If 
men  cannot  get  the  socialism  of  Jesus  they  will  get  the  socialism  of  the  devil. 
If  men  are  once  convinced  that  modern  Christianity  is  incapable  of  taking 
up  the  cross  of  men's  social  wrongs  and  evils,  they  will  look  elsewhere  for 
help,  and  what  Christianity  will  not  give  they  will  try  to  take  in  the  wild 
agonies  of  social  upheaval,  of  blood  and  passion  and  revolt.  The  social- 
ism of  Jesus,  so  sweet,  so  sane,  so  simple,  does  not  make  us  equal,  but  it 
makes  us  brothers.  It  does  not  say,  "All  that  is  thine  is  mine,"  but  "All 
that  is  mine  is  thine."  This  socialism  of  Jesus,  simple  as  it  is,  will  give 
men  all  they  want  through  the  cultivation  of  human  character,  sympathy, 
and  brotherhood ;  but  if  we  refuse  it,  then  men  will  go  elsewhere  for  de- 
liverance, and  will  accept  the  devil's  socialism.  And  that  is  a  socialism 
whose  outward  signs  are  bloody  streets  and  flaming  cities,  the  wisest  heads 
spitted  upon  bayonets,  the  best  results  of  civilization  shattered  into  dust 
— a  socialism  of  lust  and  blasphemy,  of  anarchy  and  hatred,  the  first  arti- 
cle of  whose  creed  is  that  there  is  no  God,  and  that  Christianity  is  an  ex- 
ploded fable.  This  has  happened  once  in  European  history.  It  may  hap- 
pen again,  and  in  the  general  overthrow  not  merely  the  thrones  of  Europe 
may  disappear,  but  the  Church  herself  may  be  swept  away  before  the  flam- 
ing tide  of  universal  hatred  and  contempt.  It  is  for  the  Church  herself 
to  say  whether  that  catastrophe  shall  happen,  for  it  is  in  her  power  to 
prevent  it. 

The  fourth  note  which  will  distinguish  the  Church  of  the  future  is 
comprehension.     There  will  be  intellectual  comprehension.     We  dare  not 


ADDRESS    OF   REV.    W.    J.    DAWSON.  659 

refuse  new  light  from  whatever  point  it  streams  upon  us,  so  long  as  it  is 
liglit.  We  stand  or  fall  by  the  truth.  We  are  not  afraid  of  evolution. 
As  Charles  Kingsley  remarked,  "Even  evolution  implies  an  Evolver." 
The  Christianity  of  the  future  must  be  a  Christianity  of  broader  horizons 
and  greater  unity.  How  little  there  is,  really,  to  sei)arate  us  from  the 
Presbyterian,  the  Baptist,  the  Congregationalist,  and  the  other  great  Prot- 
estant bodies,  and  how  much  better  would  it  be  for  all  of  us  if  the  folds 
were  one !  Nay,  I  will  go  further  and  will  say.  How  much  there  is  in  com- 
mon even  l)etween  Protestantism  and  Catholicism  I  The  Romanist  is  cer- 
tainly nearer  the  ]\Iethodist  than  the  Unitarian.  Is  it  too  wild  a  dream 
that  the  truth  which  dwells  in  Rome  will  yet  free  itself  from  the  corrup- 
tion, and  that,  in  the  final  reunion  of  Christendom,  Rome  may  not  long 
prove  irreconcilable?  A  Cluu'ch  which  has  missioned  the  red  Indians  with 
such  splendid  heroism ;  which  has  produced  the  finest  devotional  writers 
of  the  world — writers  whom  we  all  read,  and  from  whom  the  best  of  us 
are  glad  to  borrow;  which  can  boast  hundreds  of  priests  as  devout  as 
Thomas  a  Kempis,  as  quietly  heroic  as  Xavier;  a  Church  which  gave 
Christianity  to  England,  and  thus  to  all  English-speaking  peoples,  and 
which  has  preserved  the  Bil^le  tlirough  the  darkest  crises  of  barbarism ;  a 
Church  which  in  this  country  shows  a  solid  front  against  the  laxity  of  di- 
vorce laws,  and  every-where  is  a  living  force  on  the  side  of  virtue — is  it 
too  wild  a  dream  that  this  Church,  which  has  lasted  so  many  centuries, 
may  yet  be  purified,  and  stand  in  the  end  of  the  day  hand  in  hand  with 
its  great  Protestant  sister? 

It  may  seem  intolerable  presumption,  but  I  sometimes  think  that  if  this 
does  not  happen,  then  the  final  choice  of  the  future  will  lie  between  Cathol- 
icism and  Methodism.  Of  course  I  use  these  terms  in  the  widest  possible 
sense,  and  as  mere  symbols  of  two  opposite  poles  of  thought.  Toward 
Catholicism  must  drift  all  those  who  seek  for  authority  in  the  visible 
Church;  toward  Methodism  there  must  drift,  in  closer  and  more  brotherly 
organization  year  by  year,  all  bodies  of  Christians  who  believe  in  the 
living  Christ  as  the  one  center  of  authority  in  the  Church.  Methodism, 
like  Catholicism,  has  the  cosmopolitan  instinct.  It  is  an  immense  organi- 
zation. It  thrives  most  vigorously  in  new  lands.  It  is  a  great  educational 
force.  It  holds  its  ministers  in  a  solid  army  by  its  esprit  de  corps,  and 
trains  them  into  the  temper  of  crusaders,  and  proposes  to  them  nothing 
less  than  the  conquest  of  the  world.  Catholicism  has  had  eighteen  cent- 
uries to  grow  in,  Methodism  a  century  and  a  half;  and  if  this  rate  of 
progress  is  maintained,  nothing  can  prevent  Methodism  in  five  centuries 
from  now  from  being  the  universal  Church.  Of  course  I  do  not  under- 
rate the  power  and  influence  of  the  other  great  Protestant  Chmrhes;  but 
it  has  pleased  God  to  give  Methodism  an  organization  and  an  instinct  of 
universalism  which  takes  it  every-where.  I  cannot  help  thinking  that 
Wesley  studied  the  Catholic  Church  very  closely  in  framing  ^lethodism. 
But  there  is,  and  always  must  be,  this  vital  difference:  in  Catholicism  the 
Church  is  the  center  of  authority,  in  Methodism  and  all  Protestant 
Churches  Christ  Jesus.     That  is  the  great  dividing  line,  the  irreconcilable 


660  THE    OUTLOOK. 

cleavage.  Rome  can  become  Methodist,  but  Methodism  cannot  become 
Roman ;  and  therefore  I  say  it  is  these  two  great  systems  that  will  divide 
the  future.  The  one  great  question  of  the  future  is,  Christ  or  the  Church 
— which?  The  danger  of  Methodism,  as  of  Rome,  as  of  all  highly  organ- 
ized bodies,  is  inelasticity  and  intolerance.  But  if  we  can  escape  tliese 
dangers ;  if  we  can  maintain  the  spirit  of  our  fathers ;  if  we  can  rise  into 
what  may  be  called  imperial  views  of  the  possibilities  of  our  Church, 
there  is  no  limit  to  the  growth  and  development  which  the  future  may 
bring  to  us. 

But,  after  all,  the  most  essential  point  to  recollect  is  that  the  Church  of 
the  future  will  have  but  one  fold  and  one  Shepherd.  Unity  is  the  prom- 
ise with  which  Christ  crowns  the  ages ;  and,  as  we  approach  to  unity,  so 
we  approach  to  the  perfection  of  church  development.  When  the  Mount 
Cenis  tunnel  was  cut,  men  toiled  from  either  side  of  the  Alps,  and  so  true 
was  the  line  drawn  that  at  length  they  met,  and  France  and  Italy  shook 
hands  beneath  the  Alps.  So  it  may  be  said  that  science  toiling  from  one 
point,  and  faith  from  another — culture  from  one  point,  and  religious  en- 
thusiasm from  another — must  meet  at  last  and  join  hands  in  a  common 
conquest,  for  God  hath  purposed  to  draw  all  men  together  in  one  unto 
him. 

I  cannot  better  conclude  than  in  quoting  the  words  of  Ruskin,  in  which 
he  speaks  of  the  arrested  powers  of  the  Reformation  which  resulted  in  the 
faithless  and  materialized  mind  of  modern  Europe:  "But,"  says  he,  "in 
the  midst  of  all  steadily  advancing  science  the  charities  of  more  and  more 
widely  extended  peace  are  preparing  the  way  for  a  Christian  Church  such 
as  Christ  designed,  which  shall  depend  neither  upon  ignorance  for  con- 
tinuance, nor  upon  controversy  for  progress,  but  shall  reign  at  once  in 
light  and  love. " 

Tlie  Eev.  Bishop  E.  E.  Hendrix,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  South,  gave  the  second  invited  ad- 
dress on  "  The  Church  of  the  Future,"  as  follows : 

Mr.  President :  There  will  be  a  Church  of  the  future.  It  will  be  a  house- 
hold of  faith,  "  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets, 
Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner-stone."  The  traveler  from 
New  Zealand  who  "in  the  midst  of  a  vast  solitude  takes  his  stand 
on  a  broken  arch  of  London  Bridge  to  sketch  the  ruins  of  St.  Paul's" 
will  be  a  Christian.  It  is  the  Christian  religion  alone  which  can  teach  the 
cannibal  either  to  cross  the  ocean  or  to  sketch.  Whatever  the  future  has 
in  store  for  individual  nations,  we  confidently  expect  the  survival  of 
Christianity,  the  mother  of  commerce  and  art  to  the  once  pagan  South 
Sea  Islands.  The  spiral  movement  in  the  history  of  the  race  tells  of  the 
presence  of  a  power  which  makes  for  righteousness.  Christianity  is  im- 
mortal till  its  work  is  done.  Civilized  society  rests  on  religion,  and  free 
government  prospers  best  among  religious  people.  The  progress  of  the 
race  toward  civilization  and  free  government,  no  less  than  the  evangeliza- 


ADDRESS    OF    BISHOP    E.    E.    HENDKIX.  601 

tion  o?  the  race,  depends  upon  the  Church.  Persecution  cannot  destroy 
her,  and  revohitious  cannot  stay  her  advance.  The  blood  of  her  martyrs 
has  always  been  seed,  and  she  gathers  her  harvests  from  the  furrows  of 
revolutions. 

Why  the  Church?  Because  the  Christian  religion  is  a  divine  life 
wrought  in  the  soul  of  the  believer  in  Jestjs,  and  is  marked  by  the  in- 
stinct to  propagate  itself  by  dilTusiou,  and  to  this  end  must  have  organiza- 
tion. Tliis  orc^uii/.atioii  is  the  Churcli.  It  is  only  in  a  social  state  that 
man's  faculties,  whether  intellectual  or  moral,  attain  any  high  degree  of 
development,  and  man  naturally  seeks  communion  with  other  believers 
for  the  nourishment  of  his  own  spiritual  life.  The  Church  thus  becomes 
the  exj)ression  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and,  through  her  agency,  this 
kingdom  is  to  become  effective  in  the  world.  It  is  foimded  alike  upon 
eternal  truth  and  man's  deepest  needs,  and  is  imperishable.  Sooner  shall 
society  cease,  the  family  perish,  letters,  art,  science  disappear,  than  man 
be  willing  to  give  up  a  religion  which  was  founded  by  the  Creator  and  is 
best  adapted  to  man's  intellectual,  social,  and  spiritual  needs.  And  it  is 
this  religion,  so  instinct  with  life,  that  furnishes  its  own  outward  expres- 
sion and  organization  in  the  Church. 

We  must  not  make  too  much  of  the  visibility  of  the  Church.  It  is  not 
a  sort  of  organic  life  imposed  upon  society  in  an  outward  way.  Where 
the  Spirit  of  Christ  is  there  is  the  Church,  and  Josus  has  declared  that  the 
smallest  possible  assembly — two  or  three  gathered  in  his  name — may  ex- 
pect that  presence.  The  Church  existed  in  the  house,  of  Aquila  and  Pris- 
cilla,  whether  in  Ephesus  or  Corinth  or  Rome,  as  it  existed  long  after- 
ward in  the  mountain  fastnesses  of  Italy.  The  Church  is  the  mystical 
body  of  Christ,  and  while  it  cannot  but  find  outward  expression  in  order 
to  be  the  light  of  the  world  and  the  salt  of  the  earth,  yet  it  is  not  the  im- 
posing character  of  its  outward  expression  which  constitutes  its  power. 
At  the  same  time  a  low  estimate  of  its  mission  lessens  activity,  and  a  si- 
lent or  weak  and  uninfluential  pulpit  will  affect  alike  its  outward  form 
and  neutralize  its  hidden  power.  If  it  has  kept  the  faith,  the  fact  will 
appear  in  outward  fruits  and  mighty  works.  The  Church  of  Christ  can- 
not survive  her  credentials.  Those  credentials  are  the  same  as  her  Lord's 
— what  is  being  done  for  humanity.  Her  witnesses,  her  epistles,  read  and 
known  of  all,  are  the  men  and  women  whom  she  produces.  Her  finished 
product,  her  crowning  glory,  is  a  regenerated  Avorld. 

The  field  of  work  where  the  Church  of  the  future  is  to  be  most  severely 
tested  is  in  Christendom,  and  among  the  populations  which  "she  has  up- 
lifted and  quickened.  There  are  no  foes  awaiting  her  in  heathen  lands 
different  from  what  .she  has  already  overcome.  The  bitter  hate  of  a 
proud  .Judaism,  the  relentless  persecution  of  paganism,  the  organized 
powers  of  imperial  Rome  seeking  her  overthrow,  cannot  be  exceeded  by 
any  opposing  forces  in  the  future.  But  while  the  Church  is  evangelizing 
heathen  lands,  are  not  Christian  nations  in  danger  of  becoming  paganized? 
Can  any  heathen  nation  show  men  more  indifferent  to  the  fact  of  the  in- 
carnation of  our  Lord,  and  striving  to  solve  the  problems  of  life  with 


662  THE    OUTLOOK. 

greater  ignorance  of  a  revelation,  than  is  the  case  among  intellectual  men 
in  the  great  Christian  nations  of  the  world?  Can  any  heathen  nation 
show  greater  self-indulgence  and  devotion  to  pleasure  among  her  sons  of 
wealth  than  is  the  case  among  the  rich  of  Christian  Europe  and  America? 
It  is  Christianity  which  has  made  possible  this  large  wealth  and  the  gen- 
erous culture  of  our  day;  but  does  she  control  them?  Does  she  still  have 
the  ear  of  the  intellectual,  and  is  she  able  still  to  command  the  resources 
of  the  rich  for  her  Lord?  Can  she  save  the  rich  man  from  selfishness,  and 
the  scholar  from  pride  of  intellect  and  unbelief?  Is  there  a  disposition  to 
neglect  these  classes  under  the  professed  desire  of  giving  the  Gospel  to 
the  poor?  The  Church  of  the  future  must  neglect  none  of  her  offspring. 
No  Church  can  survive  which  does  not  dominate  the  intellect  of  man. 
French  infidelity  in  the  eighteenth  century  flourished  because  it  domi- 
nated the  intellect  of  France,  while  orthodoxy  was  the  badge  of  ignorance 
and  stupidity. 

There  are  no  classes  of  society  more  neglected  to-day  than  the  neglected 
rich.  Organized  efforts  are  made  to  reach  the  poor  who  are  easier  of 
access,  but  the  rich  are  often  left  to  be  overcome  by  the  peculiar  temp- 
tations which  are  incident  to  material  prosperity,  and  stewards  of  God's 
bounty  use  in  luxurious  living  what  might  be  available  for  the  conversion 
of  the  world.  While  it  is  the  glory  of  the  Church  that  she  gives  the  Gos- 
pel to  the  poor,  it  is  her  reproach  if  she  cannot  hold  and  mold  for  the 
kingdom  of  God  her  prosperous  sons  and  her  educated  minds.  Her 
power  must  not  simply  be  felt  in  given  classes  of  society,  it  must  pervade 
the  whole.  The  contributions  for  the  conversion  of  the  heathen  must  not 
simply  be  the  offerings  of  the  poor,  while  the  contributions  of  the  English 
aristocracy,  as  we  have  been  told,  "  would  not  buy  the  leg  of  a  race- 
horse. "  The  Church  must  remember  that  the  lapsed  classes  are  at  the  top 
of  society  no  less  than  at  the  bottom,  and  that  she  must  prove  her  mission 
by  reaching  and  saving  both.  "  The  kings  of  Sheba  and  Seba  shall  offer 
gifts "  and  the  wise  men  shall  bring  presents  as  the  power  of  our  holy 
religion  makes  itself  more  deeply  felt.  In  our  ultimate  mission  to  convert 
the  world  we  must  not  forget  the  equally  important  work ,  because  a  means 
to  that  end,  of  edification  of  believers. 

The  two  mighty  agencies  by  means  of  which  the  Church  is  to  do  her 
twofold  work  of  edification  and  evangelization  are  the  majesty  of  truth 
and  the  power  of  sympathy.  These  constitute  the  glory  of  the  Church 
as  they  did  of  her  Lord.  The  Church  must  be  foremost  to  know  and 
proclaim  the  trutli  and  readiest  in  manifestation  of  sympathy.  The 
Church  cannot  cease  to  grow  intellectually  and  maintain  the  respect  of  an 
intellectual  age.  The  Church  cannot  be  indifferent  to  any  of  the  achieve- 
ments of  the  human  intellect,  which  Christianity  has  emancipated,  and 
which  Christianity  has  taught  to  refuse  as  truth  all  that  remains  unproven, 
and  to  refuse  any  theory  which  does  not  bear  its  credentials  in  its  hands. 
Rather  let  the  Church  be  foremost  in  her  spirit  of  reverent  scientific  in- 
(juiry,  in  her  institutions  of  learning  studying  the  works  of  God,  while  her 
pulpit  leads  in  studying  and  expounding  the  word  of  God.     Remembering 


ADDRESS   OF    BISHOP    E.    K.    UENDRIX.  663 

that  the  differences  between  science  and  religion  are  largely  differences  of 
interpretation  of  the  works  of -the  same  Creator,  let  us  not  be  too  ready  to 
accept  new  interpretations  on  the  one  hand,  or  unwilling,  on  the  other, 
to  accept  what  is  satisfactory  to  the  best  minds  accustomed  to  sift  and 
weigh  evidence.  All  truth  belongs  to  believers.  Let  them  fear,  much 
less  despise,  none.  While  the  Church  may  be  annoyed  by  men  who  are 
arrogant  in  their  pretensions  and  irreverent  in  their  speech,  yet  she  cannot 
consent  to  be  placed  in  antagonism  toward  the  reverent  search  for  truth. 
While  the  younger  minds  may  be  marked  by  a  centrifugal  tendency  in 
their  eagerness  to  embrace  what  is  new,  we  have  the  older  minds  who 
help  by  a  centripetal  power  to  keep  the  Church  in  her  true  orbit.  The 
pulpit  and  truth  stand  or  fall  together.  Nor  is  it  mere  conjecture  which 
will  pass  for  truth.  The  pulpit  is  strong  as  it  is  re-enforced  by  the 
authority  of  God,  especially  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  The  Church,  no  less 
than  her  Lord,  can  say :  "  To  this  end  was  I  born,  and  for  this  cause  came 
I  into  the  world,  that  I  might  bear  witness  unto  the  truth."  Then  she 
may  also  with  equal  force  declare :  "Every  one  that  is  of  the  truth heareth 
my  voice. "  The  Church  of  the  future  will  be  no  less  the  defender  of  the 
faith  while  she  is  the  champion  of  the  truth. 

"  Let  knowledge  grow  from  more  to  more. 

But  more  of  reverence  in  us  dwell ; 

That  mind  and  soul,  according  well. 
May  make  one  music,  as  before, 
But  vaster." 

But  Christianity  proclaims  no  truth  which  is  not  also  the  motive  to  the 
performance  of  some  duty.  All  truth  is  for  the  betterment  and  uplifting 
of  the  race.  Just  as  a  decline  in  religious  belief  affects  unfavorably  the 
morals  of  a  people,  so  positive  beliefs  mean  better  morals.  ' '  The  age  of 
humanity  followed  Christianity."  It  was  belief  in  man's  true  origin  in  a 
single  Creator,  and  not  his  multiplicity  of  origin,  as  taught  by  polytheism, 
with  its  many  gods  claiming  creative  power,  which  led  to  the  belief  in  the 
brotherhood  of  the  race.  It  is  man's  belief  in  the  immortality  of  the  souls 
of  his  fellow-men  which  prompts  tiie  largest  sympathies  and  arouses  the 
most  tireless  service  for  their  good.  In  this  field  of  sympathy  and  service 
the  Church  is  not  without  her  rivals.  Just  as  she  allows  other  agencies  to 
do  her  legitimate  work  does  she  lose  some  of  her  most  weighty  credentials. 
Ilumanitarianism  under  different  names  is  seeking  a  Christless  society  by 
subjugating  all  nature  to  man's  service  in  a  perfect  social  state.  But  the 
true  reorganization  of  society  is  its  regeneration.  The  Son  of  man  is  the 
real  ruler  among  men.  His  religion  commands  the  thought  of  the  race, 
because  in  the  Christian  religion  man  is  next  to  God.  "  If  a  man  love  not 
his  brother  whom  he  has  seen,  how  can  he  love  God  whom  he  has  not 
seen  ? " 

The  Church  of  the  future  must  get  nearer  to  the  unfortunate.  She 
must  be  the  good  Samaritan,  rather  than  the  priest  or  Levite.  She  must 
be  many-handed,  to  minister  to  human  need  and  soitow.  She  must  not 
only   keep  abreast   of  the  world's  progress  in  those  things  which  will 


664  THE    OUTLOOK. 

humanize  men,  she  must  lead  that  progress.  She  must  be  foremost  in  all 
the  humanities,  as  was  her  Lord.  Under  her  touch,  as  under  his,  let  it 
be  said:  "The  blind  see,  the  deaf  hear,  the  lame  walk,  the  lepers  are 
cleansed,  and  the  poor  have  the  gospel  preached  unto  them."  The 
Church  must  be  the  great  mediator  between  the  diiferent  classes  of  society 
by  reaching  all  those  classes.  The  power  of  sympathy  will  best  melt 
away  antagonisms.  The  desire  for  service  is  best  gratified  in  these 
human  and  divine  ministries,  knowing  that  inasmuch  as  we  do  these  acts 
of  mercy  to  the  least  of  his  disciples  we  do  them  unto  Christ.  These  acts 
of  sympathy  and  love  are  needed  to  overcome  the  selfishness  and  pride 
which  would  become  so  unseemly  did  not  Christianity  give  such  means 
for  the  edification  of  believers.  It  is  a  sympathetic  Church,  one  alive  to 
human  need  and  sorrow,  which  can  be  stirred  for  the  conversion  of  the 
world. 

The  Church  of  the  future  will  be  powerless  before  the  problem  of  the 
world's  conversion  without  a  full  consecration  of  brain  and  heart  and 
purse  to  that  work.  The  power  of  the  apostolic  Church  was  seen  in  the 
dedication  of  their  all  to  the  work  of  saving  the  world.  But  that  was  a 
small  world  compared  with  ours.  The  territory  embraced  in  the  Amer- 
ican republic  is  twice  that  embraced  in  the  Reman  Empire  in  the  proudest 
day  of  its  history.  More  tongues  are  spoken  in  our .  borders  than  ever 
Eome  compelled  to  subjection.  In  this  mighty  work  of  a  world's  con- 
version we  must  have  disciplined,  trained  workers  and  an  unbroken  front. 
Our  forces  must  not  be  weakened  before  the  ramparts  of  heathenism  by 
some  Achan  eager  for  the  wedge  of  gold  and  the  Babylonish  garment, 
more  anxious  for  the  profits  from  the  sale  of  opium  or  rum  than  for  the 
salvation  of  the  heathen.  The  work  before  the  Church  of  the  future  in 
the  overthrow  of  paganism  is  none  other  than  the  casting  out  of  evil  spirits, 
and  this  kind  goeth  not  out  save  by  prayer  and  fasting.  A  thoroughly 
consecrated  Church  alone  can  be  intrusted  with  the  conversion  of  the 
world,  for  she  will  give  impress  to  her  converts.  The  joys  of  maternity 
can  be  given  only  where  there  are  the  throes  of  childbirth.  Zion  must 
travail  if  she  would  become  the  joyful  mother  of  children. 

Every  two  centuries  during  the  past  millennium  we  have  witnessed 
some  wonderful  movement  of  the  Church  of  God.  In  the  twelfth  century 
it  was  the  work  of  faith  among  the  Waldenses  in  southern  France  and 
northern  Italy.  In  the  fourteenth  it  was  the  work  of  Wiclif  and  the 
Lollards  in  England  as  they  gave  the  Bible  to  the  English-speaking  people 
and  prepared  the  way  for  the  supremacy  of  its  teachings.  In  the  six- 
teenth it  was  the  Reformation  under  Luther,  which  rescued  central  Europe 
from  the  domination  of  a  corrupt  hierarchy  and  made  effective  in  England 
the  work  wrought  two  centuries  before  by  Wiclif.  In  the  eighteenth 
it  was  the  great  Wesleyan  revival,  which  continues  among  the  Churches 
unto  this  day.  What  is  that  great  movement  for  which  the  Church  of 
Christ  is  being  prepared  in  the  twentieth  century  ?  What  means  the  en- 
rollment, equipment,  and  provisioning  of  this  great  army  of  believers  ? 
What  can  that  great  work  be  which  is  to  enlist  all  the  energies  of  Chris- 


ADDRESS    OF   KEV.    F.    W.    BOURNE.  665 

teiidom  for  its  accomplishment,  making  the  Chnrch  purer  by  this  mighty 
cliiira  upon  her  faith  and  (h-aft  upon  her  resources  ?  For  what  purposo 
have  the  walls  of  heathen  nations  been  thrown  down  and  the  veriest  secrels 
of  her  territories  been  revealed?  AVhy  is  the  Dark  Continent  thrown  open  to 
the  gaze  of  believers  and  her  degraded  and  still  cannibal  populations 
])assed  before  our  eyes  ?  Wiiy  this  mighty  unrest  in  China  which  has  led  to 
the  emperor's  proclainung  tiie  rights  of  missionai'ies  on  her  shores  ?  O 
Church  of  the  living  Clirist,  this  is  your  crowning,  and,  if  faithful,  your 
speedy  work — the  conversion  of  the  world  !  And  from  this  work  will  conio 
so  gracious  an  influence  upon  the  religious  life  of  the  Church  as  to  fit  her 
indeed  to  become  the  Lamb's  wife. 

It  is  the  love  of  Clirist  and  of  humanity  for  his  sake  which  will  energize 
her  tireless  activities  to  save  cannibals  and  dwarfs  and  cause  to  be  heard 
hymns  of  praise  where  once  the  shrieks  of  the  victims  of  cannibal  feasts 
filled  the  air.  Not  until  the  Church  is  unable  to  meet  the  needs,  by  her 
messages  and  ministry,  of  sinful  and  sorrowing  humanity;  not  until  she  is 
unable  longer  to  yield  sons  and  daughters  who  are  capable  of  being  stirred 
to  self-sacrifice  and  heroism;  not  until  she  forgets  her  dying,  risen,  as- 
cended, and  living  Lord  who  is  head  over  all  things  to  the  Church,  can 
she  cease  to  have  a  mission  in  the  world.  But  in  the  very  endeavor  to 
make  the  most  out  of  our  humanity,  to  secure  the  perfection  of  human 
powers  and  the  ripening  of  all  graces  of  character  possible  to  man,  declar- 
ing herself  the  servant  of  the  race  for  Jesus'  sake,  because,  like  her  Master, 
she  has  come  into  the  world,  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister, 
the  Church  is  unconsciously  preparing  for  the  day  when  a  voice  out  of  the 
eternal  throne  shall  be  heard,  saying:  "Praise  our  God,  all  ye  his  servants, 
both  small  and  great.  And  I  heard  as  it  were  the  voice  of  a  great  multi- 
tude, and  as  the  voice  of  many  waters,  and  as  the  voice  of  mighty  thnnder- 
ings,  saying.  Alleluia:  for  the  Lord  God  omnipotent  rcigneth.  Let  us 
be  glad  and  rejoice,  and  give  honor  to  him :  for  the  marriage  of  the  Lamb 
is  come,  and  his  wife  hath  made  herself  ready." 

The  Rev.  F.  "W.  r>ouRNE,  President  of  tlie  BiUle  Christian 
(Jhurch,  gave  the  final  address  on  ''  The  Chnrch  of  tlie  Future," 
as  follows : 

Mr.  President:  I  assume  that  it  is  the  Church  of  the  near  future  of 
which  lam  to  speak;  for  of  the  millennial  Church  there  has  been  so  much 
said  that  to  add  a  single  word  might  be  deemed  superfluous.  And  every 
one  knows  all  about  that^  or  thinks  he  does,  which,  if  not  quite  the  same, 
is  generally  regarded  as  sufficient.  The  present  trend  of  thought,  the 
stream  of  tendency  among  the  Protestant  Churches  of  the  world,  is  in  the 
direction  of  a  Church  of  which  the  main  features  will  be  a  fearless  love 
of  truth,  a  nobler  catholicity  of  spirit,  a  wider  and  more  practical  sym- 
pathy, and  a  bolder  and  more  aggressive  evangelism.  One  thing  is  cer- 
tain :  "  Religious  vitality  is  not  a  chance  produ  't."  It  does  not  mature  its 
massive  energy,  i'.s  penetrating  v'sion,  its  sweet  pb'^  of  pleasure,  save  un- 
45 


GG6  THE    OUTLOOK. 

der  evident  laws.  Tliis  is  distinctly  taught  in  a  memorable  passage  in  tlie 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians.  Let  me  read  Conybeare  and  Hovvson's  transla- 
tion: "That  we  should  live  in  truth  and  love,  and  should  grow  up  in 
every  part  to  the  measure  of  his  growth  who  is  our  head,  even  Christ. 
From  whom  the  whole  body  (being  knit  together  and  compacted  by  all 
its  joints)  derives  its  continued  growth  in  the  working  of  his  bounty, 
which  supplies  its  needs,  according  to  the  measure  of  each  several  part, 
that  it  may  build  itself  up  in  love." 

The  two  grand  elements  which,  according  to  the  apostle,  enter  into  the 
life  of  the  Church  really  embrace  all  the  particulars  I  have  named;  for 
catholicity,  sympathy,  and  evangelism  are  only  different  forms  and  mani- 
festations of  love.  But  truth,  which  is  first  named,  and  the  twan  grace  of 
love,  is  at  least  equal  in  importance  to  love.  It  has  been  fitly  described 
as  being  "the  intolerance  of  evil;  the  hate  of  hollowness;  the  scorn  of 
shams  and  sophistications;  the  bold  outspokenness  of  honesty  that  knows 
no  fear ;  the  arrow-like  glance  and  word  and  deed  that  go  straight  to  the 
heart  of  a  thing,  whether  to  destroy  or  to  establish ;  the  dauntless  love  of 
reality  that  no  bribe  can  buy  and  no  pomp  can  intimidate  and  no  threat 
can  deter."  And  in  so  far  as  the  truth  can  be  apprehended  by  man,  it  is 
"the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth"  concerning  God 
and  his  Son  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  the  Ploly  Spirit,  creation,  providence, 
the  sacred  Scriptures,  his  own  origin,  nature,  duty,  and  destiny,  the  eter- 
nal purpose,  and  the  great  future  that  he  is  anxious  above  every  thing  else 
to  know. 

If,  for  example,  evolution  be  once  demonstrated  to  be  the  method  of 
creation — at  present  it  is  only  a  plausible  theory,  and  may  yet  be  con- 
signed to  the  place  where  so  many  scientific  speculations  and  theories 
have  already  gone — then  the  fact  must  be  heartily  accepted,  whatever 
prejudices  may  be  shocked,  and  whatsoever  notions  and  systems  may  be 
overturned ;  hut  not  till  then.  And  in  like  manner  those  supremely  im- 
portant questions  which  are  being  raised  concerning  Holy  Scripture  must 
be  dealt  with.  A  reverent  search  after  truth  is  the  supreme  duty  of  the 
individual  Christian  and  of  the  Church.  Any  reputation,  any  system — 
whether  of  philosophy  or  morals  or  religion — any  kingdom  based  on  im- 
posture and  falsehood  must  assuredly  perish.  There  is  a  rising  ray  of  in- 
telligence which  will  pierce  every  deceit,  and  a  growing  sense  of  justice 
which  will  crush  its  power. 

To  use  tlie  phrase  already  heard  at  this  Conference,  we  would  not  if  we 
could,  and  we  could  not  if  we  would,  base  the  smallest  matter  that  yields 
us  a  momentary  delight  on  a  lie,  and  we  dare  not  rest  our  hope  of  heaven 
on  one.  We  must  examine  into  the  foundations  of  our  faith  in  utter  dis- 
regard of  the  claims  of  antiquity,  privileges,  prescriptive  authority,  and 
of  all  else.  All  things  in  earth  and  heaven  are  to  be  shaken,  that  the 
things  which  cannot  be  shaken  may  remain.  "Truth,  always  strong, 
grand,  conquering,  is  often  stern  and  relentless.  .  .  .  Sometimes,  when  it 
fills  a  narrow  mind,  it  leaps  across  the  boundaries  of  charity,  not  to  win, 
but  to  compel  or  crucify,  and   the  instructor  becomes  the  inquisitor." 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    F.    W.    BOURNE.  6G7 

Many  a  black  deed  has  been  done  in  the  name  of  Clirist  which  the  Church 
to-day  would  gladly  forget,  and  many  a  sad  and  harrowing  page  in  Iier 
history  would  she  gladly  blot  out. 

There  is  a  strong  reaction  at  this  moment  against  the  harshness  and  in- 
tolerance of  truth,  which,  when  divorced  from  love,  it  always  exhibits. 
A  nobler  catholicity  has  already  taken  jjossession  of  the  Church.  Hardly 
any  man  expects  all  other  men,  or  any  Church  expects  all  other  Churches, 
to  pronounce  his  or  its  shibboleth  before  recognizing  thcra  as  brethren  in 
Christ  or  branches  of  the  living  vine.  We  have  already  learned,  or  are 
fast  learning,  this  lesson — that  the  truth  of  God  is  not  always  proclaimed 
in  the  same  tone.  The  grace  of  Christ  does  not  always  flow  in  the  same 
channel.  The  life  and  love  of  the  Spirit  do  not  always  manifest  them- 
selves in  the  same  tint  of  color  or  the  same  quality  of  fruit.  Men  who  do 
not  follow  with  us — men  who  in  the  main  are  even  opposed  to  us — may 
yet  be  followers  of  Christ.  John  Henry  Newman,  Charles  Iladdon  Spur- 
geon,  and  William  Ellcry  Chaiining  have  alike  won  the  reverential  love  of 
all  Christian  men;  their  name  is  on  every  lip  and  enshrined  in  every 
heart. 

This  is  as  it  ought  to  be.  Methodists,  of  all  men,  should  be  foremost 
in  making  this  acknowledgment.  It  harmonizes  with  the  spirit  and  con- 
duct of  John  Wesley.  "  If  thy  heart,"  he  said,  "be  as  my  heart,  give  me 
thy  hand."  More,  it  is  the  very  spirit  of  Christ  and  his  apostles.  The 
Saviour  gave  no  encouragement  to  the  beloved  disciple  when  he  said, 
"Master,  we  saw  one  casting  out  devils  in  thy  name;  and  we  forbade 
him,  because  he  followeth  not  with  us."  The  disciple  did  not  object  to  the 
work,  for  it  was  a  good  work — the  same  work  in  which  he  himself  was 
engaged..  He  did  not  object  to  the  worker,  because  doubtless  his  conduct 
was  irreproachable.  His  only,  his  ludicrously  inadequate  ground  of  ob- 
jection was,  "He  followeth  not  with  us."  "But,"  rejoined  the  Saviour, 
"he  that  is  not  against  me  is  for  me."  The  Gospel  is  at  once  grand  in  its 
tolerance  and  grand  in  its  intolerance.  On  one  side  of  the  shield  is  the 
inscription  I  have  now  quoted,  and  on  the  other,  "  He  that  is  not  for  me 
is  against  nie."  The  one  is  the  exact  counterpart  of  the  other.  There  is, 
there  can  be,  no  neutrality,  and  a  hateful  bigotry  is,  or  ought  to  be,  equal- 
ly impossible.  Precise  ecclesiastical  and  theological  agreement  is  not  es- 
sential to  the  true  unity  and  catholicity  of  the  Church.  Of  late,  however, 
and  happily,  there  has  been  a  great  approximation  toward  unity  in  the 
creeds  of  the  Churches.  Hardly  an  echo  is  to  be  heard  anywhere  now  of 
the  limited  atonement  views  of  our  Puritan  forefathers,  and  Arminians 
confess  as  heartily  as  the  most  rigid  Calvinists  that  salvation  is  all  of 
grace. 

A  genuine  Christian  love  is  full  of  sympathy  and  over  prepared  to  help 
and  succor  to  the  full  extent  of  its  opportunity  and  ability.  "The  "rand 
law  of  Christian  charity  was  first  dimly  written  in  the  constitution  of 
society.  But  what  society  so  deeply  needs  only  the  motives  of  Christian 
faith  can  sustain.  Paganism,  if  it  cared  for  the  poor  at  all,  was 
prompted  only  by  fickle  impulse  or  a  calculating  policy.      But  mostly  the 


668  THE   OUTLOOK. 

poor  were  left,  when  overtaken  by  sickness  or  nge,  to  slink  away  into  some 
obscure  corner  of  the  great  cities  of  the  most  famous  ancient  civilizations 
to  die  unbefriended  and  alone.  Their  ruins  have  been  searched  in  vain 
for  traces  of  hosi:)itals  for  the  sick  and  asylums  for  the  destitute.  Hap- 
pily, the  Church  seems  fast  coming  to  the  belief,  according  to  the  teach- 
ing of  St.  James,  that  one  half  of  religion  is  holiness,  and  the  otiier  half 
is  beneficence.  "Pure  religion  and  undefiled  before  God  and  the  Father 
is  this.  To  visit  the  fatherless  and  widows  in  their  affliction,  and  to  keep 
himself  uuspotted  from  the  world."  Men  are  only  saved  as  they  are  saved 
from  sin.  So  imjiortant  a  doctrine  as  justification  by  faith  is  a  mere 
fetich,  a  charm,  if  it  be  not  a  spring  of  holiness  and  a  reason  and  motive 
for  good  works.  Yea,  the  whole  of  religion  is  holiness,  and  the  whole  of 
it  again,  by  a  blessed  paradox,  a  beneficence.  Its  divinest  form  in  the 
present  day  is  in  such  institutions  as  Mr.  Midler's  orphanage  at  Bristol, 
Mr.  Spurgeon's  at  Stockwell,  and  Dr.  Stephenson's  in  the  East  End  of 
London.  In  loving  care  of  the  children — "  whose  angels  do  always  behold 
the  face  of  our  Father  which  is  in  heaven  " — in  seeking  and  saving  the 
lost — the  clAvellers  in  the  deep  sea  and  the  denizens  in  the  dark  forest  of 
our  social  life — the  Church  is  fulfilling  her  holy  mission  and  faithfully 
following  her  divine  Lord. 

The  home  and  foreign  missions  of  the  Church  are  but  another  fruitful 
branch  of  the  same  tree.  The  missions  of  the  Church  are  its  true  glory. 
To  be  saved,  to  save ;  to  be  converted,  to  convert ;  to  look  on  the  Cruci- 
fied, to  cry,  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,"  is  the  sura  of  Christian  privilege 
and  duty.  The  proclamation  of  the  message  of  salvation  to  every  man  in 
every  successive  generation  is  the  imperative  command  of  Christ,  and 
modern  facilities  of  travel  make  it  easier  to  the  men  of  this  age  to  fulfill 
the  command  than  ever  before.  An  active  evangelism  is  also  the 
best  security  against  error.  The  Presbyterian  Churches  of  the  Common- 
wealth were  not  evangelistic,  and  therefore  slowly  but  surely  lapsed  into 
deadly  heresy.  The  motto  of  the  founder  of  Methodism  should  be  the 
motto  of  every  one  of  his  followers,  "The  world  is  my  parish,"  and  the 
cry  of  every  heart, 

"  O  that  the  world  might  taste  and  see, 
The  riches  of  his  grace." 

May  I  venture  to  add  that  I  have  no  sympathy  with  the  present  outcry 
against  creeds?  The  longest  creed,  firmly  held — fully,  firmly,  honestly 
believed — may  be  too  short;  the  shortest  creed,  if  it  does  not  command 
our  hearty,  intelligent  assent  and  consent,  is  all  too  long.  Creeds,  for  the 
most  part,  are  but  the  gold  of  revelation  minted  for  circulation  for  the 
use  and  benefit  of  men  who  are,  for  the  most  part,  unable  to  dig  out  the 
precious  treasure  for  themselves.  Thoy  only  need  to  be  revised,  in  the 
same  sense  as  the  American  Constitution  needs  revision.  In  a  most  sug- 
gestive sentence  in  his  recent  great  work,  Professor  Bryce  says:  "The 
American  Constitution  resembles  theological  writings  in  this — that  both, 
while  taken  to  lie  immutable  guides,  have  to  be  adapted  to  a  constantly 


BUSINESS    rROCEEDINCiS.  C39 

changing  world,  the  one  to  political  conditions  which  vary  from  year  to 
year  and  never  return  to  their  former  state,  the  other  to  new  phases  of 
thought  and  emotion,  new  beliefs  in  the  realms  of  physical  and  elhical 
philosophy."  I  caiuiot  for  a  moment  supjjose  that  such  phrases  as  the 
"witness  of  the  Spirit,"  "entire  sanctilication,"  or  "perfect  love"  will 
ever  become  obsolete,  unless  tlie  life  of  God  in  the  individual  and  in  the 
Church  ceases  to  glow  and  burn ;  for  I  could  almost  as  readily  believe 
that  the  twenty-third  Psalm  would  remain  unsung,  or  the  parable  of  the 
prodigal  sou  unspoken,  or  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  forgotten.  Most 
true  is  it  that  "Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law,"  and  that  "Love  is  of 
God,  and  every  one  that  loveth  is  born  of  God  and  knoweth  God."  And 
holiness  is  of  God,  and  every  one  that  is  holy  "  is  born  of  God  and  know- 
eth God."  Truth  is  of  God,  and  every  one  that  knoweth  and  docth  tlie 
truth  "is  born  of  God  and  knoweth  God."  The  love  of  the  Father  is  the 
love  of  the  righteous  Father,  as  our  Saviour  in  his  intercessory  prayer  is 
careful  to  a.sscrt.  Plis  justice  is  never  so  venerable,  his  holiness  never  so 
resplendent,  as  when  in  the  act  of  showing  mercy,  as  liis  mercy  is  never 
80  precious  as  when  it  respects  the  claims  of  justice  and  perfectly  reflects 
his  immaculate  holiness  and  his  perfect  and  eternal  truth. 

Let  it  never  be  forgotten  thnt,  while  forms  are  evanescent,  principles 
are  immutable  and  eternal.  Our  effort  should  be  directed  now  and  al- 
ways to  make  the  Church  below  like  the  Church  above,  and  the  Church 
of  this  age  like  the  Church  of  the  apostolic  age,  that,  by  means  of  it, 
"might  be  made  known  unto  the  angels  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God."  " 
Our  narrowness,  our  bigotry,  our  foolish  and  often  unnecessary  divisions, 
are  a  scandal  and  a  sin.  The  true  unity  of  the  Church  is  found  when  her 
members  are  "of  one  accord,  in  one  place;"  her  fellowship,  when  her 
members  continue  steadfastly  in  the  apostolic  doctrine  and  in  prayer. 
Fellowship  there  nuist  be,  even  if  the  class-meeting — ^which  God  forbid — 
is  superseded  ;  and  prayer,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  descend  on  all  our  churches 
and  congregations;  and  preaching  daily,  in  the  temple  and  from  house  to 
house,  that  the  "land  may  be  overflowed  and  the  universe  filled  with  the 
glory  of  God." 

I  will  close  in  the  inspiring  words  of  one  whose  name  has  been  already 
quoted,  and  who  belongs  to  this  great  continent  as  well  as  the  imiversal 
Church:  'O  come,  tliou  kingdom  of  heaven  for  which  we  daily  pray. 
Come,  Friend  and  Saviour  of  the  race,  who  didst  shed  thy  blood  on  the 
cross  to  reconcile  man  to  man  and  earth  to  heaven.  Come,  ye  ])rcdic(cd 
ages  of  righteousness  and  love  for  which  the  faithful  have  so  long  yearned 
Come,  Father  Almighty,  and  crown  Avith  thine  omnipotence  the  humble 
strivings  of  thy  children  to  subvert  oppression  and  wrong,  to  spread  light 
and  freedom,  peace  and  joy,  the  truth  and  spirit  of  thy  Son,  through  the 
whole  earth  1" 

By  re([uest  of  the  Business  Cuimuittee,  the  Cuiiferciice  di- 
rected that  one  of  the  autograpli  books  on  wliicli  sii^iiatni-es 
had  been  entered  during  the  session  be  phiccd  in  the  hands  oi 


670  ^  BUSINESS    PKOCEEDINGS. 

T.  B.  Stephenson,  President  of  tlie  British  Weslejan  Confer- 
ence, to  be  disposed  of  as  the  Eastern  Section  might  direct ; 
and  that  the  other  be  deposited  for  the  pi-csent  at  the  Method- 
ist Book  Concern,  in  New  York. 

By  desire  of  the  Business  Committee,  the  Rev.  T.  B.  Stephen- 
son, D.D.,  LL.D.,  voiced  the  thoughts  of  gratitude  of  the  Con- 
ference in  the  foUowing  resolutions  of  thanks: 

1.  That  the  cordial,  affectionate  thanks  of  the  Conference,  and  espe- 
cially of  the  Eastern  Delegation,  be  and  they  are  hereby  presented  to  the 
Methodist  Churches  of  America,  and  particularly  to  the  Christian  citizens 
of  Washington,  for  their  generous  hospitality. 

2.  That  the  thanks  of  the  Conference  be  presented  to  the  pastor  and 
trustees  of  the  Metropolitan  Methodist  Church  for  so  kindly  granting  the 
use  of  this  building. 

3.  That  the  very  hearty  thanks  of  the  Conference  be  presented  to  the 
following  brethren,  who,  in  their  respective  offices,  have  rendered  ines- 
timable service:  Rev.  Bishop  Hurst,  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Commit- 
tee; Rev.  Dr.  Corey,  Chairman  of  the  Local  Committee  of  Arrangements; 
Rev.  Dr.  James  M.  King,  First  Secretary  of  the  Conference,  and  Secre- 
tary of  the  Business  Committee ;  Rev.  John  Bond,  a  Secretary  of  the  Con- 
ference, and  the  Secretary  of  the  Eastern  Executive  Committee ;  Rev.  Dr. 
Ryckman  and  Mr.  Thomas  Snape,  also  Secretaries  of  the  Conference; 
Rev.  Dr.  Baldwin,  Secretary  of  the  Committee  on  Transportation;  Rev. 
Dr.  Hamilton,  Secretary  of  the  Programme  Committee. 

4.  Lastly,  the  Conference  desires  to  recognize  gratefully  the  services 
rendered  by  the  representatives  of  the  press,  and  particularly  by  the  As- 
sociated Press  of  America  and  the  "Washington  daily  newspapers. 

On  the  subject  of  the  preceding  resohitions  of  thanks,  Dr. 
Stephenson  made  the  following  remarks : 

Mr.  President:  I  fancy  that  we  have  been  departing  somewhat  from 
the  custom  of  our  forefathers  in  the  making  of  sermons.  We  used  to 
divide  our  sermons  into  first,  secondly,  thirdly,  fifthly,  and  occasionally 
even  seventeenthly.  Thut  has  gone  out  of  fashion;  but  we  still  cling  to 
some  old  fashions  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  there  is  no  diffi- 
culty in  dividing  this  text  of  mine  into  first,  second,  and  third. 

The  first  part  of  the  resolution  refers  to  the  generous  hospitality  which 
has  been  extended  to  the  Conference  by  the  Methodist  Churches  of  Amer- 
ica and  by  the  citizens  of  Washington.  After  coming  so  far  we  have  been 
received  so  generously  and  treated  so  kindly  that  some  of  us  are  almost 
ready  to  wish  that  we  might  stay.  But  we  of  the  Eastern  Section  would 
not  be  entirely  satisfied  imless  we  could  have  a  special  part  in  this  resolu- 
tion. We  were  met  at  the  landing  by  friends  who  took  every  pains  to 
save  us  from  the  inconvenience  of  the  custom-house,  and  we  received  every 
courtesy  from  the  customs  officers.  Then  in  New  York  we  had  a  magnifi- 
cent reception  in  which  the  doors  of  the  country  were,  so  to  speak,  opened 
to  us;  and  when  we  arrived  at  Washington  we  were  just  as  kindly  wel- 
comed and  entertained.     We  have  had  receptions  of  all  kinds.     A  very 


BfSlKKSS    PROCKKDINGS.  G71 

iiitorcstiiifj  and  most  eiijoyahlL'  rcct'ptiou  was  given  iis  l)y  ex-Mayor 
Emery.  Tlieu  the  ladies  showed  a  like  courtesy,  and  I  should  be  untrue 
to  the  t,fallantry  of  old  Kiiirlaiul  if  I  did  not  acknowledge  this  kindness. 
Then  we  had  a  reception  by  the  friends  of  the  American  University,  to 
which  we  all  wish  God-speed.  Then  we  must  not  forget  the  splendid  re- 
ception by  our  colored  bretluen,  where  we  heard  the  best  music  I  have 
heard  in  America,  and  I  could  not  say  more  than  that — but  that  is  not  all, 
for  to-morrow  night  we  are  to  be  received  again  at  Philadelj)hia-,  and  so 
the  cities  of  this  great  nation  are  vying  with  the  cai)ital  to  entertain  us.  I 
must  not  forget  to  refer  specially  to  that  historic  event,  the  visit  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States  of  America.  It  would  not  be  proper  for 
us  to  pass  any  formal  thanks  for  that  visit,  still  less  would  it  be  pro[)er  to 
unite  the  tluinks  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  with  those  which  we 
are  conveying  to  other  friends;  but  I  venture  to  say  that  that  event  was  an 
historic  one,  that  the  president  did  us  gieat  honor  in  coming  here,  and, 
may  I  say  with  all  respect,,  honored  himself  thereby  and  set  an  excellent 
exam])le  to  the  heads  of  other  great  nations  throughout  the  world. 

Now,  secondly,  we  desire  that  very  hearty  thanks  be  presented  to  the 
brethren  who,  in  their  respective  offices,  have  rendered  inestimable  serv- 
ices. Bishop  IJurst — we  have  all  known  his  character  and  bearing,  but 
now  that  we  have  seen  his  modesty  and  gentleness  and  thoughtful  kind- 
ness we  have  h-arned  to  love  him.  As  to  Dr.  Corey,  I  am  sure  that  his 
studies  in  secret  and  in  preparation  for  the  pulpit  must  have  been  seiiously 
interfered  with.  I  have  admiied  the  perfect  philosophy  with  which  he 
has  submitted  to  the  invasion  of  his  nanctum  sanctorum  down  stairs,  ia 
which  most  ministers  do  not  like  to  have  a  single  paper  disturbed.  But 
Dr.  Corey  has  treated  every  body  with  the  utmost  consideration,  and 
shows  himself  superior  to  worries  which  would  have  conquered  the  phi- 
losoi)hy  of  Socrates,  and  almost  driven  Job  to  the  use  of  strong  language. 
Dr.  King  has  been  working  for  months  before  this  Conference  assembled, 
and  we  have  all  had  demonstration  of  tlie  exactness,  completeness,  and 
devotion  with  which  his  work  as  principal  secretary  of  the  Conference  has 
been  done.  One  Englishman  must  be  mentioned,  Mr.  Bond,  who  may 
be  considered  the  father  of  this  Conference,  because,  had  it  not  been  for 
his  persistency  in  taking  up  the  matter  after  no  provision  had  been  made 
at  the  late  Ecumenical,  probably  this  could  not  have  been  assembled.  Of 
Dr.  Ilyckman  and  Mr.  Snape,  the  other  secretaries,  it  is  sufficient  to  say 
that  they  have  done  right  well  all  tliat  has  been  asked  of  them.  And  then 
as  to  Dr.  Baldwin.  lie  has  been  the  secretary  of  transportation.  This  ia 
a  most  uncomfortable  kind  of  title.  In  England  that  is  what  we  do  with 
our  convicts.  Whether  or  not  he  is  expected  to  keep  a  keen  eye  on  us 
after  we  have  landed  and  until  we  depart,  I  know  not:  but  this  I  know, 
that  he  has  shown  us  as  much  kindness  as  any  body.  Dr.  Hamilton  has  had 
an  immense  amount  of  work  in  ])re])aration  for  the  programme.  I  don't 
know  liow  many  letters  have  been  written — east,  west,  north,  and  south. 
And  when  you  rememljer  that  this  work  of  ]ire]iaration  has  been  going  on 
for  months,  you  see  what  an  amount  of  labcn-  lias  been  accomplished  out 
of  mere  love  for  the  good  cause. 

And  last,  the  Conference  desires  to  recognize  gratefully  the  services  of 
the  representatives  of  the  press.  So  far  as  I  .am  able  to  judge,  we  have  not 
been  misreported  more  than  is  usual.  Indeed,  the  reports  have  been  re- 
markably accurate  in  general.  Then  how  beautifully  illustrated  have  been 
the  portraits!  We  will  take  them  home  with  us,  some  of  us,  as  memori- 
als, that  our  wives  may  never  forget  what  handsome  fellows  we  were  in 
Washington.  But  seriously,  we  are  very  grateful  for  the  reports,  and 
especially  to  the  As.sociated  Press  of  America,  which  has  done  for  the 
Methodist  Conference  what  has  never  been  done  before.     It  sent  to  some 


672  BUSINESS   PROCEEDINGS. 

seven  hundred  papers  the  memorable  address  which  was  yesterday  adopted. 
That  is  a  service  to  the  religious  community  lor  which  I  think  there  has 
been  no  parallel. 

May  I  take  a  minute  or  two  more,  for  I  confess  my  heart  is  rather  full  to- 
day? xVll  this  day  I  have  been  thinking  of  a  scene  that  took  place  more  than 
one  hundred  years  ago  in  this  country  in  a  little  rustic  chapel.  There  As- 
bury  was  j^reaching  one  day,  and  presently,  pushing  his  way  through,  a  lit- 
tle man,  who  a  day  or  two  before  had  landed  from  England,  went  into  the 
pulpit  and  in  the  simple  enthusiasm  of  the  moment  kissed  Asbury.  It  was 
Thomas  Coke,  twice  President  of  the  Wesleyan  Conference,  and  your  first 
bishop.  Thus  they  met  on  this  continent  for  the  tirst  time.  And  it 
seems  to  me,  that  event  occurring  as  it  did — the  tirst  formal  communica- 
tion between  the  mother  Church  and  her  great  daughter  on  this  side  after 
the  Revolution — that  that  kiss  was  the  seal  of  a  lasting  kinship  between 
the  Methodism  of  the  Old  and  New  World,  and,  may  I  not  say  also,  the 
seal  of  a  perpetual  peace  between  England  and  America.  At  all  events, 
I  will  not  allow  the  politicians  or  cj'nics  to  take  away  from  me  that  hope  or 
that  faith. 

A  Conference  is  a  means  to  an  end.  And  as  I  have  read  the  life  of 
John  AVesley,  and  of  Asbury,  I  have  been  struck  with  the  fact  that  they 
very  completely  realized  that  a  Conference  is  but  of  little  use  of  itself,  but 
only  as  a  preparation  for  what  is  to  come  after.  Sometimes  it  may  seem 
to  be  something  to  work  up  to — an  end  in  itself.  But  in  truth  a  Conference 
should  be  a  mighty  power  that  shall  stimulate  us  for  our  daily  work. 
What  do  we  live  for?  We  live  for  souls,  and  it  is  for  us  with  tireless  per- 
sistency to  do  God's  work.  The  close  of  a  Conference  is  always  a  solemn 
time,  even  when  it  is  a  Conference  which  meets  annually.  For  one  can- 
not help  thinking  how  many  of  these  in  one  short  year  will  be  found  by 
the  arrow  of  the  relentless  archer!  How  many  will  be  snatched  from  their 
work  and  toil  to  the  glory  that  awaits  them!  But  in  this  case  ten  yeais 
must  pass  before  we  meet  again.  Who  of  us  will  be  here?  Many  cer- 
tainly will  not  be  present  at  the  next  Ecumenical  Conference.  O  let  us 
put  as  much  work  as  we  can  into  the  few  years^ — it  may  be  only  a  few 
months — that  may  be  left  to  us,  so  that  when  called  we  may  be  able  to 
say, 

"  '  I  have  fought  my  way  through ; 
I  have  finished  the  work  thou  didst  give  me  to  do!' 
O  that  each  from  his  Lord  may  receive  the  glad  word, 

'Well  and  faithfully  done! 
Enter  into  my  joy,  and  sit  down  on  my  throne.'  " 

The  Eev.  A.  Carman,  D.D.,  General  Superintendent  of  the 

Methodist  Church,  Canada,  spoke  as  follows,  in  support  of  the 

resolutions  of  thanks : 

Mr.  President:  It  seems  to  be  expected  that  I  should  second  the  reso- 
lution. I  presume  this  is  because  I  also  am  a  Briton,  though  not  from 
over  the  sea.  The  members  of  the  Canadian  Church  have  occupied  al- 
most a  tripartite  position  with  reference  to  this  great  Conference.  For 
sometimes  it  seemed  to  ourselves  difficult  to  determine  whether  we  were 
the  hosts  or  the  guests — which  side  we  belonged  to.  When  it  was  a 
money  question  it  looked  as  if  we  were  hosts;  at  other  times,  in  the 
kindness  of  our  brethren,  guests.  We  are  on  hand,  in  any  case,  with  our 
efi'orts  and  contributions  in  an  entertainment  in  that  great  family,  the 
hoiisehold  of  faith.  It  is  a  day  of  fat  things;  of  wine  on  the  lees  well 
refined. 


BUSINESS    I'ROCEKIJIXGS.  673 

Surely  this  Conforoncc  hus  been  a  season  of  i^reat  delight.  It  has  ]>een 
a  time  of  intelleeluul  feasting,  for  great  thouglits  liave  stirred  the  assem- 
bly. It  has  been  a  time  of  love  and  alTection,  for  holy  impulses  have 
moved  over  us  like  the  stirring  of  the  tops  of  the  mulberry-trees.  Some- 
times, perhaps,  there  has  been  an  e.\[)ression  of  thoughts  from  the  indis- 
cretion of  youth  or  the  severity  of  old  age.  Sometimes  it  would  be  hard 
to  tell  whether  we  were  living  away  in  the  wide  circles  of  evolution,  and 
at  others  whether  we  were  fast  in  the  rigid  folds  of  a  ])ositive  immobil- 
ity. But,  with  all  thought  and  expression,  a  kind  feeling  of  charity  has 
been  here — a  feeling  of  the  love  of  the  brotherhood. 

From  the  ends  of  the  earth  they  have  been  here.  From  tlie  Austral- 
asian continent  and  from  the  isles  of  the  Southern  Sea  tliey  have  been 
here.  From  the  greater  Britain  under  the  Southern  Cross  and  from  that 
gem  of  the  isles,  the  mother  of  us  all,  they  have  been  here,  and  from  all 
the  nationalities  of  Europe.  They  have  been  here  from  all  over  this  broud 
continent;  they  are  here  from  Africa;  they  come  with  their  voices  from 
India;  and  they  ail  gather,  with  God's  blessing,  tinder  the  ample  folds  of 
the  banner  of  the  cross.     Do  we  not  feel  like  saying: 

"Glory  be  to  the  Father,  and  to  the  Son,  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  it 
was  in  the  beginning,  is  now,  and  ever  shall  be;  glory  be  to  God  most 
high?" 

From  all  the  continents  and  isles  they  bring  their  tribute  of  affection 
and  argosy  of  intellectual  wealth.  Here  the  feast  has  been  enjoyed,  and 
we  go  again  to  places  of  toil.  We  came  upon  invitation,  and  it  is  almost 
a  pity  there  is  no  authority  here  to  say,  "Go,  brethren!"  Well,  I  am  re- 
minded that  a  venerable  brother,  speaking  on  the  dangers  of  the  doctrine 
of  evolution  here  this  morning,  did  say,  "  Go  home,"  not,  indeed,  for  part- 
ing company,  l)ut  for  Ijetter  meditation  and  sounder  doctrine.  I  almost 
long  that  a  Wesley  were  in  the  midst  of  this  great  Conference  to  say, 
"Go  to  your  fields  of  labor,  and  here  is  your  work."  But  we  have  a 
voice  that  all  hear.  It  sounds  clear  as  a  trumpet  out  of  the  sky:  "Go  ye 
into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature."  Brethren 
beloved,  at  time 3  it  has  almost  seemed  that  we  had  not  much  that  was 
solid,  and  I  don't  doubt  that  there  are  men  in  the  world  fairly  disposed 
to  pull  up  the  multiplication  table,  to  pull  up  the  Lord's  Prayer,  to  pull 
up  the  foundations  of  science;  and  some  of  them  may  say  a  word  among 
us.      Still,  we  have  foundations  that  cannot  be  moved. 

This  morning  two  great  questions  were  presented.  The  brethren  who 
spoke  for  the  Eastern  Section  held  us  to  the  j)ersonality  of  Christ,  and  the 
brother  for  the  Western  Section  held  us  to  the  liberty  of  men.  Put  them 
together,  and  now  begin  your  evolution;  put  these  together,  and  you 
have  solid  groimd  to  stand  upon.  Make  Christ  the  sure  foundation- 
stone;  then  give  to  man  his  liberty,  and  hold  him  to  his  responsil)i!itv, 
and  you  may  sway  this  way  and  swing  that  way,  but  all  will  settle  to 
safe  action  at  last.  Place  the  liberty  of  man  by  the  living  Jesus  in  the 
truth  of  his  doctrine,  and  in  the  excellency  of  his  love,  and  tlen  go  out  to 
the  world.  Our  only  hope  is  Christ  and  his  truth;  and  throughthe  om 
nipotent  Christ  in  his  truth  we  must  ])revail.  Herein  is  our  imity  and  our 
fellowship,  and  these  are  the  elements  and  the  divine  forces  that  havi; 
made  this  Conference  so  deiightfid.  The  brotherhood  of  the  West  and 
the  brotheihooil  of  the  Fast  have  met  in  the  common  heritage  of  their 
doctrine  and  faith,  luider  the  blessed  influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  around 
the  cross  of  the  liedeemer.  No  wonder  the  hospitality  has  been  great, 
for  it  has  been  Christian.  No  wonder  the  apjjreciation  has  been  gener- 
ous, for  it  has  be<n  catholic  and  true.  Both  as  a  duty  and  a  pleasure  I 
second  the  resolution. 


07-i  BUSINESS    PROCEEDINGS. 

Tlie  Hon.  S.  J.  "Way,  D.C.L.,  of  the  Bible  Christian  Church, 
ofiered  the  following  remarks  on  the  subject  of  the  resolutions  : 

Mr.  President,  my  dear  friends  of  the  Ecumenical  Conference:  It  was 
my  fortune  some  years  ago  to  hear  a  sermon  delivered  by  a  local  preacher 
in  a  small  farm-house  in  the  colony  of  South  Australia.  He  an- 
nounced his  text,  and  he  said  that  he  would  speak  to  three  heads,  and 
in  the  fourth  place  he  would  make  such  observations  as  occurred  to  his 
mind.  It  appears  to  me  that  Dr.  Stephenson  has  dealt  fully  and  exhaust- 
ively with  the  three  heads  of  the  resolution,  while  our  friend  Dr.  Carman 
has  applied  his  vigorous  powers  to  make  such  observations  as  have 
occurred  to  an  original  mind.  It  will  be  my  humble  function  to  pick  up 
one  or  two  scraps  that  have  not  been  dealt  with  by  the  speakers  this 
afternoon. 

AVe  have  been  delighted  with  the  forecasts  of  the  Church  of  the  future 
which  have  been  presented  by  the  invited  speakers  who  have  addressed 
us.  I  dare  say  it  has  occurred  to  many  present  that  while  we  have  been 
in  Washington  we  have  been  made  happy  in  the  present  in  enjoying  the 
results  of  the  old-fashioned  virtues  of  self-sacrifice  and  of  hospitality.  It 
is  quite  clear  that  every  one  of  the  distinguished  members  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  must  have  taken  for  his  motto  the  saying  of  St.  Paul:  "  I 
am  very  willing  to  spend  and  be  spent  for  you."  It  is  to  this  self-sacrific- 
ing service  on  our  behalf  that  we  owe  the  great  success  with  which  we 
have  been  brought  together,  and  the  enjoyment  and  the  improvement 
which  we  have  received  from  the  sittings  of  this  Conference. 

If  I  had  to  describe  the  most  prominent  characteristic  of  the  Methodist 
Church  in  this  city  in  a  Avord  I  should  say:  "Given  to  hospitality." 
"  Use  hospitality  one  to  another  without  grudging,"  is  an  apostolic 
injunction  which  must  have  been  taken  to  heart  by  a  Church  that  has 
received  with  open  arms  and  entertained  in  the  generous  manner  we  have 
been  entcrtainecl  five  hundred  guests.  Bishop  Hurst,  in  his  eloquent  ad- 
dress of  welcome,  said:  "  The  best  we  have  is  yours."  That  promise  has 
been  amply  justified  by  the  hospitalities  of  the  last  fourteen  days.  We 
shall  agree  with  him  that  whatever  may  happen  in  the  Church  of  the 
future,  "the  hour  will  never  strike  when  the  representatives  of  the  great 
Methodist  family  can  be  received  with  deeper  love"  than  we  have  been 
received  by  the  Methodists  of  Washington  and  of  America. 

This  resolution  refers  to  the  special  obligations  under  which  the  East- 
ern Section  have  been  laid  by  their  American  brethren.  In  one  sense  En- 
gland may  be  said  to  be  the  land  of  the  past,  and  America  (for  the  Con- 
ference is  still  sitting)  the  land  of  the  present.  I  venture  to  present  to 
you  Australia  as  the  land  of  the  future  with  respect  to  Ecumenical  Con- 
ferences. 

The  result  of  the  first  Ecumenical  Conference  was  the  comjilete  fusion 
of  Methodism  in  Canada  into  one  great  united  Church.  We  hear  that  the 
same  result  is  following  this  Conference  with  respect  to  African  Meth- 
odism. I  feel  the  spirit  of  prophecy  on  this  occasion.  I  predict  the  same 
happy  result  Ijefore  many  years  are  over  with  regard  to  Australasia,  and 
I  claim  that,  as  the  first  Ecumenical  Conference  was  held  in  the  East,  and 
the  second  has  been  lield  here  in  the  West,  to  us  who  live  at  the  antipodes 
belongs  the  first  Ecumenical  Conference  of  the  twentieth  century.  I  cannot 
promise  that  you  will  receive  the  same  splendid  entertainment  as  we  have 
received  in  Washington,  but  I  will  promise  that,  although  tlie  entertain- 
ment may  be  more  simple,  the  welcome  shall  be  equally  hearty.  Dr. 
Stephenson  referred  to  the  memories  connected  with  the  word  "trans- 
portation "  in  the  history  of  English  law.     I  beg  to  remind  him  that  in 


BUSINESS    IMJviCEEDINGS.  675 

England   transportation   is  now  unknown.      The  colonics   of  Austalasia 
refuse  to  receive  any  tainted  element  into  their  population. 

We  have  been  here  fourteen  days,  and  are  loath  to  go.  We  shall  carry 
away  dclii^htful  memories  of  this  beautiful  capital,  so  beautifully  situated, 
so  beautifully  planned,  and  so  beautifully  built,  with  its  white-domed 
Capitol  glistening-  in  the  sun,  with  its  unrivaled  streets,  its  patriotic  asso- 
ciations, its  ])hilantliropies  and  institutions  for  learning,  and  with  its  eager 
social  and  religious  life.  We  shall  go  away  from  Wiisliinglon  richer  for 
the  friendshijjs  we  have  formed  here.  We  .shall  go  away  full  of  the  les- 
Aous  and  inspirations  of  this  great  Conference  and  of  the  liistorical  inci- 
dents with  which  it  will  always  be  associated,  and  we  sliall  go  away  with 
liearts  full  of  love  ami  irratitude  for  the  honor  which  has  been  done  us 
and  for  the  kindness  we  received  from  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
from  the  citizens  of  Washington,  and  from  our  beloved  Methodist  breth- 
ren of  America.  We  all  feel  that  any  farewell  words  which  we  can  say 
must  be  inadequate  to  the  kindness  we  have  received ;  but  you  know,  at 
least,  that  our  thanks  come  straight  from  our  hearts.  It  is  a  matter  of 
embarrassment  to  many  of  us  that  it  will  be  impossible  for  us  to  return 
the  kindness  we  have  received  from  many  of  our  friends,  but  I  know  they 
feel  they  have  their  own  exceeding  great  reward  in  showing  their  love  for 
their  visitors,  in  the  magnificent  success  which  has  attended  this  Confer- 
ence, and  in  the  grand  results  which  must  follow  it  in  the  future. 

At  the  late  International  Conference  in  London,  only  a  few  weeks  ago, 
President  Angell  said  that  each  American  who  goes  to  England,  and  every 
Englishman  who  comes  to  America,  is  a  shuttle  carrying  a  silken  thread 
of  love  to  and  fro  across  the  sea.  The  silken  threads  of  love  which  we  of 
the  Eastern  Section  have  received  from  our  American  friends  we  shall 
carry  with  us  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  they  will  remain  with  us  in  all 
time.  They  will  weave  in  our  hearts  and  in  the  hearts  of  those  we  repre- 
sent a  tie  of  love  and  affection  which  we  shall  always  gratefully  retain, 
and  which  will  never  be  broken. 

Mr.  IIenrv  J.  Farmer- Atkinson,  M.P.,  of  tlie  Wesleyau 
Methodist  Church,  further  seconded  tlie  resohitions,  as  fol- 
lows : 

Mr.  President:  I  desire  to  express  my  gratitude  and  appreciation  for  the 
hospitality  which  has  been  shown  to  the  foreign  delegates,  and  my  admi- 
ration of  Washington  as  superior  to  any  capital  I  have  ever  seen. 

The  presiding  officer,  the  Rev.  Bishop  J.  F.  IIurst,  D.D., 

LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Cliurch,  made  the  closing 

reiiuirks  on  the  resolution  of  thanks,  as  follows: 

The  beautiful  hours  we  have  been  spending  together  arc  now  about  to 
close.  We  began  by  loving  you;  we  close  by  loving  you  more.  Our 
Atlantic  cities  are  supposed  to  ask  certain  questions  of  the  stranger  from 
afar.  In  Boston  we  may  regard  the  typical  question  to  l)e.  "  How  much 
do  you  know?"  in  New  York,  "  What  is  the  size  of  your  bank  account?" 
in  Philadelphia,  "  Who  was  your  grandfather,  and  did  his  ancestors  ar- 
rive with  Penn?"  in  Baltimore,  "  IIow  long  may  we  hojie  you  will  stay, 
and  what  would  you  like  for  dinner?"  in  AVashington,  "  What  office  shall 
we  give  you?"  You  came  with  your  mngnificcnt  otlice — namely,  to  rep- 
resent the  interest,  the  heart  and  mind  of  the  vast  Methodist  constituency 
that  engirdles  the  world — twenty-five  millions  of  people — and  that  office 
has  been  magnificently  performed.     Our  English  brethren  have  set  the 


676  BUSINESS   pkocei-:dings. 

type  for  five  minute  speeclies  for  all  the  world.  As  one  looks  back  he 
finds  a  spirit  of  accommodation.  Perhaps  it  reached  its  culmination  in 
that  original  decision  of  the  chairman  of  the  hour,  "  Brother,  state  your 
point  of  order."  .  .  .  "Your  point  is  well  taken,  but  the  other  man  has 
the  floor  ! " 

If  we  ask  what  does  the  Conference  mean,  what  is  the  note  which  it 
sends  out  over  land  and  sea,  we  are  compelled  to  answer,  "Union  and 
progress."  No  legislative  function  has  it  possessed,  not  a  single  law  has 
it  thought  of  enacting,  yet  there  are  forces  that  are  far  beyond  the  law. 
There  is  a  power  which  creates  law.  There  were  lines  of  art,  rigid  and 
old,  in  the  time  of  Michael  Angelo,  but  when  he  appeared  lie  enlarged  the 
horizon  of  the  lines  of  art.  After  he  poised  St.  Peter's  dome  in  mid-air, 
and  released  the  rugged  "Moses"  from  the  shapeless  rock,  and  threw 
upon  the  walls  of  the  Sistine  Chapel  the  figures  of  joy  and  sorrow  which 
glow  in  the  "  Last  Judgment,  "  there  were  new  revelations  for  the  art  of 
the  future.  So  the  lessons  here  have  been  lessons  for  the  law-makers  of 
the  future.  These  utterances  will  live  in  the  love  of  the  Church.  They 
will  reach  into  the  far-otf  mission  fields  for  all  time  to  come.  Look  at 
the  spirit  of  union.  Any  stone  that  would  arrest  Methodist  union  will  be 
crushed  by  the  wheels  of  the  advancing  spirit  of  fraternity.  No  disturb- 
ing man  or  measure  ! 

In  the  Conference  of  London  ten  years  ago  there  were  twenty  distinct 
Methodist  topics  considered.  In  this  there  have  been  but  five.  What 
does  this  mean  ?  Does  it  mean  denominational  degeneracy  ?  Not  at  all. 
It  means  that  we  are  taking  a  step  higher  and  looking  out  upon  the  broad 
field  of  great  questions,  placing  ourselves  in  their  very  midst,  and  speaking 
with  no  hesitating  voice  on  the  theology  of  the  present  and  future,  on 
labor,  capital,  intemperance— indeed,  on  all  the  great  questions  which  ever 
confront  us.  As  Dr.  Stephenson  described  the  meeting  of  Coke  and  As- 
bury  at  Barrett's  Chapel  I  was  thinking  of  that  wonderful  scene  on  the 
Mount  of  Transfiguration.  When  the  affrighted  disciples  began  to  recover 
the  evangelist  says,  "They  saw  no  man,  save  Jesus  only."  Let  that  be 
our  vision.  When  we  go  out  from  this  place  let  the  Lord  Christ  fill  up 
the  dark  horizon  ! 

Our  memories  will  be  most  delightful.  We  shall  miss  you  in  the  church 
and  in  the  home.     Washington  will  be  lonely  for  weeks  to  come. 

"Long,  long  be  our  hearts  with  such  memories  filled. 
Like  the  vase  in  which  roses  have  once  been  distilled. 
You  may  break,  you  may  shatter  the  vase  if  you  will, 
But  the  scent  of  the  roses  will  cling  round  it  still." 

Although  you  leave  us,  the  delightful  associations  will  remain  in  Wash- 
ington so  long  as  we  live.  Not  only  is  that  the  feeling  of  the  Methodist 
people,  but  the  feeling  of  the  whole  city.  "We  shall  not  meet  again," 
says  dear  Dr.  Stephenson,  "  for  ten  years."  But  when  we  do  greet  each 
other,  how  delightful  will  be  the  salutation,  with  these  golden  memories 
coming  up  to  aid  us  in  the  sweet  enchantment  !  And  if  we  never  meet 
again  here,  what  matters  it  ?  All  the  more  glorious  shall  be  the  salvation 
when,  with  robe  and  palm  and  crown,  we  meet  at  the  King's  right  hand, 
and  behold  him  in  his  beauty,  and  go  no  more  out  forever. 

The  foregoing  resolutions  of  thanks  were  then  unanimously 
adopted  by  the  Conference  in  a  rising  vote. 

The  hour  for  final  adjoui-nment  liaviiig  arrived,  it  was  or- 
dered that  after  the  reading  of  the  Journal  of  the  afternoon  and 


BUSINKS8    PROCEEDINGS.  G77 

the  obscrvanco  of  tlio  iippoiiited  luilf-liour  lor  jii-aycr  the  Con- 
fercnco  do  adjourn  witliout  date.  The  Journal  of  the  al'ter- 
iioon  session  was  thereupon  read  and  approved. 

The  Kev.  J.  M.  King,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  announced  the  2T9th  hymn  of  the  Methodist  Hymnal, 
"  Come,  Holy  Ghost,  our  hearts  inspire."  After  the  singing 
of  tliis  liymn  the  Conference  was  led  in  prayer  by  the  Rev. 
Joseph  Posnktt,  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church.  Hynm 
797  of  the  Methodist  Ilynuial  was  sung,  "  Blest  be  the  tie  that 
binds."  The  Conference  was  fni'ther  led  in  pi-ayei'by  the  Rev. 
William  Arthur,  M.A.,  of  the  Wesle^^an  Methodis-t  Church. 
Hymn  816  of  the  Methodist  Hymnal  was  sung,  ''  And  let  our 
bodies  part."  At  the  conclusion  of  this  hymn  a  few  moments 
were  spent  in  silent  prayer,  the  congregation  afterward  uniting 
with  the  Conference  in  the  recital  of  the  Lord's  Prayer.  Tlie 
doxology  was  then  sung,  and  the  second  Ecumenical  Confer- 
ence adjourned  sine  die  with  tiie  benediction  by  the  Rev.  Bishop 
J.  P.  Newman,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 


APPENDIX.  C7D 


APPENDIX. 


OFFICIAL  PAPERS  AND  ACTS 

RELATING    TO    THE    CALL    OF    THE    SECOND    ECUMENICAL 
METHODIST    CONFERENCE. 


At  the  first  Ecumenical  Conference,  held  in  City  Road  Chapel,  London, 
SeptoniI)er  7  to  20,  1881,  it  was  resolved  to  hold  a  second  Ecumenical 
Conference,  "if  practicable,  in  the  United  States,  in  the  year  1887."  The 
fulfillment  of  this  proposition  not  proving  expedient,  action  on  the  holding 
of  an  Ecumenical  Conference  in  the  year  1891,  in  the  United  States,  was 
taken  by  various  bodies  of  Methodism,  as  follows : 

I.  Action  of  the  Bkitish  Wesletan  Conference. 

At  its  annual  meeting  in  1886  this  Conference  appointed  a  committee 
"to  meet  during  the  year  to  consider  the  advisability  of  holding  an  Ecu- 
menical Conference  in  1891."  This  committee  was  instructed  to  consult, 
if  desirable,  representative  men  of  other  Methodist  denominations  uniting 
in  the  Ecumenical  Conference  of  1881,  and  to  present  its  report  at  the 
session  of  the  Wesleyan  Conference  in  1887.  A  large  committee  of  repre- 
sentative ministers  and  laymen  was  appointed  for  this  service. 

At  the  Conference  of  1887  a  report  from  the  committee  appointed  the 
preceding  year  was  presented  and  adopted,  as  follows : 

1.  The  Conference  sanctions  the  holding  of  a  second  Ecumenical  Con- 
ference in  .\merica  in  1891,  on  the  basis  laid  down  for  that  of  1881. 

2.  The  committee  is  re-appointed  with  ])ower,  if  the  authoritative  re- 
plies of  the  other  Methodist  Churches  when  received  prove  favorable,  to 
proceed  on  the  lines  adopted  in  1880-81,  and  to  prepare  for  a  Conference 
in  1891. 

:}.  The  representative  to  the  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
co])al  Church  of  America  is  instructed :  (1)  To  discuss  the  question  gen- 
erally, so  far  as  arrangements  can  be  made  for  the  purpose,  with  repre- 
sentatives of  such  American  Methodist  Churches  as  propose  to  enter  the 
Ecumenical  Conference,  so  as  to  arrive  at  a  general  understanding  as  to 
its  conduct.  (2)  To  take  any  other  preliminary  action  thought  desirable, 
similar  to  that  taken  by  our  representatives  in  America  in  1880.  (The 
committee  was  continued.) 

At  the  Conference  of  1888  the  report  of  the  committee  and  the  action 
of  the  Conference  were  as  follows: 

The  committee  reports  that  it  has   communicated  with   the  General 


680  APPENDIX. 

Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States,  both 
by  letter  and  by  the  Rev.  Charles  H.  Kelly,  on  the  proposal  to  hold  an 
Ecumenical  Metliodist  Conference  in  the  United  States  in  1891,  on  the 
same  basis  and  the  same  general  lines  as  those  adopted  for  the  Conference 
of  1881,  and  that  a  hearty  preliminary  agreement  has  been  reached,  and 
a  committee  formed  by  the  above-named  Conference  to  promote  the  neces- 
sary arrangements;  that,  follovs^ing  the  lines  adopted  for  the  promotion  of 
the  Conference  of  1881,  this  committee  lias  left  the  negotiations  v^'ith  the 
other  Methodist  Chuiches  of  the  United  States  and  their  offshoots  to  be 
opened  and  conducted  by  the  committee  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  It  further  reports  that  the  various  Methodist  Churches  in  the 
section  known  in  1881  as  the  Eastern  Section,  and  their  offshoots,  liaveall 
oiffcially  expressed  their  general  concurrence. 

The  Conference  receives  and  adopts  the  report  of  the  committee,  and 
resolves : 

(Resolutions  1  and  2  of  1887  were  thereupon  re-adopted,  and  the  com- 
mittee of  1887  was  continued,  with  various  substitutions.) 

At  the  session  of  1889  the  following  report  of  the  committee  was  pre- 
sented: 

The  committee  reports  that  all  the  Methodist  home  Churches  and  all  the 
affiliated  and  colonial  Churches  represented  in  the  Eastern  Section  in  1881 
have  agreed  to  unite  in  the  Conference  in  1891,  and  a  united  committee 
has  beeu  foriued  to  promote  the  necessary  ai-rangements. 

Also,  that,  following  the  lines  adopted  for  the  promotion  of  the  Confer- 
ence of  1881,  this  committee  has  left  the  negotiations  with  the  other 
Methodist  Churches  of  the  United  States,  and  their  offshoots,  to  be  opened 
and  conducted  by  the  committee  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
is  assured  that  all  the  steps  necessary  in  America  to  insure  the  success  of 
the  Conference  will  be  duly  taken. 

The  Conference  receives  and  adopts  the  report  of  the  committee,  and 
resolves: 

That  the  committee  be  re-appointed,  with  power  to  proceed  on  the 
lines  adopted  in  1880-81,  and  to  prepare  for  a  Conference  in  1891. 

(The  committee  of  1888  was  continued,  with  substitutions.) 

The  action  of  the  Conference  of  1890  was  as  follows: 

1.  The  Conference  receives  the  report  of  the  committee,  and  all  the 
affiliated  and  colonial  Churches  represented  in  the  Eastern  Section  in  1881 
have  agreed  to  unite  in  the  Conference  in  1891  ;  and  a  united  committee 
has  beeu  formed  to  promote  the  necessary  arrangements.  The  committee 
also  reports  that  the  various  bodies  in  the  Western  Section  are  arranging 
for  the  Conference.  It  further  reports  that  the  united  committee  has 
recommended  that  each  section  shall  consist  of  two  hundred  represent- 
atives, and  that  of  these  fort^'-one  ministers  and  forty-one  laymen  shall 
be  allotted  to  Wesleyan  Methodism. 

2.  The  following  are  elected  representatives:  (Here  follows  the  list  of 
representatives  appointed.)  The  North  Wales  and  South  Wales  Districts 
shall  each  elect  one  minister  and  one  layman  at  their  respective  September 
District  Committees  to  complete  the  numbers  allotted  to  Wesleyan  Meth- 
odism. 

3.  The  following  is  a  list  of  reserves  from  which  vacancies  that  may 
occur  in  the  list  of  elected  representatives  shall  be  supplied  in  the  order 
in  which  they  stand;  such  vacancies  to  be  declared  by  March  31,  1891: 
(Here  follows  the  list  of  reserves.) 


APPENDIX.  681 

•t.  The  committee  is  re-appointed,  witli  instructions  to  take  all  neces- 
sary ste])s  to  secure  the  requisite  funds,  and  in  all  other  ways  to  promote 
the  success  of  the  Conference.  (Here  follow  the  names  of  the  com- 
mittee. ) 

(Tlie  coininitteo  was  continued,  with  substitutions.  The  Rev.  John 
Bond,  tlie  Kev.  Taomas  E,  AVesterdale,  and  Mr.  "William  Craze  were  ap- 
pointed secretaries.) 

At  the  session  of  1891  the  following  action  was  taken : 

1.  The  Conference  receives  the  report  of  the  committee,  showing  (1) 
Tliiit  it  has  C()-oi)erated  with  the  other  Methodist  bodies  in  this  country, 
through  a  united  executive  committee,  and  has  taken  the  necessary  steps 
to  promote  the  success  of  the  Ecumenical  Conference.  (2)  That  the 
Conference  is  to  be  held  in  Washington,  U.  S.  A.,  from  October  7  to 
October  20,  inclusive. 

2.  As  a  considerable  uuuii)er  of  the  representatives  elected  at  the  last 
Conference  have  for  various  reasons  signitied  their  inability  to  go  at  the 
time  arranged,  the  following  ministers  and  laymen  are  elected  to  fill  the 
vacancies,  namely:  (Here  follows  the  list  of  representatives.)  The  presi- 
dent has  power  to  complete  the  lists  to  the  number  of  eighty-two  repre- 
sentatives, provided  no  additional  expense  is  incurred. 

A  committee  on  the  accounts  of  the  Ecumenical  Conference  was  ordered. 

Action  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

At  the  General  Conference  of  this  Church  held  in  New  York,  in  the 
month  of  May,  1888,  the  following  reports  and  resolutions  were  adopted: 

Report  No.   1. 

The  committee  to  which  was  referred  the  subject  of  the  Ecumenical 
Conference  of  Methodism  proposed  to  be  held  in  the  United  States  of 
America  in  the  year  1891  report  that  they  have  conferred  with  the  fra- 
ternal messengers  from  the  British  Conference,  the  Irish  Methodist  Con- 
ference, and  the  Methodist  Church,  Canada,  and  recommend : 

1.  The  holding  of  an  Ecumenical  Conference  of  Methodism  in  the 
United  States  of  America  in  the  year  1891  at  such  time  and  place  as  the 
committee  to  which  the  suliject  may  be  referred  shall  determine. 

2.  That  the  range  of  sufljects  presented  for  consideration  shall  be  de- 
termined by  the  joint  committees  of  the  several  Methodist  bodies  partici- 
pating, excluding  questions  of  doctrine  and  polity  when  material  differ- 
ences exist. 

3.  That  a  commission  of  thirteen  be  appointed  by  the  bishops,  consisting 
of  five  ministers,  five  laymen,  and  three  of  their  own  number,  which,  in 
correspondence  with  the  committee  appointed  by  other  participating 
bodies,  shall  arrange  the  programme  of  sul)jects,  select  speakers,  deter- 
mine the  time  and  place  of  the  meeting,  and  other  details  of  the  Confer- 
ence. 

4.  That  a  copy  of  this  action  be  forwarded  to  the  joint  committee  of 
Methodists  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  by  the  hand  of  Rev.  Charles  H. 
Kelly,  D.D.,  fraternal  messenger  to  this  body;  to  the  Methodist  Church, 
Canada,  by  Rev.  E.  A.  Stafford,  fraternal  messenger  to  this  body;  and  to 
all  other  Methodist  l)odies. 

Report  No.  2. 

Your  Conunittee  on  the  Ecumenical  Conference  recommend  the  follow- 
ing, in  addition  to  their  former  report: 
4C 


682  APPENDIX. 

1.  That  each  Annual  Conference  be  instructed  to  nominate,  before  July, 
1890,  two  ministers  and  two  laymen  for  membership  to  the  Ecumenical 
Conference;  and, 

2.  That  the  Committee  on  Organization  select  seven  members  from 
each  General  Conference  District  from  the  number  of  those  so  nominated, 
and  distribute  additional  members,  if  there  be  any,  as  they  may  deem 
best,  from  among  those  nominated,  provided  that  no  Annual  Conference 
shall  have  more  than  two  representatives. 

3.  That  the  bishops  be  instructed  to  present  this  action  to  the  Annual 
Conferences  before  July,  1890. 

SUPPLEMENTAL   RESOLUTIONS. 

Resolved,  1.  That  this  General  Conference,  in  its  action  in  regard  to  the 
Ecumenical  Conference,  does  not  thereby  assume  any  financial  obligation 
in  regard  to  it. 

2.  That  the  members  of  the  commission  to  be  appointed  on  the  Ecu- 
menical Conference,  and  all  the  Bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  be  ex  officio  members  of  the  said  Conference. 

Action  op  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church. 

At  the  General  Conference  of  this  Church,  held  in  Adrian,  Mich.,  May 
18  to  28,  1888,  the  following  report  of  the  Committee  on  Ecumenical 
Conference  was  presented  and  adopted : 

The  Committee  on  Ecumenical  Conference  would  respectfully  submit 
the  following  report: 

Whereas,  It  seems  to  be  the  desire  and  expectation  of  all  branches  of  the 
Methodist  family  that  there  should  be  an  Ecumenical  Conference  in  the 
United  States  in  1891 ;  and, 

Whereas,  Your  committee  has  no  positive  information  of  the  exact  time 
or  place  of  the  meeting,  or  of  the  ratio  of  representation  determined  upon ; 
therefore. 

Resolved,  1.  That  each  Annual  Conference  shall  at  its  next  session 
nominate  two  persons,  one  minister  and  one  layman,  whose  names  shall 
be  sent  by  the  secretary  to  the  committee  herein  named. 

2.  That  we  now  appoint  an  Executive  Committee  who  shall  see  that  we 
are  suitably  represented  in  the  proposed  Conference,  and  shall  have 
authority  to  select  from  the  persons  nominated  by  the  Annual  Conferences 
the  number  of  representatives  to  which  we,  as  a  Church,  are  entitled. 

3.  That  J.  T.  Murray,  S.  A.  Fisher,  T.  B.  Graham,  C.  W.  Button,  and 
James  P.  Sayre  be  said  Executive  Committee. 

Action  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 

At  the  General  Conference  of  this  Church,  held  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  May, 
1890,  the  following  report  of  the  Committee  on  Fraternal  Correspondence 
was  presented  and  adopted : 

The  Committee  on  Fraternal  Correspondence,  to  whom  was  referred  a 
communication  signed  Daniel  S.  Monroe,  Secretary,  on  the  subject  of 
Ecumenical  Conference  proposed  to  be  held  in  the  fall  of  1891,  respect- 
fully reports  the  following  facts  as  set  forth  in  said  communication :_ 

1.  That  at  the  Ecumenical  Conference  held  in  London  in  1881  it  was 
resolved  to  hold  a  similar  Conference  in  the  United  States  in  1891. 


APPENDIX.  683 

2.  That  the  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  at 
its  session  in  New  York  in  Maj'.  1888,  after  conference  with  the  fraternal 
delegates  from  the  British  and  Irish  Conferences  and  the  Methodist  Church, 
Canada,  recommended  the  holding  of  the  said  Ecumenical  Conference  in 
1891  at  such  time  and  place  as  the  committee  to  which  the  subject  may  be 
referred  shall  determine. 

3.  That  the  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  ap- 
pointed at  said  Conference  a  commission  consisting  of  three  bishops,  five 
ministers,  and  live  laymen,  which,  in  correspondence  with  other  partici- 
pating bodies,  will  arrange  a  programme  of  exercises  and  determine  the 
time  and  place  of  meeting. 

4.  That  said  commission  held  its  first  meeting  in  Philadelphia,  March 
26,  1890,  and  resolved  that  the  plan  of  the  Ecumenical  Conference  of  1881 
be  accepted  as  the  plan  of  this  commission  in  its  communication  with 
affiliating  bodies.  The  number  of  delegates  from  the  various  bodies  in 
America  to  be  three  hundred,  and  to  be  distributed  as  follows:  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church,  one  hundred  and  twenty- four  delegates;  ]\Iethodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  fif ty-seveu  delegates ;  and  in  the  same  ratio  for 
other  smaller  bodies. 

5.  That  the  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Church,  South,  is  re- 
quested to  appoint  a  committee  of  correspondence  to  assist  in  arranging 
the  details  of  the  proposed  Ecumenical  Conference.  Your  committee 
recommended  that  this  General  Conference  acquiesce  in  the  preliminary 
steps  and  arrangements  made  by  the  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  and  its  commission,  except  in  the  ratio  of  representation 
from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  the  Methodist  Episco]jal  Church, 
South,  respectfully,  and  call  the  attention  of  the  commission  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  to  what  is  clearly  a  clerical  error  needing  correc- 
tion. By  the  minutes  of  1889  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  in  all 
2,263,192  members,  and  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  in  all 
1,177,150  members.  If  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  is  entitled  to  124 
delegates,  then  the  basis  of  representation  is  one  delegate  to  every  18,251 
members.  A])plying  that  rule  to  the  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  we  are  entitled  to  64  instead  of  57  delegates.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  57  delegates  be  the  proportionate  share  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  then  the  basis  of  representation  will  be  one 
delegate  for  every  20.651  members.  Applying  this  rule  to  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  she  would  be  entitled  to  109  instead  of  124  delegates. 

Your  committee  recommends  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution : 

'■''Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  two  bishops,  three  ministers,  and  three 
laymen  be  appointed  by  the  College  of  Bishops  as  the  committee  of  cor- 
respondence from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  and  that  the 
names  of  the  members  of  said  committee  and  the  address  of  its  chairman 
be  forwarded  by  the  secretary  of  this  Conference  to  the  Rev.  David  S. 
Monroe,  D.D.,  Secretary,  Altoona,  Pa." 

Respectfully  submitted, 

Samuel  B.  Jones,  Chairman. 

At  a  later  day  in  the  session  of  the  Conference  the  following  were  ap- 
pointed a  Committee  of  Arrangements  as  called  for  in  the  previous  resolu- 
tion :  Bishop  R.  K.  Hargrove,  Bishop  E.  R.  Hendrix,  Rev.  W.  P.  Harri- 
son, D.D.,  Rev.  P.  A.  Peterson,  D.D.,  Rev.  P.  H.  Whisner,  D.D.,  Chan- 
cellor L.  C.  Garland,  LL.D.,  Walter  B.  Hill,  Esq.,  and  Julian  S.  Carr, 
Esq. 


68i  APPENDIX. 

Action  of  The  Methodist  Church,  Canada. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Church,  held 
in  the  city  of  Montreal,  September  10-30,  1890,  a  communication  was  re- 
ceived from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Monroe,  secretary  of  the  commission  appointed 
by  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  on  the  proposed  Ecumenical  Confer- 
ence of  1891.  This  communication  stated  that  the  Methodist  Church, 
Canada,  w^ould  be  entitled  to  twenty-four  delegates,  and  asked  that  a  com- 
mittee of  correspondence  be  appointed  by  this  General  Conference  to  meet 
with  committees  from  other  Methodist  bodies  at  Philadelphia,  on  Novem- 
ber 18,  1890.  Other  correspondence  on  the  same  subject  was  also  pre- 
sented to  the  Conference.  The  whole  was  referred  to  a  committee,  which 
presented  a  report,  and  the  following  recommendations  were  adopted  by 
the  Conference: 

(1)  That  this  General  Conference  express  its  entire  approval  of  the  pro- 
posed Ecumenical  Conference  of  1891,  and  also  its  readiness  to  heartily 
co-operate  in  carrying  it  out  upon  the  plan  proposed. 

(2)  That  twenty-four  representatives,  twelve  ministers  and  twelve  lay- 
men, be  elected  by  the  delegations  of  the  several  Annual  Conferences,  and 
five  ministers  and  five  laymen  be  elected  as  a  reserve,  who  in  case  of  va- 
cancies shall  take  such  vacancies  in  the  order  of  succession  of  appoint- 
ment. 

(3)  That  the  twenty-four  representatives  so  elected  shall  meet  during 
the  present  session  to  appoint  a  committee  of  correspondence. 

A.  Carman,  D.D.,  General  Superintendent. 

S.  F.  HuESTis,  Secretary. 

Meeting  of  the  Commission  of  the  Western  Section. 

Pursuant  to  the  following  call  issued  by  the  Ecumenical  Commission  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  namely : 

Altoona,  Pa.,  August!^,  1890. 
Bishop  Thomas  Bowman,  Chairman  of  the  Ecumenical  Commission  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  requests  a  meeting  of  the  various  Com- 
mittees of  Correspondence  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  November  10,  1890,  at  10 
A.  M. 

The  meeting  will  be  held  at  the  Methodist  Book  Room,  1018  Arch 
Street. 

We  hope  it  will  suit  you  and  your  associates  to  be  present  at  that  time. 

Yours  fraternally, 

David  S.  Monroe,  Secretary, 

the  Joint  Committee  met  November  19,  1890,  at  10:30  A.  M.  It  was 
called  to  order  by  Bishop  Cyrus  D.  Foss,  who  was  appointed  in  the  place 
of  Bishop  Thomas  Bowman,  resigned. 

The  following  persons  were  present :  Methodist  Episcopal  Church — Bishop 
Cyrus  D.  Foss,  Bishop  John  F.  Hurst,  the  Rev.  David  S.  Monroe,  D.D.,  the 
Rev.  Lyttletou  F.  Morgan,  D.D.,  the  Rev.  William  J.  Paxson,  D.D.,  the 
Rev.  James  M.  King,  D.D.,  the  Rev.  John  W.  Hamilton,  D.D.,  German 
H.  Hunt,  Esq. ,  Professor  John  M.  Van  Vleck ;  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South — Bishop  Robert  K.  Hargrove,  Bishoji  Eugene  R.  Hendrix,  the  Rev. 
William  P.  Harrison,  D.D.,  the  Rev.  P.  H.  Whisner,  D.D. ;  Methodist 
Church  of  Canada — General  Superintendent  A.  Carman,  the  Rev.  W.  S. 
Griffin:  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church — Bishop  B.  W.  Arnett, 
Bishop  B.  T.  Tanner,  the  Rev.  B.  F.  Lee,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  the  Rev.  John 


APPENDIX.  085 

W.  Gazaway,  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Collett;  Colored  Methodist  Church — the 
Rev.  C.  II.  Phillips,  D.I). ;  Evaii<,relic"il  Association — Bishop  Thomas 
Bowman,  the  Rev.  S.  ('.  l}ievfo<.fel,  the  Rev.  F.  Kurtz;  African  Methodist 
Episcopal  Zion  Church— the  Rev.  G.  W.  Ollley. 

Bisliop  Robert  K.  Hargrove,  of  the  Methodist  Episcojial  Church,  South, 
was  elected  temporary  chairman,  and  conducted  tlie  devotional  services. 
The  Rev.  David  S.  Monroe,  D.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
was  elected  temporary  secretary,  and  the  Rev.  B.  F.  Lee,  D.D.,  of  the 
African  Methodist  Episcopal  Churcli,  his  assistant.  A  committee,  con- 
sistinjif  of  one  person  from  each  body  here  rejiresented,  was  appointed  to 
nominate  permanent  officers,  and  on  their  nomination  the  following  offi- 
cers were  elected:  Chairman,  Bishop  Cynxs  I).  Foss;  Vice-Chairmen, 
Bishop  R.  K.  Hargrove,  General  Superintendent  A.  Carman,  Bishop  B. 
W.  Arnett,  Bishop  Thomas  Bowman,  the  Rev.  Dr.  C.  II.  Phillips;  Sec- 
retary, the  Rev.  Dr.  D.  S.  Monroe;  Assistant  Secretary,  the  Rev.  Dr.  B. 
F.  Lee. 

The  number  of  delegates  to  the  Conference  was  fixed  at  two  himdred 
for  the  Eastern  Section  and  three  hundred  for  the  Western  Section,  and 
they  were  distributed  as  follows,  namely :  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
124;  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  57;  African  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  18;  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church,  15;  Colored  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church,  9;  Evangelical  Association,  9;  Union  American 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  3;  Union  American  Protestant  Church,  3; 
Methodist  Protestant  Church,  9;  American  Wesleyan  Church,  6;  Free 
Methodist  Church,  3;  Independent  Methodist  Church,  3;  Congregational 
Methodist  Church,  3;  Methodist  Church,  Canada,  24;  United  Brethren, 
9;  Primitive  Methodist  Church  in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  3;  Bible 
Christian  Church,  3;  British  Methodist  Episcopal  C/hurch,  3. 

The  time  for  the  Conference  to  meet  was  fixed  for  October  21,  1891,  at 
10  o'clock  A.  M.,  to  continue  in  session  two  weeks,  and  to  close  on  Tues- 
day, November  3,  1891.  Washington,  D.  C,  was  unanimously  designated 
as  the  place. 

It  was  resolved  that  each  Western  body  provide  for  the  entertainment 
of  its  own  delegates,  and  that  a  Guarantee  Fund  of  $15,000  be  raised  to 
provide  for  the  entertainment  of  the  Eastern  delegates,  for  the  expenses 
of  various  committees,  and  for  other  necessary  expenses  of  the  Conference 
which  shall  have  been  audited  by  the  Executive  Committee;  and  said  sum 
to  l)e  raised  l)y  each  body  of  the  Western  Section  in  ]iroportion  to  the 
number  of  its  delegates.  This  fund  was  apportioned  to  be  raised  as  fol- 
lows: 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  |G,200;  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  !?2,850;  Methodist  Church.  Canada,  ft, 200;  African  jMethodist 
Episcopal  Church,  $900;  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church,  ^750; 
Colored  Methodist  Church,  $450;  Evangelical  Association,  1450;  Meth- 
odist Protestant  Church.  $450;  United  Brethren  Church,  $450;  American 
Wesleyan  Church,  $300;  Union  American  Methodist  E])isco])al  Church, 
$150;  Union  American  Protestant  Church,  $150;  Independent  Methodist 
Church,  $150 ;  Primitive  Methodist  Church,  $150 ;  Bible  Christian  Church, 
$150;  Congregational  Methodist  Church,  $150;  Free  Methodist  Church, 
$100.     Total,  $15,000. 

The  following  resolution  was  subsequently  adopted  concerning  it: 

Resolved,  That  we  call  on  each  Chinch  re])resented  in  the  Conference 
for  twenty  per  cent,  of  its  assessment  for  the  Guarantee  Fund,  and  invite 
payment  of  this  installment  as  soon  as  January  15.  1891,  to  be  sent  to  the 
treasurer,  German  II.  Hunt,  Esq.,  Post-office  Box  547,  Baltimore,  Md. 


686  APPENDIX. 

It  was  declared  the  judgment  of  the  committee  that  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee should  be  selected  from  the  delegates  elected  to  the  Conference, 
but  in  the  case  of  the  Finance  Committee  they  need  not  be  confined  to 
the  members  of  the  Conference. 

A  resolution  was  adopted  providing  that  in  case  any  of  the  Churches 
named  should  neglect  or  decline  to  appoint  delegates,  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee was  authorized  to  apportion  their  delegates  to  the  other  Churches 
on  an  equitable  basis. 

The  Executive  Committee  was  appointed  in  numerical  proportion  to 
the  bodies  here  represented,  and  was  constituted  as  follows,  namely: 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Bishop  J.  F.  Hurst,  Washington,  D.  C. ; 
Bishop  C.  D.  Foss,  Philadelphia,  Pa. ;  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  W.  Hamilton, 
Boston,  Mass. ;  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.  King,  New  York;  the  Rev.  Dr.  "W.  J. 
Paxson,  Chester,  Pa. ;  the  Rev.  Dr.  D.  S.  Monroe,  Altooua,  Pa. ;  G.  H. 
Hunt,  Esq. ,  Baltimore,  Md. ;  Professor  J.  M.  Van  Vleck,  Middletowu, 
Conn.  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  Bishop  J.  C.  Granbery, 
Ashland,  Va. ;  the  Rev.  Dr.  W.  P.  Harrison,  Nashville,  Tenn. ;  the  Rev. 
Dr.  P.  H.  Whisner,  Salem,  Va. ;  E.  B.  Prettyman,  Esq.,  Noiinal  School, 
Baltimore,  Md.  Methodist  Church,  Canada,  General  Superintendent 
A.  Carman,  Belleville,  Ontario;  the  Rev.  Dr.  W.  S.  Griffin,  Stratford, 
Ontario.  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Bishop  B.  W.  Arnett, 
Columbia,  S.  C.  Evangelical  Association,  Bishop  Thomas  Bowman,  Chi- 
cago, 111.  Colored  Methodist  Church,  the  Rev.  Dr.  C.  H.  Phillips,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church,  Bishop  J.  W. 
Hood,  Fayetteville,  N.  C.  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  Rev.  Dr.  T.  T. 
Murroy ;  and  one  from  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church, 

It  was 

'■'■Resolved,  1.  That  the  traveling  exj^enscs  of  the  members  of  the  Joint 
Committee,  and  of  all  duly  constituted  committees,  be  paid  out  of  the 
Guarantee  Fund,  and  the  members  of  the  Joint  Committee  furnish  to  the 
secretary  the  amount  of  their  expenses. 

"2.  That  upon  the  final  adjournment  of  this  Joint  Committee  to-day  we 
delegate  to  the  Executive  Committee  all  the  powers  now  possessed  by 
this  committee  in  the  interim  of  the  meetings  of  this  committee." 

Immediately  upon  the  adjournment  of  the  Joint  Committee  a  session 
of  the  Executive  Committee  was  held.  The  members  present  were  Bishop 
J.  F.  Hurst,  Bishop  C.  D.  Foss,  the  Rev.  Drs.  J.  W.  Hamilton,  J.  M. 
King,  W.  J.  Paxson,  D.  S.  Monroe,  G.  H.  Hunt,  Esq.,  Professor  Van 
Vleck,  the  Revs.  Drs.  W.  P.  Harrison,  P.  H.  Wbisner,  General  Superin- 
tendent A.  Carman,  the  Rev.  Dr.  W.  S.  Griftin,  Bishop  Thomas  Bowman, 
Bishop  B.  W.  Arnett,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  0.  H.  Phillips. 

Bishop  J.  F.  Hnrst  was  elected  chairman,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  D.  S.  Mon- 
roe secretary.  It  was  resolved  that  a  Committee  of  Finance  be  ap- 
pointed to  consist  of  the  same  number,  and  to  be  constituted  as  is  this 
Executive  Committee,  with  power  to  appoint  sub-committees. 

The  following  persons  were  elected,  namely:  The  Rev.  Dr.  J.  F. 
Goucher,  Baltimore,  Md.,  and  Messrs.  German  H.  Hunt,  Baltimore,  Md. ; 
J.  M.  Cornell,  New  York ;  B.  P.  Bowne,  New  York ;  J.  Gillender,  Phila- 
delphia, Pa. ;  C.  C.  Corbin,  Boston,  Mass. ;  Amos  Shinkle,  Covington,  Ky. ; 
H.  B.  Moulton,  Washington,  D.  C. ;  E.  W.  Cole,  Nashville,  Ky. ;  J.  B. 
Wilson,  Washington,  D.  C. ;  J.  P.  Branch,  Richmond,  Va. ;  J.  S.  Carr, 
Durham,  N.  C;  Warring  Kennedy,  Toronto,  Ont. ;  J.  H.  Beatty,  Tho- 
rold,  Ont.;  L.  D.  Krause,  Allentown,  Pa.;  Bishop  L.  H.  Holsey,  Augusta, 
Ga. ;  the  Rev.  J.  A.  Handy,  Washington,  D.  C. 

German  H.  Hunt,  Esq.,  of  Baltimore,  Md.,  was  elected  treasurer. 

Bishop  J.  F.  Hurst,  Bishop  J.  C.  Granbery,   General  Superintendent  A. 


APPENDIX.  G87 

Carman,  the  Rev.  Drs.  W.  P.  Iliirrison,  J.  M.  King,  J.  W.  Hamilton,  B. 
F.  Lee,  and  PrDfussor  Van  Vlcck  were  appointed  a  Committee  on  Pro- 
gramme and  Correspondence,  and  empowered  to  elect  corresponding  mem- 
bers of  the  committee. 

It  was  resolved  that  all  papers  relating  to  the  programme  be  referred  to 
this  committee,  or  sent  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  W,  Hamilton,  Secretary,  85 
Lexington  Street,  East  Boston,  Mass. 

The  committee  was  empowered  to  fix  the  time  of  essays  and  addresses, 
b»it  no  essay  to  exceed  thirty  minutes,  and  no  invited  address  to  exceed 
thirty  minutes.  All  persons  a])pointed  to  prepare  pa]icrs  for  or  make  ad- 
dresses at  the  Conference  shall  be  selected  from  the  list  of  delegates. 

Bishop  J.  F.  Hurst,  the  Rev.  Dr.  D.  S.  Monroe,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  W.  P. 
Harrison  were  appointed  a  committee  to  correspond  with  those  Churches 
of  the  Western  Section  from  which  no  communication  has  yet  l)cen  re- 
ceived; and  in  the  case  of  failure  upon  the  part  of  any  of  those  Churches 
to  respond  before  January  1,  1891,  the  members  allotted  to  them  shall  be 
distributed  by  the  committee  at  its  discretion  among  the  Churches  of  the 
Western  Section. 

It  was  declared  as  the  sense  of  this  committee  that  the  names  of  all 
delegates  elected  or  to  be  elected  be  reported  on  or  before  January  1, 
1891,  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Executive  Committee,  the  Rev.  Dr.  D.  S. 
Monroe,  1326  Twelfth  Avenue,  Altoona,  Pa. 


688  APPENDIX. 


THE  LITERATURE  OF  THE  EASTERN  DELEGATES.* 

BY  BISHOP  JOHN   F.  HURST. 

Nothing  can  give  a  clearer  idea  of  the  large  literary  character  of  the 
foreign  delegates  who  have  been  in  attendance  at  the  Ecumenical  Confer- 
ence at  Washnigton  than  an  enumeration  of  the  works  which  they  have 
written.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  literary  productiveness  of  the  present 
generation  of  Methodist  ministers  in  Great  Britain  is  no  less  remarkable 
than  that  of  their  predecessors  of  a  generation  ago.  We  are  not  sure  that 
this  Bibliography  is  complete,  but  it  is  as  nearly  so  as  we  have  been  able  to 
make  it.  That  they  have  been  skilled  and  successful  authors  before 
reaching  America  will  explain  to  a  large  extent  the  very  high  character 
of  the  papers  which  they  have  read,  and  of  the  sermons  and  speeches  which 
they  have  delivered  during  the  Conference.  The  following  works  were 
written  by  members  in  attendance  at  the  Conference  only,  and  no  refer- 
ence is  here  made  to  the  important  literature  of  those  who  were  not  dele- 
gates : 

Wesleyan  Methodist  Church. 

The  Rev.  T.  B.  Stephenson,  D.D.,LL.D. :  Biography  of  James  Bar- 
low ;  Sisterhoods ;  Articles  in  the  London  Quarterly  Revieic. 

The  Rev.  David  J.  Waller,  D.D. :  History  of  Elementary  Education  in 
the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church  During  the  Last  Fifty  Years. 

The  Rev.  Richard  W.  Allen:  Hand-Book  of  Wesleyan  Methodist  Sol- 
diers and  Sailors'  Homes ;  Memoirs  of  the  Rev.  G.  W.  Baxter,  Wesleyan 
Minister  and  Army  Chaplain. 

The  Rev.  William  Arthur,  M.A. :  The  Extent  and  Moral  Statistics  of 
the  British  Empire  (pamphlet) ;  A  Mission  to  the  Mysore ;  The  Successful 
Merchant;  The  People's  Day  (pamphlet);  Shall  the  Bible  be  Under  a  Ban 
in  India?  (pamphlet);  What  is  Fiji?  (pamphlet);  The  Tongue  of  Fire; 
Italy  in  Transition ;  Life  of  Gideon  Ouseley ;  The  Pope,  the  Kings,  and 
the  Peoples  (two  volumes) ;  The  Difference  Between  Moral  and  Physical 
Law;  Religion  Without  God;  God  Without  Religion. 

The  Rev.  Frank  Ballard,  M.A.,B.Sc. :  Is  Amusement  Devilish?  A 
Reply  to  the  Rev.  A.  Brown ;  A  Brief  Reply  to  Sequel  by  the  Rev.  A. 
Brown;  The  Mission  of  Christianity;  or.  What  are  Churches  for? 

The  Rev.  John  Bond:  Golden  Candlesticks,  and  How  They  Were 
Lighted ;  Chapters  in  the  History  of  Early  Methodism. 

The  Rev.  E.  J.  Brailsford:  Only  a  Woman's  Hair,  a  Tale  of  Yorkshire 
Village  Life ;  Fairy  Fingers,  a  Temperance  Tale  written  for  the  Scottish 
Temperance  League. 

The  Rev.  Forster  Crozier:  Soul  Winners,  a  Book  for  Young  Ministers 
and  Local  Preachers. 

The  Rev.  Nehemiah  Curnock :  Nature  Musing ;  God  in  Nature ;  Mem- 
orable Nights  of  the  Bible ;  Thrales  of  Redlynch,  a  Tale ;  Articles  on 
Natural  Science  in  the  London  Quarterly  Review. 

*  This  article  is  furnished  by  Bishop  Hurst  as  supplemental  to  the  portion  of  bis  Address  of 
Welcome  found  on  pages  :i7-33. 


APPENDIX.  689 

The  Rev.  William  T.  Davison,  M.A. :  The  Christian  Conscience  (the 
Fernley  Lecture  for  1888);  The  Word  in  the  Heart;  Articles  in  the  Lon- 
don Quitrterly  Review. 

The  Rev.  William  J.  Dawson:  Vision  of  Souls  (poems);  Quest  and  Vis- 
ion (essays);  Makers  of  Modern  En<^lish;  Threshold  of  Manhood  (ser- 
mons);  The  Redemption  of  Edward  Strahan,  a  Tale. 

The  Rev.  Huirh  P.  Hughes,  M.A. :  The  Philanthropy  of  God;  Social 
Christianity ;  The  Atheist  Shoemaker ;  Articles  in  the  Nineteenth  Century 
and  Contemporary  Review. 

The  Rev.  J.  Hugh  Morgan :  Christian  Workers'  Associations. 

The  Rev.  John  Rhodes :  Our  Visit  to  Rome,  with  Notes  by  the  Way. 

The  Rev.  John  S.  Simon :  Methodism  in  Dorset ;  The  Three  Reverences, 
and  Other  Addresses;  Articles  in  the  London  Quarterly  Review  on  the  Con- 
stitutional History  of  Methodism. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  G.  Selby :  Life  of  the  Blessed  Master  (in  Chinese) ; 
The  Imperfect  Angel,  and  other  Sermons ;  occasional  articles  on  China  in 
reviews. 

The  Rev.  William  F.  Slater,  M.A. :  Methodism  in  the  Light  of  the  Early 
Church  (the  Fernley  Lecture  for  1885) ;  Wesley  and  the  Church  (a  Cente- 
nary Tract) ;  Articles  in  the  London  Quarterly  Review. 

French  Methodist  Church. 

The  Rev.  M.  Lelievre,  D.D.  :  Life  of  John  Wesley;  History  of  Method- 
ism in  the  Channel  Islands ;  Life  of  J.  L.  Rostan ;  History  of  the  Martyrs 
of  Crespin  (three  volumes) ;  An  Exile  for  the  Faith ;  A  Missionary  in 
California;  The  Western  Pioneer  Preachers  in  America;  Translation  of 
the  Rev.  William  Arthur's  Difference  between  Moral  and  Physical  Law ; 
Notice  of  Paul  Lelievre. 

Methodist  New  Connexion. 

The  Rev.  W.  J.  Towusend :  The  Great  Schoolmen ;  Life  of  Morrison  of 
China;  Life  of  Alexander  Kilham;  Memorials  of  the  Rev.  J.  Stacey. 

Primitive  Methodist  Church. 

The  Rev.  J.  Dorricott  (and  the  Rev.  T.  Collins) :  Hymns  and  Hymn 
Writers. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Mitchell :  Life  of  the  Rev.  R.  E.  Blackburn,  Mission- 
ary to  West  Africa. 

United  Methodist  Free  Church. 

The  Rev.  Ralph  Abercombie,  M.A. :  Echoes,  Texts,  and  Voices. 
The  Rev.  Edward  Boaden:  The  Young  Minister  Counseled  (pamphlet). 
Mr.  J.  H.  Crossfield,  C.C,  J. P. :  Bitter  Cry  of  Ancoats  (Manchester). 
Mr.  J.  Duckworth :  Trip  Round  the  World. 

The   Rev.   W.  R.  Sunraan:   Wolverton  Grange;    Superstitious  of  the 
Churches. 
The  Rev.  J.  Swann  Withington:  Why  Am  I  a  Trinitarian? 

Bible  Christians. 

The  Rev.  F.  W.  Bourne :  The  King's  Son,  or,  A  Memoir  of  Billy  Bray ; 
All  for  Christ— Christ  for  All,  Ministers  Workers  Together  with  God.  and 
other  Sermons. 

The  Rev.  John  Hcrridge  Batt:  The  Pattern  Prayer  Plainly  Put. 


690  APPENDIX. 


RECEPTIONS,  MEETINGS,  AND  EXCURSIONS 
NOT   ANNOUNCED    IN   THE  OFFICIAL  PROGRAMME. 


Reception  at  New  York. 

On  Monday  evening,  October  5,  1891,  the  Methodists  of  New  York  city 
and  vicinity  gave  a  recejition  to  the  delegates  to  the  second  Ecumenical 
Methodist  Conference  in  Music  Hall,  New  York.  A  collation  was  served. 
Mr.  John  D.  Slayback  presided  at  the  exercises  in  the  auditorium.  Prayer 
was  offered  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.  Reid.  Addresses  of  welcome  were 
made  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.  King  and  the  Rev.  Bishop  C.  D.  Foss.  Re- 
sponses were  given  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  T.  B.  Stephenson,  the  Rev.  H.  T. 
Marshall,  the  Rev.  Dr.  A.  Carman,  the  Rev.  William  Morley,  the  Rev. 
Bishop  Pettey,  the  Rev.  Dr.  M.  Lelievre,  and  the  Rev.  Hugh  Price 
Hughes.  The  benediction  was  pronounced  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  W.  Ham- 
ilton. 

Reception  at  Washington. 

The  Hon.  M.  G.  Emery,  ex-Mayor  of  Washington,  and  Mrs.  Emery 
gave  a  reception  at  their  residence  to  the  members  of  the  Conference  on 
Thursday  evening,  October  8,  1891. 

Reception   at   the    Metropolitan    African   Methodist    EpiscopAii 

Church,  Washington. 

On  Friday  evening,  October  9,  1891,  a  reception  was  given  to  the  dele- 
gates, their  wives,  and  friends  at  the  above  church.  Bishop  A.  W.  Way- 
man  presided.  The  Rev.  J.  Smith  Silencer  offered  prayer.  An  address  of 
welcome  was  given  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  L.  J.  Coppin.  Responsive  addresses 
were  made  by  the  Rev.  Bishop  J.  J.  Moore,  the  Rev.  Dr.  T.  B.  Stephen- 
son, the  Hon.  S.  J.  Way,  D.C.L.,  the  Rev.  George  Sargeant,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
J.  C.  Price,  the  Rev.  William  Arthur,  M.A.,  and  the  Rev.  Bishop  O. 
P.  Fitzgerald. 


o^ 


ExcuBsiON  TO  Mount  Vernon. 

On  Saturday  afternoon,  October  10,  1891,  the  Conference  made  an  ex- 
cursion to  Mount  Vernon,  visiting  the  tomb  and  estate  of  Washington. 

Reception  by  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

On  Monday  afternoon,  October  12,  1891,  Benjamin  Harrison,  President  of 
the  United  States,  and  Mrs.  Harrison  gave  a  special  reception  at  the  presi- 


APPENDIX.  O'Jl 

dential  mausiou,   when  the   members  of  the  Couference    aud  the  ladies 
accompauyin<f  them  were  personally  presented  to  INIr.  aud  Mrs.  Harrison. 

Reception  by  the  Trustees  of  the  Ameuican  University. 

On  Thursday  evening,  October  15,  1891,  a  reception  was  given  to  the 
members  of  the  Conference  aud  others  at  the  Arlington  Hotel  by  the 
trustees  of  the  American  University.  A  collation  was  provided,  after 
which  the  j)latform  exercises  were  presided  over  by  the  Rev.  Bishop 
Thomas  Bowman.  Addresses  were  given  by  the  Rev.  Bishop  J.  F.  Hurst, 
the  Rev.  "William  Arthur,  the  Rev.  Hugh  Price  Hughes,  the  Rev.  Bishop 
E.  R.   Hendrix,  the  Rev.  Bishop  J.  P.  NewTnan,  General  Superintendent 

A.  Carman,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bartlett,  the  Rev.  Dr.  T.  B.  Stephenson,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  J.  W.  Hamilton,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.  Buckley. 

Excursion  to  the  Grounds  of  the  American  University. 

On  Saturday,  Octol)er  17,  1891,  a  considerable  number  of  the  Confer- 
ence visited  the  grounds  of  the  prospective  university.  A  short  meeting 
was  there  held  in  the  open  air,  when  interesting  addresses  were  delivered 
by  various  speakers. 

Reception  at  Philadelphia. 

At  the  Academy  of  Music,  in  Philadelphia,  on  Wednesday  evening, 
October  21,  1891,  a  reception  was  given  to  the  members  of  the  Ecumenical 
Conference  by  the  Methodists  of  that  city.  After  a  collation,  the  Hon. 
John  Field,  Postmaster  of  Philadelphia,  took  the  chair  as  presiding  officer. 
Prayer  was  offered  by  the  Rev.  J.  Berry.  An  address  of  welcome  was 
given  by  the  Hon.  E.  S.  Stuart,  Mayor  of  Philadelphia.  Responses  were 
given  by  the  Rev.  "William  Arthur,  General  Superintendent  A.  Carman, 
the   Rev.   William  Wilson,  the  Rev.  Peter  Thompson,  the   Rev.  Dr.  T. 

B.  Stephenson,  the  Rev.  J.  D.  Lamout,  the  Hou.  S.  J.  Way,  D.C.L.,  and 
the  Rev.  William  Morley.  The  benediction  was  pronounced  by  the  Rev. 
Bishop  J.  M.  Walden. 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Introduction vil 

First  Day,  First  Session  3 

First  Day,  Second  Session 26 

Second  Day,  First  Session 57 

Second  Day,  Second  Session 78 

Third  Day,  First  Session 109 

Third  Day,  Second  Session 130 

Fourth  Day 165 

Memorial  Sermon  ON  Wesley  AND  His  Mission :. 193 

Fifth  Day,  First  Session 309 

Fifth  Da  y.  Second  Session 225 

Fifth  Day,  Tliird  (Special)  Session 249 

Sixth  Day,  First  Session 268 

Sixth  Day,  Second  Session 290 

Seventh  Day,  First  Session 315 

Seventh  Day,  Second  Session 336 

Seventh  Day,  Tliird  Session 360 

Eighth  Day,  First  Session 385 

Eighth  Day,  Second  Session 408 

Ninth  Day,  First  Session 430 

Ninth  Day,  Second  Session 459 

Ninth  Day,  Third  Session 485 

Tenth  Day 521 

Eleventh  Day,  First  Session 541 

Eleventh  Day,  Second  Session 573 

Eleventh  Day,  Third  (Special)  Session 599 

Twelfth  Day,  First  Session 620 

Twelfth  Day,  Second  Session 649 

Appendix » 679 


Abercrombie,  Ralph  : 

Response   to  Addresses  of  Welcome,  51 ; 

Discussion  on  Christian  Unity,  124;  Fed- 
eration, 391,  392. 
Accuracy  of  Publication,  129. 
Adjournment : 

Morning,  57 ;  Afternoon,  110, 165 ;  Special, 

209;  Final,  541,  542,  677. 
African    Methodist    Episcopal    Churches    of 

Washington,  Reception  by,  57,  690. 
Aggressions  of  Roman  Hierarchy,  etc.,  649. 
Agricultural    Districts,    Christian   Work   in, 

475. 

Allen,  Thomas  : 

Discussion  on  the  Church  and  Scientific 
Tliought,  188 ;  Address  on  Christian  Work 
Among  the  Rich,  471 ;  Presiding  Officer, 
Twelfth  Day,  First  Session,  542,  620. 

Allison,  D.  : 

Discussion  on  Christian  Co-operation,  157 ; 
Member  of  Columbian  Exposition  Com- 
mittee, 248. 

American  University: 

Reception  by  Trustees,  57,  691 ;  Excursion 

to  Grounds,  691. 
Amusements,  Attitude  of  Church  toward,  579, 

584. 


Anderson,  J.  A. : 

Discussion  on  Social  Problems,  480. 

Andrews,  E.  G.  : 

Presiding  Officer,  Seventh  Day,  Third  Ses- 
sion, 268,  360. 

Antlipf,  Samuel: 

Sympathy  with,  110, 166  ;  Absent  through 
Sickness,  418. 

Appeiulix,  679. 

APPLEGET,  T.  B. : 

Discussion  on  the  Church  and  Her  Agen- 
cies, 282 ;  Address  on  the  Family,  325. 

Ai'bitration : 

Overture  from  General  Association  of 
Presbyterian  Church,  58;  International, 
523,  530,  533. 

ARNETT,  B.  W.  : 

Address  on  Present  Status  of  Methodism  In 
Western  Section,  99 ;  Member  of  Statistical 
Committee,  191 ;  of  Methodist  Membership 
Committee,  248. 

Arthur,  William: 

Sermon,  3 ;  Discussion  on  Christian  Unity, 
125 ;  on  Christian  Co-operation,  155  ;  Pre- 
siding Officer,  Fourth  Day,  165  ;  Discussion 
on  the  Church  and  Scientific  Thought,  184; 
on  Responsibilities  and  Qualifications  of 
the  Preacher,  223 ;  Fraternal  Address,  260 ; 


INDEX. 


693 


Discussion  on  tlie  Cliurch  and  Her  Agen- 
cies, 284  ;  on  Federation,  432 :  on  Iliterna- 
tloaal  Arbitnition,  539 ;  on  Methodist  Sta- 
tistics, 544  ;   Closing  Prayer,  «77. 

Attitude  of  the  Cliurclj  toward  Amusements, 
570,  584. 

Attitude  of  the  Church  toward  the  Various 
Phases  of  Unbelief,  172. 

Aucliland  United  Kvangelical  Church  Coun- 
cil, Greetings  from,  58. 

Autograph  Books,  50,  060. 

Bakek,  C.  J.: 

Jlember  of  Wesley  Stutue  Committee,  314. 

Baldwin,  S.  L.  : 

llissionary  Address,  542,  612. 

Ballaki),  Fua.nk  ; 

Discussion  on  the  Church  and  Scientific 
Thouglit,  181 ;  on  Responsibility  and  Qual- 
ifications of  the  Preacher,  220 ;  on  Educa- 
tion, 331 ;  on  Social  Problems,  457 ;  on  the 
Church  and  Public  Morality,  589. 

Bal.mer,  J.  K.: 

Discussion  on  Amusements,  591. 

Bal.mek,  J.  S. : 

Discussion  on  the  Religious  Press,  etc.,  247. 

Batt,  J.  H.  : 

Addi-ess  on  Present  Status  of  Methodism 
in  Eastern  Section,  71. 

Berry,  J.  ■ 

Address  on  Moral  Aspects  of  Labor  Com- 
binations and  Strilves,  416. 

Bible  and  Jlodern  Criticism,  175. 

Bible,  Samuel  Wesley's,  58. 

Bond,  JoHx: 

Secretary  from  Third  Division,  26;  Ad- 
dresson  Responsibilities  and  Qualifications 
of  the  Preacher,  214 ;  Discussion  on  the 
Church  and  Her  Agencies,  287 ;  on  Inter- 
national Arbitration,  540. 

Bourne,  f.  w.  : 

Remarks  on  Union,  164;  Member  of  Sta- 
tistical Committee,  191 ;  of  Methodist  Mem- 
bership Committee,  248  ;  Discussion  on  the 
Church  and  Her  Agencies,  310  ;  Presiding 
OflQcer,  Ninth  Day,  First  Session,  430  ;  Ad- 
dress on  the  Church  of  the  Future,  665. 

Bowman',  Thomas: 

Presiding  Offlcer,  First  Day,  First  Session, 
3;  Memberof  Methodist  Membership  Com- 
mittee, 248. 

Brailsford,  E.  J. : 

Discussion  on  Social  Problems,  479. 

Briggs,  Wim.iam: 

Address  on  Present  Status  of  Methodism 
in  Western  Section,  94 ;  Member  of  Statis- 
tical Committee,  191. 

Erimelow,  William: 

Member  of  Methodist  Membership  Com- 
mittee, 248. 

Broadest  Facilities  for  Higher  Education,  etc., 
300. 

Buomage,  T.  : 

Remarks  on  Union,  164 ;  Address  on  the 
Lord's  Day,  576. 

Brook,  David: 

Discussion  on  the  Church  and  Scientific 
Thought,  189 ;  on  Higher  Education,  377. 

Bruehl,  R.  a.  W.: 

Discussion  on  Present  StJitus  of  Method- 
Ism  in  Western  Section,  luO. 


Buckley,  J.  M.: 

Discussion  on  Present  Status  of  Method- 
ism in  Western  Section,  lol ;  on  the  Church 
and  Scientific  Thought,  182  ;  on  the  Relig- 
ious Press,  etc.,  244  ;  on  Woman's  Work  in 
the  Church,  306 ;  on  Federation,  431 ;  on 
International  Arbitration,  537;  on  Perma- 
nent Executive  Commission,  554 ;  on  Atti- 
tude of  the  Church  toward  Amusements, 
592  ;  Essay  on  the  Church  of  the  Future, 
649. 

Bunting,  Percy  W.  : 

Essay  on  Influence  of  Modern  Scientific 
Progress  on  Religious  Thought,  166. 

Burwash,  N.  : 

Essay  on  the  Broadest  Facilities  for  Higher 
Education,  etc.,  360. 

Business  Committee,  Chairman  and  Secretary, 
26;  to  Report  Motions,  108. 

Bu.siness  Committee,  Communications,  Memo- 
rials, and  Resolutions  referred : 
Antliflf,  Samuel,  Sympathy  with,  110 ;  Aft- 
ernoon Session,  Closing  Hour  of,  110: 
Auckland  United  Evangelical  Church 
Council,  Greetings  from,  58;  Ci%il  and 
Religious  Liberty,  etc.,  541 ;  Columbian 
Exposition,  165,  209 ;  Competition  between 
Methodists  in  Small  Places,  209;  Concert 
of  Prayer,  385;  Congregational  Methodist 
Church,  Communication  from,  268 ;  Ecu- 
menical Hynm  Book,  209;  Essays,  Fin- 
ishing of,  165;  Evangelical  Association, 
Communications  from,  109;  Evangelical 
Synod  of  Maryland,  Greetings  from. 
109 ;  Executive  Commission,  Permanent, 
209;  552,  620;  Fraternal  Action,  109: 
Hymn  Book,  Ecumenical,  209 ;  Labor 
and  Capital,  541 ;  Leaton,  James,  Death 
of,  209;  Liquor  Traffic,  209,  541;  Lo- 
cal Preachers'  Association,  National,  110 ; 
I^ove-feast,  Special,  110  :  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Chm-ch,  West,  Communication  from, 
268 ;  Methodists  in  Small  Places,  Competi- 
tion Between,209 ;  Methodists  of  the  World, 
Address  to,  165 ;  Missionary  Council,  Ecu- 
menical Methodist,  165 ;  Missionary  Coun- 
cil, General  Foreign,  165;  Opium  Traffic, 
109;  Pan-Presbyterian  Council  at  Toronto, 
268;  Payne,  D.  A.,  S)-mpathy  with,  430; 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Virginia,  Address 
from  SjTiod  of,  430 ;  Presbyterian  Church 
of  United  States,  Overture,  58;  President, 
Memorial  on  Visit  of,  541;  Public  Houses, 
Sunday  Closing  of,  208 ;  Rule  VIII,  Altera- 
tion of,  385;  Social  Question,  Memorial  on, 
110 ;  Special  Reporton  Permanent  Execu- 
tive Commission,  5.")2,  620;  Statistics  of 
Methodism,  110;  Sunday  Closing  of  Public 
Houses,  268;  Thanks,  105;  Thompson,  J. 
P.,  Letter  from,  208 ;  Time  for  Closing  Con- 
ference, Change,  541;  Wesley  Statue  in 
Washington,  165. 

Business  Committee,  Reports  of : 

Adjournment,  57,  110,  165,  209,  541, 
542,  677;  African  Methodist  Episcopal 
Churches  of  Washington,  Reception  by_ 
57:  American  University,  Reception  by 
Trustees,  57;  Antliff,  Samuel,  Sympathy 
with,  166 ;  Autograph  Books.  .56,  or,!i ;  Call  to 
Prayer,  541 ;  Columbian  Exposition,  Sab- 


694 


INDEX. 


bath  Closing  of,  248,  315 ;  Executive  Com- 
mission, Permanent,  209, 552, 620 ;  Federa- 
ation,  316,  385,  431 ;  Fraternal  Delegates, 
Reception  of,  57 ;  Last  Half  Hour,  542 ; 
Love-least  and  Fellowship  Meeting,  315 ; 
Memorials,  No  More  to  be  Received,  541; 
Methodist  Membership,  248;  Missionary 
Council,  Powers  of  Committee,  385;  Mis- 
sionary Session,  Special,  521;  Missionary 
Societies,  in  Same  Fields.  269;  Nashville 
College  for  Young  Ladies,  Greeting  from, 
57 ;  Opium,  435 ;  Pan-Presbyterian  Coun- 
cil, Deputation  to,  315,  620  ;  Pastoral  Ad- 
dress, 593;  Prayer  from  Platform,  165; 
Presiding  Officers,  27,  109,  268,  542 ;  Pub- 
lishing Committee,  543 ;  Roman  Hierarchy, 
Aggressions  of,  etc.,  649 ;  Rule,  New,  408 ; 
Rule  VIII.,  Change  of,  408;  Sabbath  Clos- 
ing of  Columbian  Exposition,  248,  315 ;  So- 
cial Purity,  434 :  Speakers  near  Platform, 
109 ;  Statistical  Committee  Appointed,  190 ; 
Statistical  Report,  542 ;  Wesley  Statue,  313 ; 
Writers  and  Speakers,  Responsibility  of, 
649. 

Button,  C.  w.  : 

Member  of  Methodist  Membership  Com- 
mittee, 348. 

Call  to  Prayer,  541. 

Capital,  Moral  Aspects  of  Combinations  of, 
450. 

Carlislk,  J.  H.: 

Address  of  Welcome,  33 ;  Member  of  Co- 
lumbian Exposition  Committee,  248. 

Cabman,  a.  : 

Presiding  Officer,  Second  Day,  Second  Ses- 
sion, 78 ;  Fraternal  Address,  365 ;  Member 
of  Methodist  Membership  Committee,  248 ; 
Address  on  Resolutions  ot  Thanks,  672. 

CARTER,  J.  A.  : 

Member  of  Wesley  Statue  Committee,  314. 

Chair,  Presidential,  58. 

Chamberltn,  H.  B.  : 

Member  of  Wesley  Statue  Committee,  314. 

CHAMBERS,  T.  W.  : 

Fraternal  Address,  249. 
Chapman,  J.  A.  M. : 

Address  on  Christian  Resources  of  New 

World,  640. 
Chapman,  J  ames  : 

Pastoral  Address  Read,  593. 
Christian  Church,  Its  Essential  Unity,  etc., 

109. 
Christian  Co-operation,  130,  138,  141, 145. 
Christian  Resources  of  the  New  Wortd,  632, 

640. 
Christian  Resources  of  the  Old  World,  623, 

630. 
Christian  Unity,  110, 116, 119. 
Christian  Work  Among  the  Poor,  468. 
Christian  Work  Among  the  Rich,  471. 
Christian  Work  in  Agricultural  Districts,  475. 
Church  and  Her  Agencies,  309,  268. 
Church  and  Public  Morality,  541. 
Church  and  Scientific  Thought,  165. 
Church  and  the  Temperance  Reform,  408,  413. 
Church,  Attitude  toward  Amusements,  579, 

584. 
Church,  Attitude  toward  Various  Phases  of 

Unbelief,  172. 
Church  in  Relation  to  Labor  and  Capital,  441. 


Church,  Obligations  of,  in  Relation  to  Social 
Condition  of  the  People,  459. 

Church  of  the- Future,  649,  656,  660,  665. 

Civil  and  Religious  Liberty : 
In  Relation  to  Papacy,  541. 
And  Aggressions  of  Roman  Hierarchy,  649. 

Clapham,  J.  Ernest  : 

Discussion  on  Social  Problems,  481. 

Clinton,  G.  W.  : 

Discussion  on  Responsibility  and  Qualifica- 
tions of  the  Preacher,  223. 

Cole,  E.  W.  ; 

Member  of  Wesley  Statue  Committee,  314. 

Columbian  Exposition  : 

Sunday  closing  of,  165;  Memorial  on,  209; 
Committee  on,  348 ;  Report  of,  315. 

Committees,  List  of,  xxviii. 

Competition  in  Small  Places,  209. 

Concert  of  Prayer,  385. 

Congregational  Methodist  Church,  Communi- 
cation from,  368. 

Cooke,  J.  Subjian  : 

Discussion  on  Responsibility  and  Qualifi- 
cations of  the  Preacher,  331. 

COPPIN,  L.  J. : 

Discussion  on  Education,  330. 

Corey,  g.  H.  : 

Introduction  of  President  Harrison,  528. 

Crabtree,  James  : 

Discussion  on  the  Church  and  Scientific 
Thought,  183. 

Crawford,  M.  D'C.  : 

Absent  through  Illness,  276. 

Credentials  Read,  249. 

Crossfield,  J.  H. : 

Address  on  Sectarianism  and  State  Educa- 
tion, 345. 

CuLLEY,  Robert  • 

Address  on  the  Sunday-School,  327. 

CUPPLES,  Samuel: 

Member  of  Wesley  Statue  Committee,  314. 

Curnock,  Nehemiah  : 

Debate  on  Federation,  389 ;  Discussion 
on  Social  Problems,  481 ;  Debate  on  Sta- 
tistics, 543,  545. 

Curts,  Lewis  : 

Member  of  Columbian  Exposition  Commit- 
tee, 248 ;  Report  on  Sabbath  Closing,  315. 

Daily  Progranmie,  xxxii. 

Dancy,  J.  C.  : 

Member  of  Wesley  Statue  Committee,  314 ; 
Address  on  Secondary  Education,  346. 

Davison,  J.  C. : 

Discussion  on  Christian  Co-operation,  163. 

Davison,  W.  T.  : 

Address  on  Bible  and  Modern  Criticism, 
175. 

Dawson,  w.  J. : 

Address  on  the  Church  of  the  Future,  656. 

Day,  W.  H.  : 

Address  on  Responsibility  and  Qualifica- 
tions of  the  Preacher,  317. 

Deaconess  Movement,  The,  376. 

Degrees,  University,  57. 

Delegates,  Official  List,  xiii. 

Dewart,  E.  H.  : 

Discussion  on  the  Church  and  Scientific 
Thought,  180;  Address  on  the  Religious 
Press,  etc.,  332;  on  Education,  .S82 ;  on  Fed- 
eration, 391 ;  on  Methodist  Statistics,  546. 


INDEX, 


695 


Donnelly,  James  : 

Presiding  Ofllcer,  Eighth  Day,  First  Ses- 
slou,  2«S,  3«5  ;  Address  on  Present  Status 
of  Melhixlisiu  In  Eastern  Section,  «». 

Douglas,  geougk  ; 

Address  of  Welcome,  37 :  Discussion  on  the 
Religious  Press,  etc.,  217;  on  the  Opium 
Tramc,  •135. 

DUCKWOKTH.  J.: 

Discussion  on  the  Church  and  Her  Agen- 
cies, 287 ;  Ecumenical  Methodist  Mission- 
ary Council,  105. 
Dl'NCAN,  W.  W.: 

Presiding  Officer,  Ninth  Day,  Second  Ses- 
sion, 459. 
Eastern  Delegates,  Literature  of,  688. 
Eastern  Section,  Present  Status  of  Methodism 

in.  58. 
Ecumenical  Hymn  Book.  209. 
Ecumenical  Methodism.  57. 
EcumeniCiU  Missionary  Council,  165. 
Education : 

General  Topic,  'Mb;  Elementary,  etc.,  336; 
Ethics  of  Elementary,  341;  Sectarianism 
and  State,  345  :  Secondary,  346;  Broadest 
Facilities  for  Higher,  360 ;  University,  367, 
371. 
E.MBRY.  .1.  C. : 

Discussion  on  Christian  Co-operation,  156 ; 
Remarks  on  Co-operation  and  Union.  164  ; 
Member  of  Committee  on  Special  Mission- 
ary Session,  521;  Discussion  on  Perma- 
nent Executive  Committee.  553. 
E.MEKV,  M.  G. : 

Member  of  Committee  on  Wesley  Statue, 
314. 
Essays,  Finishing  of,  165. 
Evangelical     Association,     Communications 

from,  109. 
Evangelical   Sjmod   of   Maryland,  Greetings 

from.  109. 
Evans,  Joh.n: 

Absent  through  Sickness,  327. 
E.\curslons : 

To  Mount  Vernon,  690. 
To  Grounds  of  American  University,  691. 
Executive  Committee : 

Memorial  to  Make  Permanent,  209;  Re- 
port of  Sub-Committee  on.  552,  620. 
Family.  The,  325. 
Fakmek-Atkinson,  H.  J. : 

Discussion  on  Religious  Press,  etc.,  246; 
on  the  Church  and  Her  Agencies,  288 ;  on 
Woman's  Work  in  the  Church,  309;  on 
Federation,  .389;  on  Temiwrance,  428; 
Personal  E.\planatlon.  440  ;  Discussion  on 
International  Arbitration,  536;  on  Perma- 
nent Executive  Committee,  553;  Address 
on  Resolution  of  Thanks,  675. 
Federation,  Methodist : 

Resolution  Referred  to  Business  Commit- 
tee, 109;  Report  on,  316;  Discussion  of 
Report,  Seventh  Day— T.  Snape,  T.  Morgan 
Harvey,  H.  L.  Sibley,  C.  R.  Harris,  T.  B. 
Stephenson,  Hugh  Price  Hughes,  317; 
Discussion  of  Report.  Eighth  Day— T.  B. 
Stephenson,  Thomius  Snape,  .1.  .1.  Maclaren, 
Warring  Kennedy,  .lames  Travis.  N.  Cur- 
nock,  A.  B.  Leonard,  H.  .1.  Farmer-Atkin- 
son, D.  J.  Waller,  Ralph  Abercrombie,  E. 


H.Dewart,  386;  Discussion  of  Report,  Ninth 
Day— J.  M.  Buckley,  Hugh  Price  Hughes. 
William  Arthur,  T.  Morgan  Harvey.  T.  B. 
Stephenson,  431 ;  Report  as  Adopted,  434. 

Fellows,  S.  N.  : 

Discu.ssion  on  Education,  378. 

Fekgi'sox,  Joseph: 

Remarks  on  Union,  103;  To  Convey  Greet- 
ings to  Samuel  Antlilf,  160 :  Presiding  Offi- 
cer, Seventh  Day,  Second  Session,  20S,  :«6; 
Address  on  the  Religious  Press,  etc.,  235. 

FiSKE,  L.  R. : 

Discussion  on  Education,  357 ;  Address  on 
Romanism  as  a  Political  Power,  399. 

PiTCHETT,  W.  H. : 

Essay  on  Religious  Training  and  Culture 
of  the  Young,  320. 

FitzGekald,  J.  N. : 

Member  of  Committee  on  Missionary  So- 
cieties in  Same  Fields,  269. 

Fitzgerald,  O.  P.: 

Discussion  on  Christian  Co-operation,  152; 
Member  of  Committee  on  Sunday  Closing 
of  Columbian  Exposition,  248. 

Foreign  Missionary  Council,  General,  165. 

Foss,  C.  D.  : 

DLscussion  on  Responsibility  and  Qualifi- 
cations of  the  Preacher,  220 ;  Address  on 
Attitude  of  the  Church  toward  Amuse- 
meiUs.  584. 

Foster,  R.  S.  : 

Discussion  on  Christian  Co-operation,  161 ; 
Essay  on  Responsibility  and  Qualificatioas 
of  the  Preacher,  210. 

Foster,  The  Hon.  Charles  : 
Introduced,  522  ;  Address,  522. 

Fowler,  Anderson  : 

Member  of  Committee  on  Wesley  Statue, 
314. 

Fowler,  C.  H.  ; 

Essay  on  Present  Status  of  Methodism  in 
the  Western  Section,  78;  Discussion  on 
the  Church  and  Scientific  Thought,  187 ; 
Member  of  Committee  on  Sunday  Closing 
of  Columbian  Exposition,  248;  Member  of 
Committee  on  Wesley  Statue,  314. 

Fraternal  Action,  Methodist,  Resolution  on. 
109. 

Fraternal  Delegates : 

Reception  of,  57 ;  Credentials  Read,  249. 

Fry.  B.  St.  James: 

Essay  on  Woman's  Work  in  the  Church. 
290. 

Gaines,  W.  J.  : 

Member  of  Committee  on  Sunday  Closing 
of  Columbian  Exposition,  248 ;  Discussion 
on  Temperance,  420. 

Gallowav,  C.  B.  ; 

Address  on  Present  Status  of  Methodism 
In  Western  Section,  89. 
Gibson,  William  : 

Discussion  on  Christian    Unity,   138;   on 
Education,  335;  on  University  Education, 
:?83;   Address   on    Missions   In   Christian 
Lands,  .504. 
GooDALL,  Charles: 

Member  of  Committee  on  Wesley  Statue, 

314. 

GoHMAN.  William: 

Address  on  Woman's  Work  in  Churcli.296. 


696 


INDEX. 


Granbery,  J.  C: 

Member  of  Committee  on  Methodist  Mem- 
bership, 2i8. 

Grandison,  C.  N.  : 

Unavoidable  Absence,  513. 

Green,  a.  M.  -. 

Discussion  on  Education,  353. 

Green,  George: 

Response  to  Addresses  of  Welcome,  49. 

Green,  S.  H.: 

Fraternal  Address,  256. 

Greenhill,  William  ; 

Member  of  Statistical  Committee,  191. 

Griffin,  W.  S.  : 

Member  of  Committee  on  Missionary  So- 
cieties in  Same  Fields,  269. 

Griffith,  S.  N.: 

Discussion  on  Temperance,  426. 

Hall,  John: 

Fraternal  Address,  251. 

Hamilton,  .J.  W. ; 

Reception  of  Fraternal  Delegates,  349, 256 ; 
Discussion  on  Woman's  Work  in  the 
Church,  308;  Member  of  Committee  on 
Special  Missionary  Session,  521 ;  Presented 
Report  on  Permanent  Executive  Commis- 
sion, 552,  554,  620. 

Hammond,  E.  W.  S.  : 

Address  on  Missions  in  Christian  Lands, 
513. 

Hammond,  J.  D. : 

Address  on  Ethics  of  Elementary  Educa- 
tion, 341. 

Hanev,  J.  W. : 

Discussion  on  Temperance,  422;  on  the 
Church  and  Public  Morality,  590. 

Hargrove,  R.  K.: 

Presiding  Officer,  Sixth  Day,  First  Session, 
268. 

Harris,  C.  R.  : 

Discussion  on  Federation,  319. 

Harrison,  President  Benjamin: 

Reception  at  the  White  House,  209,  224; 
Presented  to  the  Conference,  528 ;  Address, 
528 ;  Memorial  on  His  Visit,  541. 

HARRISON,  W.  P.; 

Member  of  Statistical  Committee,  191. 

Hartzell,  J.  C. : 

Discussion  on  Christian  Co-operation,  152 ; 
Address  on  Christian  Work  in  Agricultural 
Districts,  475. 

Harvey,  T.  Morgan; 

Member  of  Committee  on  Sunday  Closing 
of  Columbian  Exposition,  248 ;  of  Commit- 
tee on  Missionary  Societies  in  Same  Fields, 
269 ;  Discussion  on  Federation,  318, 432 ;  on 
Missions,  519. 

Helmb,  N.  W.  : 

Discussion  on  Education,  335. 

Hendrix,  E.  R.  ; 

Member  of  Committee  on  Special  Mission- 
ary Session,  521;  Presiding  Officer,  Eleventh 
Day,  Second  Session,  542,  573 ;  Address  on 
the  Church  of  the  Future,  660. 

Hepworth,  J.  W. : 

Member  of  Committee  on  Missionary  So- 
cieties in  Same  Fields,  269. 

Hill,  Datid  : 

Member  of  Committee  on  Missionary  So- 
cieties in  Same  Fields,  269  ;  Discussion  on 


Opium,  438 ;  on  Missions,  518  ;  Missionary  • 
Address,  017. 

Hill,  W.  B.  : 

Essay  on  Legal  Restraint  on  the  Vices  of 
Society,  555. 

HOBBS,  J.  B. : 

Member  of  Committee  on  Wesley  Statue, 
314. 

Holliday,  Anthony  : 

Absent  through  Sickness,  345. 

Hood,  J.  W. : 

Presiding  Officer,  Fifth  Day,  First  Session, 
109,  209  ;  Discussion  on  Woman's  Work  in 
the  Church,  313. 

HoosEN,  Stewart  : 

Discussion  on  Woman's  Work  in  the 
Church,  311. 

HORWILL,  H.  W. : 

Discussion  on  Higher  Education,  376. 

HOSS,  E.  E. : 

Discussion  on  Christian  Unity,  128  ;  Ad- 
dress on  the  Religious  Press,  etc.,  239 ;  Dis- 
cussion on  Woman's  Work  in  the  Church, 
308 ;  on  Temperance,  424. 

Hubbard,  P.  A.: 

Discussion  on  Temperance,  426;  on  Amuse- 
ments, 592. 

Hudson,  Josiah  : 

Missionary  Address,  609. 

Hughes,  Hugh  Price  : 

Discussion  on  Present  Status  of  Method- 
ism in  the  Eastern  Section,  74 ;  on  Chris- 
tian Co-operation,  150;  Essay  on  the  Re- 
ligious Press,  etc.,  225 ;  Discussion  on 
Woman's  Work  in  the  Church,  312;  on 
Federation,  320,  431;  on  Education,  354; 
on  Social  Purity,  434. 

Hunt,  a.  s.  : 

Address  on  Christian  Unity,  116. 

Hunt,  T.  H.  : 

Member  of  Statistical  Committee,  191 ;  Ad- 
dress on  Woman's  Work  in  the  Church,  302. 

Hurst,  J.  F. : 

Permanent  Chairman  of  Business  Com- 
mittee, 26 ;  Address  of  Welcome,  27 ;  Presi- 
dential Reception,  209;  Presiding  Officer, 
Twelfth  Day,  Second  Session,  542,  649; 
Address  on  Resolution  of  Thanks,  675. 

Hymn  Book,  Ecumenical,  209. 

Inch,  J.  R. : 

Address  on  Moral  Aspects  of  Combinations 
of  Capital,  450. 

Influence  of  Modern  Scientific  Progress  on 
Religious  Thought,  166. 

International  Arbitration,  523,  530,  533. 

Introduction,  vil. 

Johnson,  J.  H.  A. : 

Discussion  on  the  Church  and  Public  Mo- 
rality, 571 ;  Read  T.  G.  Steward's  Essay  on 
the  Lord's  Day,  673 

Jones,  E.  Lloyd  : 

Discussion  on  Present  Status  of  Methodism 
in  Western  Section,  107 ;  on  Church  and 
Scientific  Thought,  186 ;  on  the  Religious 
Press,  etc.,  246 ;  on  Social  Problems,  483. 

Jones,  J.  H.  : 

Discussion  on  Present  Status  of  Methodism 
in  Western  Section,  105. 

Junker.  P.  G.  : 

Discussion  on  Missions,  517. 


INDEX. 


697 


Keexek,  J.  C. ; 

PrcsldliiK  Onieer,  First  Day,  Second  Ses- 
sluii,  3(i ;  Discussion  ou  tlie  C'liurch  aud 
Scientific  Tliought.  185;  ou  the  Outlook, 
647. 

Kennedy,  Wakhing  : 

Discussion  on  Federation,  388,389. 

King,  J.  M. : 

Elected  Secretary  Business  Committee, 
2C ;  Secretary  of  Conference,  20 ;  Discus- 
sion on  C'liristlan  Co-d.Hratlon,  15S ;  on 
tlie  Church  and  Scientillc  Thought,  1K4 : 
Introduction  of  President,  .')28;  Discussion 
on  Xlcthodist  Statistics,  r>l();  Member  of 
Publication  Committee,  542. 

KlUACOPE,  C.  n. : 

Address  on  New  Fields  Entered  Since  1881, 
490. 

Labor  and  Capital : 

The  Church  In  Her  Relation  to,  441 ;  Memo- 
rial on  Combinations  of.  Vll. 

Labor  Coinl)lnations  and  Strll<es,  Moral  As- 
pects of,  44(5. 

Lamak,  L.  Q.  C.  : 

Member  of  Committee  on  Wesley  Statue, 
314. 

La.mhi.v,  W.  H.  : 

Member  of  Committee  on  Missionary  Soci- 
eties in  Same  Fields,  209;  Discussion  on 
Temperance,  423. 

L.\MBfTH,  W.  R. : 

Member  of  Committee  on  Slissionary  Soci- 
eties in  Same  Fields,  2t'i'.^ ;  Missionary  Ad- 
dress, 542, 603 ;  Discussion  ou  the  Outlooli, 
C46. 

La.vdis,  J.  P. : 

Address  on  Woman's  Work  iu  the  Church, 
30O. 

LARK,  W.  H. : 

Discussion  on  Christian  Unity,  126 ;  on 
Temperance,  422. 

Liist  Half  Hour  of  Conference,  542. 

Lawrence,  Thomas: 

Discussion  on  Christian  Unity,  129;  Mem- 
ber of  Committee  on  Sunday  Closing  of 
Columbian  Exposition,  21S;  Discussion 
on  the  Church  and  Her  Agencies,  283 ;  Ab- 
•   sent,  494. 

Lay  Agency  in  the  Church,  Place  and  Power 
of,  209. 

LEATON,  JA.MES: 
Death  of,  209. 

Le  Huuav,  .James: 

Address  on  Christian  Co-operation,  145. 

Legal  Prohiljition  of  the  .Saloon,  410,  418. 

Legal  Restraint   on    the    Vices   of   Society, 
555. 

Leonard,  .V.  B. : 

Discu.sslon  on  Present  Status  of  Methodism 
In  the  Western  Section,  102;  on  Christian 
Co-operation,  l.'i4;  Member  Statistical  Com- 
mittee, 191  ;  Discussion  on  Kesi)oiisiblllty 
and  Qualiflcittlons  of  tlie  Preacher,  224 ; 
on  Church  and  Her.\gencies,  224.  Member 
of  Committee  on  Missionary  Societies  In 
Same  Field.s,  209;  Dlscus-slon  on  tlie  Church 
and  Her  Agencies, 280;  on  Education,. •{:i2  ; 
on  Federation,  :{89,  .'192 ;  Essay  on  Missions 
in  Christian  Lauds,  490. 
47 


LEU'IS,  .J.  W. ; 

Discussion    on    Woman's    Work    In    the 

Church,  'Mo. 
Lile,  J,  H. : 

Di.scussion  on  the    Religious  Press,  etc., 

245;  on  the  Church  and  Her  Agencies,  285; 

on  Temperance,  428. 
Liquor  Traffic,  Suppression  of,  209 ;  Memorial 

on,  541. 
Literature  of  Eastern  Delegates,  688. 
Local  Preachers'  Association,  Memorial  from, 

110. 
LocKwooD,  J.  H. : 

Discussion  on  Temperance,  425. 

LONO,  .lAMKS: 

Member  of  Committee  on  Wesley  Statue, 
314. 

Lord's  Day,  The,  573. 

Lotteries,    Betting,  Gambling,  and  Kindred 
Vices,  562. 

Love-feast     and    Fellowship     Meeting,    110, 
315. 

LrKK,  W.  B.: 

Discussion  on  Education,  355. 

Maclaren,  J.  J.: 

Discussion  on  Present  Status  of  Methodism 
in  the  Western  Section,  104  ;  on  the  Church 
and  Scientific  Thou^jht,  100;  .Member  of 
Statistical  Committee,  191;  Discussion 
on  Federation,  388;  on  International 
Arbitration,  538;  on  Methodist  Statistics, 
543. 

Mahon,  R.  H.  : 

Essay  on  the  Church  and  the  Temperance 
Reform,  408. 

Marriage  and  Divorce  Laws,  507. 

Mahsden,  William  : 

Presiding  Officer,  Eleventh  Day,  First  Ses- 
sion, 541. 

Marshall,  H.  T.  : 

I^residing  Officer,  Third  Day,  First  Ses- 
sion, 109 ;  Remarks  on  Union,  103. 

Mayes,  Edward: 

Essay  on  Christian  Resources  of  the  Xew 
World,  032. 

McCoMAS,  S. : 

Discussion  on  Temperance,  427. 

McKee,  Willia.m  ; 

Address  on  Christian  Work  Among  the 
Poor,  468. 

McKlNLEY,  D. : 

Discussion  on  Christian  Co-operation,  100 ; 
on  University  Education,  383. 

McNeil,  Willia.m: 

Member  of  Committee  on  Missionary  So- 
cieties in  Same  Fields,  209. 

Medichaet,  John: 

Address  on  Present  Status  of  Methodism 
In  Eastern  Section,  00. 

Members  of  Methodist  Churches.  Address  to, 
105. 

Memorial  Sermon  on  Wesley,  192. 

Memorials,  .\o  More  to  be  Received,  641. 

Mkssick,  15.  -M.: 

Discussion  on  the  Church  and  Public  Mo- 
rality, 588. 

Methodism,  Committee  on  Statistics  of,  110; 
Report,  .Mi;  Adopted,  540. 

Methodism,  Present  Status  In  Eastern  Section, 
68,  00,  68, 71. 


698 


INDEX. 


Jlethodism,  Present  Status  in  Western  Sec- 
tion, 78,  89,  94,  99. 

Metliodist  Brotherlioods  and  Sisterhoods,  278. 

Methodist  Churches  Through  the  World,  Ad- 
dress to,  1G5. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  West,  Communi- 
cation from,  208. 

Methodist  Federation.    (See  Federation.) 

Methodists,  Competition  in  Small  Places,  209. 

MiLLSAPS,  R.  W. : 

Member  of  Committee  on  Wesley  Statue, 
314. 

Missionary  Council,  Ecumenical,  165 ;  Powers 
of  Committee,  385. 

Missionary  Session : 

Special  Committee  on,  521 ;  President  and 
Speakers  Appointed,  5i2;  Meeting  Held, 
599. 

Missionary  Societies  in  Same  Fields,  Commit- 
tee on,  269. 

Missions  in  Chri-stian  Lands,  496,  504,  513. 

Missions  in  Heathen  Lands,  485. 

Mitchell,  Thomas  : 

Address  on  Christian  Unity,  119 ;  Address 
on  New  Fields  Entered  Since  1881,  494: 
Question  of  Privilege,  540. 

Monroe,  d.  S.  : 

Member  Statistical  Committee,  191. 

Moore,  l.  r.  : 

Member  of  Committee  on  Wesley  Statue, 
314. 

Morgan,  J.  H. : 

Discussion  on  the  Chm-ch  and  Her  Agen- 
cies, 281. 

MoRLEY,  William: 

Discussion  on  Present  Status  of  Methodism 
in  Eastern  Section,  75 ;  Member  of  Sta- 
tistical Committee,  191 ;  of  Committee  on 
Methodist  Membership,  248.  Read  Essay 
of  W.  H.  Fitchett,  320;  Presiding  Officer, 
Ninth  Day,  Third  Session,  485 ;  Discussion 
on  Methodist  Statistics,  543,  544,  545. 

Motion,  Notices  of,  108. 

Mount  Vernon,  Excursion  to,  690. 

MURKLAND,  W.  U. : 

Fraternal  Address,  253. 

Murray,  J.  T. : 

Presiding  Officer,  Seventh  Day,  First  Ses- 
sion, 268,  315. 

Myers,  M.  T.  : 

Presiding  Officer,  Fifth  Day,  Second  Ses- 
sion, 109, 235 ;  Remarks  on  Union,  163 :  Es- 
say on  Present  Position  of  Romanism,  392. 

Nashville  College  for  Young  Ladies,  Greeting 
from,  57. 

National  Local  Preachers'  Association,  Me- 
morial from,  110. 

Nettleton,  Joseph : 

Discussion  on  Temperance,  424 ;  on  Mis- 
sions, 516 ;  on  Amusements,  587. 

New  Fields  Entered  Since  1881,  490,  494. 

Newman,  J.  P. : 

Memorial  Sermon  on  Wesley,  192;  Re- 
marks on  International  Arbitration,  536  ; 
Closing  Benediction,  677. 

New  World,  Christian  Resources  of,  6.33,  640. 

Nicholas,  William  ■ 

Discussion  on  Christian  Unity,  133 ;  on  Ed- 
ucation, 333;  Address  on  Romanism  as  a 
Religious  Power,  404. 


NiNDE,  W.  X. ; 

Address  on  the  Deaconess  Movement,  376. 

Noble,  Hon.  John  W.  : 

Introduction  of,  522;  Address,  522. 

Notices  of  Motion,  108. 

Obligation  of  the  Chm-ch  in  Relation  to  Social 
Condition  of  the  People,  459. 

Officers  of  the  Conference,  xxvi. 

Official  Papers  Relating  to  Call  of  Conference, 
679. 

Ogburn,  T.  J.: 

Address  on  Christian  Co-operation,  141  j 
Member  of  Committee  on  Missionary  So- 
cieties in  Same  Fields,  269. 

Oldham,  W.  F.  : 

Discussion  on  Woman's  Work  in  the 
Church,  311 ;  on  Missions,  520. 

Old  World,  Christian  Resom-ces  of,  622,  630. 

Opium  Traffic : 

Resolution  on,  109 ;  Presented,  435 ;  Dis- 
cussed by  George  Douglas,  David  Hill,  and 
C.  F.  Reid,  435  ;  Adopted,  440. 

Organic  Union,  etc. : 

Remarks  of  Representatives  of  English 
Bodies,  163. 

Pace,  J.  B. : 

Member  of  Committee  on  Wesley  Statue, 
314. 

Pan-Presbyterian  Council  at  Toronto,  268, 315, 
630. 

Pastoral  Address,  593. 

Patterson,  George  : 

Missionary  Address,  542. 

Pauncefote,  Sir  Julian: 
Introduction  of,  522. 

Payne,  D.  a.  : 

Resolution  of  Sympathy  with,  430. 

Personal  Explanation,  H.  J.  Farmer-Atkin- 
son, 440. 

Personal  Explanation,  D.  J.  Waller,  430. 

Peters,  W.  R.  : 

Member  of  Committee  on  Missionary  So- 
cieties in  Same  Fields,  269. 

Phillips,  C.  H. 

Address  on  Legal  Prohibition  of  the  Sa- 
loon, 416. 

Pickett,  James  : 

Address  on  Legal  Prohibition  of  the  Sa- 
loon, 418. 

Place  and  Power  of  Lay  Agency  in  Church,  269. 

Poor,  Christian  Work  Among,  468. 

Posnett,  Joseph  : 

Address  on  Lotteries,  etc.,  562;  Final 
Prayer,  677. 

Prayer  and  Final  Adjournment,  677. 

Prayer,  Call  to,  541. 

Prayer  From  the  Platform,  165. 

Preacher,    Responsibility  and  Qualifications 
of,  310,  214,  217. 

Presbyterian  Church : 

Overture  from  General  Assembly,  58; 
Synod  of  Virginia,  430. 

Present  Position  of  Romanism,  392. 

Present  Status  of  Methodism  in  Eastern  Sec- 
tion, 58,  66,68,  71. 

Present  Status  of  Jlethodism  in  Western  Sec- 
tion, 78,  89,  94,  99. 

President  Harrison  : 

Reception  at  'WTiite  House,  209,  224,  690; 
Visit  to  Conference,  538 ;  Memorial  on,  541. 


INDEX. 


699 


Presiding  Officers  Appointed,  27, 109,  268,  542. 
Press,  The  Kellglous,  and  the  Kell(;ious  Uses  of 

the  Sc'tular  Press,  2^0,  232,  23i,  23i>. 
Price,  J.  C. : 

Discussion  on  the  Outlook,  645. 
Progruniiue,  Dully,  xxxll. 
Publication,  Accurucy  of,  129. 
Publication  Committee,  J.  M.  King,  J.  M.  Van 

Vleck,  512. 
Piibllc  Houses,  Sunday  Closing  of,  268. 
Reception  by  President   Harrison,   209,  224, 

690. 
Reception  of  Fraternal  Delegates,  27,  57. 
Receptions : 

American    University,    57,   691 ;    African 

Metlio<list    Kpiscoyal   Churches,  57,  690; 

Hon.  M.  G.  Emery,  690;  New  York,  690; 

Philadelphia,  691 ;  President  Harrison,  209, 

224,  690. 
REKFERX,  W.  : 

Address  on  Christian  Co-operation,  138. 
Reid,  C.  F.  : 

Discussion    on    Christian  Unity,  122;    on 

Woman's  Work  in  the  Chm'ch,  310 ;    on 

Opium,  439. 
Religious  Press  and  Religious  Uses  of  Secular 

Press,  225,  232,  235,  239. 
Reports.    (See  Business  Committee.) 
Responsibility    and     Quallflcations    of     the 

Preacher,  210,  214,  217. 
Responsibility  of  Writers  and  Speakers,  642. 
Rich,  Christian  Work  Among,  471. 
Ro«El<s,  H.  W.: 

Discussion  on  University  Education,  379. 
ROGERSOX,  J.  J.: 

Discussion  on  Temperance,  427. 
Roman  Hierarchy,  Aggressions  of,  etc.,  649, 
Romanism : 

General  Topic,  385 ;   Present  Position  of, 

392;  as  a  Political  Power,  399;  as  a  Reli- 
gious Power,  404. 
RriinLE,  T. : 

Discussion  on   International  Arbitration, 

537 ;  Essay  on  the  Attitude  of  the  Church 

toward  Amusements,  579. 
Rule,  Xew,  408;  Rule  VIII,  Alteration  of,  385, 

408. 
Rules  and  Regulations,  xxx. 
Ryckmax,  E.  B.  : 

Secretary  from  Second  Di\nsion,  26. 
Sacrament  Admini.stered,  20. 
Saloon,  Legal  Prohibition  of,  416,  418. 
Salt,  Enoch  : 

Address  on  International  Arbitration,  533. 
Sahge.wt,  George: 

Presiding   Officer.   Eleventh   Day,  Third 

Session,  542,  599. 
Scientific  Progress,  Influence  of  Modern,  on 

Religious  Thought,  166. 
Secondary  Education,  346. 
Secretaries  Appointed,  .1.  M.  King,  E.  B.  Ryck- 

man,  .Tohn  Bond,  Thomas  Snape,  27. 
Sectarianism  and  State  Education,  345. 
Selby,  T.  G.: 

Es.say  on  Christian  Unity,  110. 
Sermon,  Opening,  William  Arthur,  3. 
Sermon,  Memorial,  on  Wesley,  J.  P.  Newman, 

192. 
Shaw,  H.  H.. 

Discussion  on  Education,  356. 


Sibley,  H.  L.  ; 

Discussion  on  Federation,  318;  on  Social 
Problems,  480;  Address  on  Marriage  and 
Divorce  Laws,  567. 

Simmons,  J.  c. : 

Discussion  on  Present  Status  of  Methodism 
In  the  Western  Section,  103  j  on  Temper- 
ance, 421. 

SlJlo.N,  J.  S. : 

Discussion  on  tlic  Church  and  Her  Agen- 
cies, 285;  on  Higher  Education,  380;  on 
the  Church  and  Public  Morality,  572 ;  Essay 
on  Christian  Resources  of  the  Old  World, 
622. 

Slack,  J.  Bamford: 

Read  Percy  W.  Hunting's  Essay,  166;  Dis- 
cussion on  Woman's  Work  in  the  Church, 
307. 

Slater,  w.  f.: 

Address  on  University  Education,  367. 

Small  Places,  Methodist  Competition  in,  209. 

Smith,  a.  Coke: 

Essay  on  Christian  Co-operation,  130. 

S.MITH,  JouN: 

Member  of  Committee  on  Missionary  So- 
cieties in  Same  Fields,  269;  Essay  on  Ele- 
mentary Education,  etc.,  336. 

Snape,  Thomas: 

Secretary  from  Fourth  Division,  27;  Dis- 
cussion on  the  Religious  Press,  etc.,  245 ; 
Member  of  Committee  on  Sunday  Closing 
of  Columbian  Exposition,  248 ;  Di.scussion 
on  Federation,  317, 387 ;  on  Higher  Educa- 
tion, 381 ;  Essay  on  International  Arbitra- 
tion, 523. 

Social  Problems,  430. 

Social  Purity,  Resolution  on,  434 ;  Adopted,  435. 

Social  Question,  Memorial  on,  110. 

SOUTHGATK,  E.  L.: 

Discussion  on  Christian  Co-operation,  153. 

Speakers  to  Sit  Near  Platform,  109. 

Speare,  Alden: 

Essay  on  the  Church  In  Her  Relation  to 
Labor  and  Capital,  441. 

Spencer,  J.  Smith: 

Member  of  Statistical  Committee,  191 ; 
Missionary  Address,  512,  599. 

Spurgeon,  Rev.  C.  H.,  Sympathy  with,  335. 

Stannahi),  D.  a.: 

Member  of  Committee  on  Wesley  Statue, 
314. 

Statistics  of  Methodism : 

Special  Committee,  Motion  to  Appoint, 
110;  Appointed,  101 ;  Rejwrt,  542 ;  Report 
Adopted.  546. 

Stephenson,  T.  B.  : 

Read  Sermon  of  William  Arthur,  3;  Re- 
sponse to  Addresses  of  Welcome,  41 ;  Pre- 
siding Officer,  Second  Day,  First  Session, .'>7. 
Discussion  on  Christian  Co-operation,  15ii; 
Member  of  Coninilttee  on  Sunday  Closing 
of  Columbian  Exposition,  24S  ;  of  Com- 
mittee on  Metliodi.st  Membership, 248 ;  Pre- 
siding Officer,  Fifth  Day  Third  Session,  249; 
Fraternal  Addre.ss.  2.58 ;  Discussion  on  Fed- 
eration. 320,  .-WO,  .■W7,  :W8, 431,  433 ;  Member 
of  Committee  on  Special  Missionary  Ses- 
sion, 521 ;  Discus-sion  on  Methmllst  .Statis- 
tics, 545,  .546 ;  Address  on  Resolutions  of 
Thanks,  670. 


700 


INDEX. 


Steward.  T.  G.  : 

Essay  on  the  Lord's  Day,  573. 

Sunday  Closing : 

Columbian  Exposition,  165,  315;  Public 
Houses,  268. 

Sunday-school,  The,  328. 

Taylor,  J.  D. : 

Discussion  on  Higher  Education,  381 ;  on 
Social  Problems,  456 ;  Address  on  Interna- 
tional Arbitration,  530. 

Temperance,  408. 

Terry,  M.  S.  : 

Address  on  Attitude  of  the  Chui-ch  Toward 
the  Various  Phases  of  Unbelief,  172. 

Thanks  ■• 

Resolution  of,  165 ;  Presented,  670. 

Thompson,  J.  P.  : 
Letter  from,  208. 

Thompson,  Peter: 

Essay  on  Obligations  of  the  Church  in  Re- 
lation to  Social  Condition  of  the  People.  459. 

Time  for  Closing  Conference,  Change,  541. 

Townseni),  W.  J. ; 

Member  of  Committee  on  Missionary  So- 
cieties in  Same  Fields,  269 :  Essay  on  Mis- 
sions in  Heathen  Lands,  485. 

Travis,  James: 

Discussion  on  Present  Status  of  Methodism 
in  Eastern  Section,  76 ;  Essay  on  Place 
and  Power  of  Lay  Agency  in  the  Church, 
269 ;  Discussion  on  Education,  357  ;  on  Fed- 
eration, 389. 

Tribou,  D.  H.  : 

Discussion  on  Social  Problems,  483. 

Tudor,  W.  V. : 

Read  Essay  of  W.  B.  Hill,  555 ;  Discussion 
on  the  Outlook,  644. 

Turner,  George : 

Discussion  on  Missions,  520. 

Unbelief,  Attitude  of  Church  toward,  etc.,172. 

Unity,  Christian,  110,  116,  119. 

University  Education,  367,  371. 

Waller,  D.  J. : 

Essay  on  Present  Status  of  Blethodism  in 
Eastern  Section,  58;  Presiding  Officer, 
Sixth  Day,  Second  Session,  109,  290 ;  Mem- 
ber of  Statistical  Committee,  191 ;  Discus- 


sion on  Education,  333, 358 ;  on  Federation, 
390 ;  Personal  Explanation,  430  ;  Discus- 
sion on  Methodist  Statistics,  543,  545,  546  ; 
on  Amusements,  592. 

Walters,  W.  D.  : 

Address  on  Methodist  Brotherhoods  and 
Sisterhoods,  278. 

War  and  Peace,  521. 

Warren,  H.  W.  : 

Presiding  Officer,  Third  Day,  Second  Ses- 
sion, 109,  130. 

Warren,  W.  F.  : 

Address  on  University  Education,  371. 

Watts,  J.  C: 

Address  on  Christian  Resources  of  the  Old 
World,  630. 

Way,  S.  J. : 

Fraternal  Address,  364 ;  Address  on  Reso- 
lution of  Thanks,  674. 

Wayman,  a.  W.  : 

Presiding  Officer,  Eighth  Day,  Second  Ses- 
sion, 268,  408  ;  Privileged  Statement,  521. 

Wesley,  Memorial  Sermon  on,  J.  P.  Newman, 
192. 

Wesley  Statue  in  Washington,  Resolutions  on, 
165;  Committee  on,  .314. 

Wesley's  Bible,  Samuel,  58. 

Williams,  T.  G.  : 

Discussion  on  Christian  Co-operation,  151 : 
Presiding  Officer,  Tenth  Day,  251. 

Wilson,  A.  W. : 

Fraternal  Address,  262 ;  Member  of  Com- 
mittee on  Missionary  Societies  in  Same 
Fields,  269. 

Wilson,  William  : 

Discussion  on  Missions,  616. 

WITHIXGTON,  J.  SWANN  : 

Discussion  on  Christian  Unity,  127 ;  Mem- 
ber of  Statistical  Committee,  191 ;  Discus- 
sion on  Education,  352. 
Woman's  Work  in  the  Church,  290,  296,  300, 

302. 

Worthington,  Thomas; 

Remarks  on  Union,  164 ;  Address  on  the 
Church  and  the  Temperance  Reform, 
408 ;  Discussion  on  Social  Problems,  455. 

Writers  and  Speakers,  Responsibility  of,  642. 


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